Louis CK is a very funny comedian that I respect and whose work I've enjoyed. But since taking this class, I've had a lot of reconsideration of the work of stand-up comedians in general. I used to be of the opinion that stand-up comedians were doing something of a service to culture. Comedians satirize topics that everyone else is too uncomfortable talking about. They bring to light insights and truths (however disturbing they may be) in order to put "taboo" topics into dialogue within society.
Louis CK along with many other comedians frequently speak about differences in genders. I used to think them to be quite brilliant in that they spoke honestly and their trenchant observances on gender helped to bring opposing genders to a mutual understanding with one another. Of course, any notion of genders being inherent to individuals has all but been thrown off since going through our class.
I've come to realize that comedians might be doing harm. That instead of weeding ourselves away from the kind of binary, gendered thinking, that they are reinforcing it on a much deeper ideological level.
Think about if this video was prefaced "this is how society expects little girls and boys to be...." instead of how it is. It would be an quite an inditement of the present state of expectations on children.
Many comedians are very intelligent and quick witted. I think that they very accurately pinpoint and articulate some of the deep-seated pathologies that underly society's actions. However I think that in this case, as with a lot of others, they identify the expectations of gender, but misidentify those insights as how genders are essentially or inherently.
To take an opposite stance, what do I know about any of these things? Louis CK is a father. I've never had children and never had to raise children. He is drawing from his personal experiences as person who has lived much longer than me and had to have gone through the struggles of parenthood. What do you all think about this? Is this video reinforcing gender stereotypes? Is there something larger at play here that I did not touch on? And as a bigger question, in what way does the readings and discussions we have qualify us to make such statements as the ones that I have made?
Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting post, Stephen, and it inspired me to do my own research into how other stand-up comedians portray the differences between men and women. Like you said, it is a very popular topic to satirize.
ReplyDeleteIn this short routine by Chris Rock (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtTEjS3zm_g), he says, "You would think women would rule the world by now, but they don't." The reason for this, he says, is because "women hate women." This reminded me of how, in the "Laugh of the Medusa," Cixous explains how patriarchy has created a kind of fear and hatred around women. Not only do men pick up on this, but women do as well. I think it is Friedan who also discusses this in her essays. She says that women have essentially been taught to hate women so it creates a kind of inferiority complex among women. Therefore, many tend to remain in their traditional role of housewife for fear of not having the ability to rise out of it or feeling like they don't deserve to.
I found various other stand-up comedians, including women, who point out this hatred among women. The interesting--and sad--thing is that they all seem to accept it as fact. I think for us to move on from this is for people to acknowledge the role that social construction plays in the way women treat each other.