Week 2: We Can Wear the Pants Now

            To take a course that features the study of women’s appearances in the comedy world in the 100-year anniversary of women’s suffrage in America helps us compare how far the female gender has traveled in a century. We can look back on the restrictions that women faced in the past, the present issues that challenge us, as well as how we can work on how to decrease the limitations for the future. A fine example to help compare the different worlds that women have lived in is with Fanny Fern’s articles, which uses humor to address the time period’s current societal issues for women. In “A Law More Nice Than Just”, she writes that “I have been twiddling in the morning paper between my fingers this half-hour, reflecting upon the following paragraph in it: ’Emma Wilson was arrested yesterday for wearing man’s apparel.’ Now, why this should be an actionable offense is past my finding out, or where’s the harm in it, I am as much at a loss to see” (page 2105). During Fern’s time, a woman showing any sort of dominance or equality to men was so much a criminal offense, even for an incident that was not hurting anyone around them. Luckily, women today are allowed to wear pants and ironically can be labeled as “the ones that wear the pants” in their relationships.

The world of comedy has been a good indication of the raw progress women have made in a male-dominated world. In recent years, we have been able to see women have more parts and even be featured in comedic television or public broadcasts. These achievements are momentous in comparison to Fern’s time, but it fails to show the hard work and dedication that women must have in workplaces such as comedy. Female comedians, such a Tina Fey or Amy Poehler, still receive hate even long after they have “made it” in their careers. Ginny Hogan writes in her article “Women Just Aren’t Funny” how people tend to judge women more harshly when they are in a male-dominated environment. She writes, from a seemingly male perspective, how the only woman didn’t perform well during her comedy show and how one of eight men did do well. She sarcastically writes how women must not be funny since the only one to perform did badly, completely ignoring the seven men to do badly as well. This article helps explain why women receive hate even after proving their haters wrong. When they are a minority (are they ever not?) in an environment, they tend to receive more criticism whereas if a man were to ever enter a world where they are a minority, they might receive more praise for “breaking the standard”. Of course, women do receive praise for excelling in today’s world, but most of that feedback comes from their own gender. Women understand other women, because even if you are blonde or brunette you are always second to the man. Though Fanny Fern’s writing may seem outdated, men can still be terrified of a woman trying to be them, or even more frightening, better than them.
Of course, not ALL men are horrible humans who strive to bring women down but I think that there are a few, loud and powerful, that have been able to create such a dreadful environment for many women in the world. 

Ginny Hogan's Article "Women Just Aren’t Funny"

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/women-just-arent-funny