Let’s talk laughs
Who doesn’t love a good laugh? If you’re anything like me, you might agree that laughter truly is the best medicine. However, there is an incredible disparity on late night comedic television: it’s male-centric. We can certainly enjoy and look forward to our favorite late night shows like the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night with Seth Myers, but we must recognize that they’re led by men. Who’s to say women aren’t funny either? I’m sure many women can attest to being on a date, eyes closing like curtains, and then snapping into laughter in response to the worst joke ever told. With men, we feel this internal sense to bite our tongue, and laugh, for we surely wouldn’t want to hurt their egos.
The big players in late night
Conan O’ Brian, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Myers, Jimmy Kimmel, Trevor Noah, James Corden and so on, are some of the most prominent and laughter-inducing comedians on the late night playing field. With bits like The Tonight Show’s “Thank You Notes”, Jimmy Kimmel Live’s “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets”, and the Late Late Show with James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke”, the content is repetitive, nevertheless it continues to gain retain viewership and popularity. These men are loved for their charisma, humor, and “original” content (many kudos to the writer’s room), but why haven’t we passed the late night torch over to women yet?
Women = threat
It’s actually pretty simple, in the big picture of production companies commanding the late night scene: women = threat. Even when our most beloved hosts are under fire for scandals and tantrums (cough, Jimmy Fallon), it never affects us so seriously that we must finally consider women. But what makes viewers so nervous about a strong, hilarious woman at the comedic desk? The answer lies with the audience: men represent the primary viewership of late night television. “But I love watching Saturday Night Live!” exclaims a comedically cultured 20-year old (that’s me). Sorry self, you’re still not the intended audience. Additionally, as kids and tweens, we were most likely prohibited from watching these glorious shows because:
- They were very far past our bedtimes
- The (male) hosts were quite free with their adult jokes and content (often which women suffered at the hands of)
When these 50-year old, not old enough to retire with benefits, favorite seat on the couch, men tune in during their post 9-5 work evenings, they don’t expect to have their perspectives broadened and hearts touched! They expect to enjoy comedic banter with a side of conversation about (insert hot female celebrity)’s latest bikini-wearing yacht trip to Europe. Comedy is no longer comedy when it poses a thoughtful question, rather than elicits a beer-clankin’ laugh.
Funny isn’t just for White people
What strengthens comedy is when diverse and fresh perspectives arrive on the scene. Sure, hosts like Seth Myers have an endearing stage presence, but plenty of other comedians could easily take his late night throne by storm. Voices such as Leslie Jones, Tiffany Haddish, Ali Wong and Maya Rudolph are all presently well established, but had to make their way to the top (past the sea of White women comics). They introduce us to concepts through jokes that may be uncomfortable, but push us in a direction of progress. Without them, comedy remains a pond of stagnancy.
Consider your consumption
While many of us are guilty of enjoying some harsh comedy from bold male comedians, take a minute and think about how the reputation of women is being offered in each. For instance, at 1:30 to 2:05 in this clip from Kevin Hart’s comedy special Seriously Funny, examine how Kevin talks about the physicalities and attitudes of women (a trend across many of his specials). After processing that, I invite you to partake in some of the content of the aforementioned women and imagine what they’d be like as late night hosts. They may even show up on your screen this evening.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
I completely agree with your assessment of the current state of late night shows and comedy. I’d like to expound on your point by also pointing out how so often there are men who are heralded as the paragons of men comedians for their progressiveness. John Mulaney definitely falls into your aforementioned crowd of comics who take the stage and film their Netflix specials, but even when one of the largest components of Mulaney’s stand up routines had to do with his wife, how much he loved her, and her being Jewish, it still calls something else into question: Why are we applauding him, a man comic for not hating women when we should just be watching women comics? And that ties back to your mention of considering our consumption and being critical of what we’re watching. Maybe we don’t necessarily have to stop watching all men who are comedians, but perhaps we can consider the implications behind certain jokes rather than taking them at face value. And maybe we should all be making the choice to watch men, women, and non-binary folks as long as people with varying identities to broaden both our perspective, but also our humor!
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Absolutely, what a great point. John Mulaney happens to be one of my favorites, but even though he’s not a “hater of women” he still seemed to parade his wife (now ex) around within his stand-up. Consumption is just like we discussed in class as well, you don’t have to swear off every enjoyable man comic, but instead consider the implications behind the jokes and use them as part of discussion.
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This topic has intrigued me for a while. I feel like when it comes to comedy, men can be praised for more insensitive jokes about race, ability, gender, sex, etc. However, when it comes to women in comedy, they have to be more careful about what they talk about. You can talk about periods but not in too much detail, you can talk about sex but never lesbian sex. In conclusion, we put societal limits on women that we do not put on men that allow for these male-dominated professions to stay so.
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Thank you for that response! Yes, women are allowed to be funny, but only to a certain degree and on certain topics. Discussion of issues such as periods, wage inequality, LGBTQ+ relationships, etc. are too serious for many viewers of which the topic does not directly affect them.
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This is an incredibly important topic that I feel is not recognized nearly enough. Continuing to consume these comedies is contributing to a systematic issue, yet, I almost wonder what we could even do. I wonder what it would take for these men to be held accountable for the damaging “jokes” they make. We all know they are not funny, and women would be “canceled” if they made uneducated claims about others, so why are men allowed to do this? Often, I don’t even find them funny anymore but instead, question how they are still allowed to be on television for the things that they say.
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Agreed. This is why I decided to hyperlink the original Rolling Stone article as it is fairly recent. I am interested to see how it plays out, but I am sure that there will be no decisive action. In comparison, female hosts that have been “cancelled”, like Ellen Degeneres, have received a lot of immediate attention and negativity/
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