This document discusses gender stereotypes and humor. It provides examples of humor based on physical, emotional, and intellectual stereotypes of men and women. Some humor examples reinforce stereotypes while others reverse or subvert expectations. The document also notes that not all differences between men and women are due to biology and some may be socially constructed. It suggests guidelines for humane humor that does not target immutable qualities.

1. 1
Gender Humor
by Alleen Pace Nilsen and
Don L. F. Nilsen

2. Gender Differences
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3. The Male Perspective
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4. Gender Differences
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5. Men’s Brains and Women’s Brains:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/ulP6f9zXtTs?rel=0
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6. How Men Think:
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8. The Perfect Man
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10. Yarn Bombing
How Women Protest
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11. Gender Roles:
This is Rita’s Role: This is Rosie’s Role:
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12. Reversed Gender Roles
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13. Then there’s Oscar Wilde:
This is a statue in London, England
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14. Male Priorities
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15. Male Solutions
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16. I’M A MAN. I CAN FIX THAT:
http://www.world-wide-ed.com/2010/11/22/im-a-man-i-can-fix-that-part-i
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17. Humor and Gender Stereotyping
We need to study gender stereotyping so that we can
recognize the stereotypes in literature, sit coms,
standup comedy, etc. where:
. . . The humor might come from the stereotypes being adhered to.
. . . Or from the stereotypes being reversed.
. . . Or from additional gender stereotypes that are even funnier
because listeners might not have thought of them before.
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18. These Three Are the Major Differences
Physical: Of course males and females have different
bodies, but even here we aren’t sure how much of the
difference is caused by inherent biology and how much by
the way we raise boys and girls.
Emotional: Women
are assumed to be more
caring and more
emotional than are men.
They are stereotyped as
sentimental and “sweet.”
Intellectual: Men are
viewed as the protectors
and providers of their
families, which in pre-
industrialized society
meant being stronger, but
today may mean being
smarter.
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20. The one irrefutable difference between males and
females is that the female gives birth and cares for the
young—which can be a long and arduous process.
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21. A Man’s Man: True or False?
• Edgar Watson has
observed:
• “No man would
listen to you talk, if
he didn’t know it
was his turn next.”
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22. The joke here is obviously related to a
physical difference.
• Some differences relate
to our plumbing and
our reproductive
organs.
• There are many jokes
about whether the toilet
seat should be up or
down.
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23. Tina Fey and Sarah Palin Roasting Don Rickles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwJEWJqvNuk
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24. Is this a male or a female? What is your evidence?
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25. Guess What Day This Is? How can this one
cartoon relate to all three characteristics:
Physical, Emotional, and Intellectual?
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26. 26
What characteristics were at the root of the
Betty Boop icon created in the 1930s?

27. TAYLOR MALI (ON GIRLS LENDING PENS):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44sXwJgqUyc&NR=1
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28. Breast Cancer: A Part of Women’s Lives
• During Breast Cancer
Awareness month, Arizona
high school cheerleaders
were reprimanded for
wearing T-Shirts with the
message, “Save Our
Boobs!”
• In the summer of 2011,
waitresses at Oregano’s
were wearing T-shirts with
the message “Watch for our
Haboobs” (Arabic for dust
storms) until a few
customers complained.
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29. 29

30. 30
If Women Designed Bowling Alleys.

31. If Women Designed Parking Lots
NOTE: A City in Germany Recently Marked Bigger
Places for Women Drivers.
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32. Explain: “woman barber,” “male nurse,”
“woman driver,” “mailman,” and the
“Powder Puff Derby” for “women pilots.”
Male Female
• Adjutant Helpmate
• Chef Cook
• Clerk Typist Secretary
• Medic Nurse
• To Doctor To Nurse
• Duke Duchess
• King Queen
• King-Sized Queen-Sized
Male Female
•Maitre D Hostess
•Major Majorette
•Orderly Cleaning Lady
•Paternity Maternity
Suit Suit
•Professional Professional
•Tailor Seamstress
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33. 33
Animal Sexual Discrimination
• What is a “sexter” at chicken hatcheries? Is
this an example of reverse discrimination?
• The phrase “Cock of the Walk” comes from
the fact that on farms only one rooster is
needed for a flock of chickens.
• Explain “cocky,” “to cock a gun,” “to strut
like a rooster,” “to crow about something.”

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• On a farm or cattle ranch, most of the male cattle
are castrated to become steers and soon
slaughtered as beef, because they cannot
produce milk or calves.
• How does peacock compare to peahen go
against the farm animal system?
• Which is the male, and which the female, in such
pairs as goose vs. gander, and cow vs. bull.
• Lady bug, Black Widow, and Sea Cow are female
generics. What does this tell you about female
stereotypes?

35. So, Is It a Compliment to Call a
Female “A Chick”?
• The “chicken metaphor” tells the whole story of a
girl’s life. First, a young woman is a chick; then she
marries and begins feeling cooped up, so she goes
to hen parties where she cackles with her friends.
• Then she has her brood. And when they leave the
nest, she begins to henpeck her husband, and finally
turns into an old biddy.
• This shows that gender and aging stereotypes are
related.
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36. 36
A Serious Side of Human Sexual Discrimination
• When the Nilsens visited an orphanage in Afghanistan they
found mostly male orphans.
• At first we assumed that families worked hard to keep their
daughters home, or that cute little girls were adopted first, but
then they learned that female babies were more likely to have
been abandoned and left to die.
• A March 10, 2008, BBC news story, “Chinese Facing Shortage
of Wives,” warned that by 2020 China is expected to have 30
million more men than women.
• The ability to determine the sex of a baby before birth has
resulted in the abortion of many female fetuses so that the
difference between boys and girls in the South of China is
already as great as 130 boys to 100 girls.

37. This Tool Kit for Women is making fun of
women as “handymen”
• Such jokes are to be
expected as women
venture into roles formerly
reserved for men.
• In contrast there is “I Can
Fix This; I’m a Man,”
which includes dozens of
photos of haphazard home
repairs.
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38. GREATEST CATCH OF ALL TIME—BY THE BALL GIRL
—OOPS, IT’S ACTUALLY A GATORADE COMMERCIAL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFiUyttp1-s
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Chick Flicks
• In a 2009 article entitled “In Defense of the
‘Chick Flick,” Gloria Steinem suggested that
the ‘chick flick’ is not such a bad genre:
• “It has more dialogue than special effects,
more relationships than violence, and relies
for its suspense on how people live instead
of how they die.”

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Girl Movies and Boy Movies
• Steinem suggested that the opposite of the “chick flick”
should be called the “p**** flick.” These would include:
• All the movies that glorify war,
• All of the movies that glorify bloody deaths and
vigilantism,
• All the movies that portray violence,
• Especially violence against women, preferably beautiful,
sexy, half-naked women,

41. A Husband Shopping with His
Wife
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Girl Behavior vs. Boy Behavior
• In a London, England study, toddlers at a day-care
center were dressed in “opposite” colors—boys in
pink and girls in blue.
• The researchers found that the little boy babies
(dressed in pink) were socialized more—the
caregivers talked to them and checked on them
more frequently.
• The little girls (dressed in blue) were allowed to go
off on their own, climb on furniture, and get into all
kinds of mischief.

43. What Moms Do in a 24-Hour Period:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0ZpuA8_YYk
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44. This speedometer goes from STOP, to QUICKISH, to
OOH!, to HOLD ON, and to BITE LIP, SHUT EYES, and
STOP NOW. Is it sexist? Why?
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Common Observations about Male vs.
Female Language Strategies:
• Men are lecturers; women are listeners; Men hold
the floor longer.
• Men use more negative face; women use more
positive face.
• Men are more exclusive; women are more inclusive.
• Men’s language is vertical (competitive); women’s
language is horizontal (social).
• However for many men and women,
these tendencies are becoming
reversed.

47. The First Humane Humor Rule
Emily Toth is responsible for the first
Humane Humor Rule: "Never target a
quality that a person can't change.“
The original humane humour rule
appeared in "Female Wits" by Emily Toth
The Massachusetts Review Vol. 22, No. 4,
(Winter 1981).
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48. Additional Humane Humor Rules
1. Target yourself, i.e. use self-deprecating humor.
2. Target your own ethnic group or gender, but no other ethnic
group or gender.
3. Never target the victim.
4. Always target a strength so that it empowers rather than
humiliates the target.
5. Be sure that there is spatial, temporal and psychological
distance before making fun of a tragedy.
6. Remember: Tragedy + Time = Comedy
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A FAMOUS RETORT BY AN
EARLY LESBIAN CELEBRITY
• At a fashionable social event, Noel
Coward (1899-1973) approached Edna
Ferber (1885-1963), who was wearing a
mannish looking suit. He looked at her
and said, “You look almost like a man.”
• Her response was, “So do you.”

50. What does a feminist look like?
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51. L G B T Q
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52. THE GREAT FLYDINI (STEVE MARTIN on JOHNNY CARSON SHOW):
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http://rubytooth.com/link/45516

53. People who say that “Computers Are Female”
base their logic on the ideas that . . .
• No one but the Creator understands their internal
logic.
• Also, the language they use to communicate with
other computers is incomprehensible to everyone
else.
• Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term
memory for later retrieval.
• As soon as you make a commitment to one, you
find yourself spending half your paychecks on
accessories for it. 53

54. People who say that “Computers Are Male”
base their logic on the ideas that...
• in order to get their attention, you have to turn them
on.
• Also, they have a lot of data but are still clueless.
• They are supposed to help you solve problems, but
half the time they are the problem.
• As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you
had waited a little longer, you could have had a
better model.
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55. What do these two images
communicate about male vs.
female stereotypes?
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56. Four Really Talented Ladies:
http://www.reshareworthy.com/amazing-quartet-blew-audience-away/#HlDc3TMGOGULZGi4.01
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