LAUGHTER OUT OF PLACE: AFFECTIVE HOMOPHILY AND THE ABSURD COMEDY OF #METOO

This paper investigates the affective and ambiguous dynamics of feminist humor as an unexpected strategy of resistance in connection with #MeToo, asking what laughter may do to the sharpness of negative affects of shame and anger driving the movement. Firstly, we deploy Nanette—Hannah Gadsby’s 2018 Netflix success heralded as the comedy of the #MeToo era—arguing that the uniform viral warmth surrounding the show drives the emergence of networked feminisms through “affective homophily,” or a love of feeling the same. With Nanette, the contagious qualities of laughter are tamed by a networked logic of homophily, allowing for affective intensity while resisting dissent in what is being felt. Secondly, and as a counter force to such sameness, we examine absurd feminist humor trafficking in the unreasonable, illogical, and inappropriate. In considering the unexpected pockets of humor within the #MeToo scandal that ripped apart the prestigious institution of the Swedish Academy in 2018, we explore the emergence of absurdist feminist comedy by zooming in on the figure of the unseemly woman and humor that is knowingly out of tune with both reason and decency. While our first example allows us to argue for the political importance of affective ambiguity, difference, and dissent in social media feminisms, our second example opens up a space for affective release that unpredictable and surprising absurd humour, in combining the illogical with the indecent, affords.

Inappropriate Laughter: Affective Homophily and the Unlikely Comedy of #MeToo

This article investigates the affective and ambiguous dynamics of feminist humor as an unexpected strategy of resistance in connection with #MeToo, asking what laughter may do to the sharpness of negative affect of shame and anger driving the movement. Our inquiry comes in three vignettes. First, we deploy Nanette—Hannah Gadsby’s 2018 Netflix success heralded as the comedy of the #MeToo era—arguing that the uniform viral warmth surrounding the show drives the emergence of networked feminisms through “affective homophily,” or a love of feeling the same. With Nanette, the contagious qualities of laughter are tamed by a networked logic of homophily, allowing for intensity while resisting dissent. Our second vignette zooms in on a less known feminist comedian, Lauren Maul, and her online #MeToo musical comedy riffing off on apologies made by male celebrities accused of sexual harassment, rendering the apologies and the men performing them objects of ridicule. Our third example opens up the door to the ambivalence of irony. In considering the unexpected pockets of humor within the #MeToo scandal that ripped apart the prestigious institution of the Swedish Academy, we explore the emergence of carnivalesque comedy and feminist uses of irony in the appropriation of the pussy-bow blouse as an ambiguous feminist symbol. Our examples allow us to argue for the political importance of affective ambiguity, difference, and dissent in contemporary social media feminisms, and to highlight the risk when a movement like #MeToo closes ranks around homogeneous feelings of not only shame and rage, but also love.

Performing gender through stand-up comedy in Spanish

The aim of this paper is to examine Eva Hache’s humorous gender-based monologues, broadcast in the show El Club de la Comedia [The Comedy Club] in Spain between 2012 and 2013. The corpus comprises 24 Stand-up monologues, which have been analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The present paper offers a case study in three different ways. Firstly, an analysis of different humorous sequences makes it possible to distinguish a representation of both feminine and masculine identities, as well as a confrontation between the two genders. In fact, Eva Hache’s style supports the feminine identity and facilitates the teasing and mockery of men. Secondly, a polyphonic study of men as speakers (locutors) and utterers (Ducrot, 1986) will serve to differentiate certain features of their identity from a discursive perspective. Finally, a detailed examination of humorous sequences shows how these performative sequences can prove useful to maintain hierarchy, to reinforce an in-group, i.e. a women’s group, to solidify men’s group boundaries, and even to subvert gender normativity (Bing, 2004). As it will be demonstrated in our analysis, humorous markers and indicators play an important role in the construction of jab lines and the final punch line of these sequences. Furthermore, results show that there are few strategies aimed at challenging the status quo in this database, though they illustrate an ongoing movement towards a feminist humor that has been almost non-existent in Spain so far.