Who’s Laughing? Trans Women as Humor Objects and Humor Agent

[Deleted]

I don't fully concur with the author of this article, but I understand her point. I do agree
that we shouldn't be making jokes about trans people, or anyone's identity for that matter,
unless the context is suitable or appropriate such as a trans woman calling another trans
woman a tranny just to get an eye roll from her. An example of an inappropriate trope
would be, as the article mentions, the ending of Ace Ventura where Ace is revealing Lois
Einhorn as a trans woman and everyone revolting. I didn't find that scene funny even before
transition. I just thought it was unnecessary. Anyway, let me know what you think about this.



Is it any wonder, then, that trans women tend to prickle at the mention of “humor” or
“comedy”? Comedy does not have a great track record with us. And yet the ability to laugh
is so paramount, so prized. To opt out of comedy is to opt out of much of society, of culture
— and, again, leads to a vicious backlash as we are perceived as victim-complex killjoys
taking everyone’s fun away.

t.co/bzVjWeQDqw

[Deleted]

I think it is inappropriate for non-trans people to make jokes about trans people. In the same way it is inappropriate for whites to poke fun at blacks or vice versa. It's never appropriate to get people to laugh by denigrating a different group. Only time it's okay is if you are part of that group. My take.

[Deleted]

Laughter has great power to heal or to hurt. It can tear a mind to shreds, or heal it. In the wrong hands it is a terrible thing, in the hands of the true artist that understands its use and application, who is gifted to see it and use it, it can be a powerful tool to tear down hate and bigotry, as the joke backlashes on its creator.

And the derisive laughter of children at children, or adults at children, daily and over time, can destroy a mind and ruin a life.

[Sisyphus]

When I was growing up, all the feedback around me indicated that a man in a dress or a woman in mans clothing, especially short hair and a mustach, are hilarious. We are supposed to laugh at that. Ha haha, hairy legs under a dress. Ha ha ha, boobs under flannel. Its not limited to American media, most media (movie, songs, pictures, etc.) in other cultures, that I consumed used similar devices. There are of course mediums in which the gender blending and such are used as sex apeal devices, but that aside, growing up, the message was, "cross-dressing" (a term I have a problem with in terms of binary strictures and assumptions) is to be laughed at and reviled.

So many movies and songs now that I can't enjoy. Its JUST. NOT. FUNNY. Funkly Cold Medina came on, and I started boppin' my head, like yay! a song from my childhood (FernGully), and then I listened to lyrics I had listened to and sung along to as a preteen a thousand times and never batted any eye, and I was like What? Nooooo!

But I also have that problem with the ableism of humor and horror. Kristen Wig's Denise character I find vilely offensive. The laughs don't come from denise being silly and being loved for being different and bringing you laughter, the laughs are derived from everyone agreeing, sure enough, Denise is the other, she's screwing up and putting people off, and no one really wants here there. If you want to be loved and valued DONT BE LIKE DENISE, but if you want someone to mock and laugh at then look no farther than people with both mental and physical uniquities and disabilities.

There is one thing to have humor that is calling attention to ironies and breaking apart things we take for granted, or that incorporates people's beings with value, and entirely another to use repetitive assumptions of repulsion as a laugh track. I think this goes for any other, including those who dare to transgress gender. It must be made clear, "So you want to be the laugher, the in, or the laughed at, the out?"

I find what I've learned in the past 15 + years and what I learned in the first 15 + are constantly at odds with each other and I have to train myself out layers and layers of Othering/Othered. Every, single day.

[Deleted]

OK so I really don't know how to put this but we really need a sense of humor. A great sense of humor just proves that you are stronger and can laugh at yourself when others try to put you down. Laugh with the haters and then the haters will eventually be revealed for what they truly think. OK so I am a Tranny and Shemale, what else can I be but the ones that call me that know that lingo from a certain Industry, so call them out on it. How do they know those descriptions specific to the porn industry if they haven't at least been a little curious?

I watch the shows Cops and Jail on TV and one female deputy said specifically that a transsexual prostitute couldn't be in short shorts and or sexy clothes because of the ones that may want to harm her or the ones that are curious. She said the curious outnumbered the haters. This Deputy treated her with the utmost respect and was definitely looking out for her safety and dignity.

So who's laughing? Me. They hate us in public but love us in private.

[Deleted]

I understand the author's perspective, but I'm rarely triggered by anything. I can deal with somewhat slanderous humour as long as it's tongue-in-cheek and not outright bigoted. Comedy is very important to me.

My Top 5 comedians:

1. Bill Hicks
2. George Carlin
3. Doug Stanhope
4. Kyle Kinane
5. Dana Gould

Runners-up: Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Brian Posehn,
Chelsea Manning, Morgan Murphy, Louis CK, Cate Gary, etc.

If we are constantly offended all the time then nobody will want to be around us. Stand-up comedy requires you to lower your walls and just endure the filth, vulgarity and even some insults. If Doug Stanhope refers to a trans woman as a tranny I really don't care, because I know him and he's not a bigot. The man on stage is not the man in real life... not entirely. It's all just an act. Doug is really chill and thinks everyone should have the right to exist freely and without discrimination. People who don't know him might think he's being hateful, but that's the gimmick. Bill Hicks even said a lot of things that could be taken the wrong way, but he was ultimately all about individual liberty, love and acceptance.

We have to be able to laugh at ourselves, not take everything so seriously. The comedians aren't the ones being oppressive, and often point out injustices in their own sneaky ways. The author of that article is probably just very sensitive which is understandable. We all have our own experiences that shape how we take in the world. Stand-up isn't for everyone... most of it, anyway. I love it, though. If I had the delivery I would do it, myself. I can write funny, but I can't deliver it.

Making comedic jabs — at LGBT people, at people of color, or the disabled — in film and theatre has a different delivery than stand-up, so it becomes truly inappropriate, because it's presenting people in a certain way while stand-up is simply social commentary. Of course, stand-up can certainly go "too far", but if you don't have an ear for it then you'll miss the point and think the comedian is being hostile.

I can laugh at stand-up vulgarity, but if it's used conversationally then I will most definitely be annoyed or offended. Like I said, not much triggers me. I usually roll my eyes at everything, because if I let every little thing affect me then there's no way I can be a happy person. I share in the struggles of the LGBT community, but at the same time I detach from that as an individual capable of defending myself.

No matter our collective struggles we are still all individuals, and we should be able to handle life as individuals. It's best to stay off the social justice bandwagons, because they ultimately just amplify the very things they claim to fight against. It doesn't mean we can't be a community, it just means we need to be able to carry our own torches with our own bravado and sense of integrity. In my opinion and experience, it makes everything so much easier as counter-intuitive as it may seem.

[Sisyphus]

I feel there is a difference between humor that holds up a mirror/social commentary and humor meant to reinforce boxes by making us afraid to stray from our boxes for fear we'll become the target of the mockery, underlying revulsion, and social violence (be it job descrimination, social service discimrimination, housing, losing family members, or getting our faces beat in). Sometimes each of those show up on stage, in a routine, or in a film, tv show

No one has to come along with me, this is individual to my heart, but I refuse to laugh any more at humor that relies on lazy denigratory binary stereotypes (not just gender, but usually resulting in desireables and undesireable/other), I also refused to be terrified by horror genres that are based more on the fear of those with physical/mental illnesses, disabilities and disfiguration. Actually, I don't refuse. I literally can't. Disparaging people while establishing the desireable norm doesn't illicit even a smile or a shiver from me. I don't find it funny/scary. I find it sad, disappointing, annoying, and boring. To some levels (like Denise) I find it viscerally offensive because I've known people treated like that, and though they try to keep a smile on their face, their hearts and souls are shredded by those kinds of daily responses time after time after time until they try to kill themselves. There is no benefit to tearing people down and causing pain doesn't have to be funny.

There are a lot of things I will laugh at. There are stand up comics who are irreverent and "offensive", who cross lines and boundaries. There are shows and music and other such pointing out ironies through the use of those devices, or regaining ownership and shifting the narrative from disposable people to people. Those I can laugh at. Heck, vulgarities in any situation rarely offend me. Its the underlying devaluation that perpetuates pain, that has little actual value other than creating fear, stay in your box, or divide and conquer. I just can't go along with it, for any reason. I think one can have a great sense of humor, laugh at oneself and still reject lazy humor or structures based on cruetly.