Advertisement
“A dream you dream alone is only a dream; a dream you dream together is reality.” — Yoko Ono
Nov
4
Dressing up sexist humor?
Filed Under 2008 election, Democrats, gender, media, politics, pop culture, sexism, stereotypes | Posted by Cara |
Via The Caucus, I’m curious about opinions on Barack Obama’s surprise appearance in the SNL opening sketch last night. Here’s the video:
Personally, I’m not an SNL fan (at least not since the early 90s), but a few of the scenes did make me laugh — Bill Clinton dressed up as Mystery, Dodd and Biden, Richardson, Mike Gravel and Kucinich all got a chuckle out of me. And though I disagree with the implication, the subtle dig at Edwards in having him dressed up as a hobo was actually pretty clever.
But I have to say that I’m not exactly pleased with Hillary being both the main butt of the jokes and the nagging wife who Bill begrudgingly tolerates. The whole “witch” joke was sexist and not even funny — which I thought was particularly disappointing, since the opportunity could have been used more effectively to mock how the male candidates supposedly view and act towards her. Instead, she was the one portrayed as catty, which, for all of her negative faults, does not seem to be a word that describes her. And the whole conniving aspect of wanting to dress up as a bride and groom? Blahhhhh.
On the other hand, compared to the sexism you usually see whenever Hillary comes up, this is pretty benign. And at least they didn’t try to ugly her up, like is done in most “comedy” — the woman who plays her is actually attractive.
But what about Obama? He was the only non-sexist male in the bunch, but he still acted in what was essentially a sexist sketch. And then there’s his actual line — I’m pretty sure that it was meant to be a dig at Sen. Clinton’s supposed lack of integrity, but to me, ended up accidentally mocking Obama’s occasional propensity towards coming off as overly earnest and self-important, instead.
So, what do you think? Sexist and obnoxious, or mostly harmless? Funny or not funny? I thought that it was an interesting piece for discussion.
Comments
18 Comments so far
Subscribe to The Curvature
“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” — Susan B. Anthony
well…i did get a chuckle out of Richardson’s attempt to become Hilary’s vice president, and the Kucinich thing was pretty funny. But I am really sick of the sexist and obnoxious jokes made at Hilary’s expense. Make fun of her on a political level, like what was done with Dodd and Biden, but please don’t make stupid sexist and lame jokes. And the line I hated the most was when “Bill Clinton” said “that won’t be a marriage he’ll regret..”. Yeah, its funny to see small Kucinich with his tall and statuesque wife, but to infer that Bill regrets his marriage is horrible. Because Hilary’s not “hot” in the patriarchal sense. They never once made fun of Hilary on a political or ideological level, just as a catty woman. And sadly this is what will last in most Americans minds, not her actual record and accomplishments.
The Dodd, Biden rip was priceless. “We kind of cancel each other out” could not be more accurate.
The jokes against Hillary were pretty sexist; the bad marriage lines are harsh considering she probably went through the biggest trials as first Lady.
Still, you can call the sketch sexist, but if you called Tuesday’s debate sexist, you’ll probably swallow a ton more backlash.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6691.html
Yeah, well I actually didn’t think that the debate was sexist. And I’m clearly one who is very sensitive to such things, and I’ve been arguing against sexism against Hillary from day one. I do think that it’s highly unfortunate that, of all the sexism and gender stereotypes being thrown around in this campaign, that this was the time the Clinton campaign chose to say something. What they should be criticizing are the sexist questions she has reportedly been forced to answer — not the fact that her opponents are actually bothering to debate with her. I think that of all the sexists involved in this campaign, both Obama and Edwards would register on the very, very low end of the scale. Things have officially gotten ugly, in that regard, and it’s sad.
Yeah you’re completely right. It’s not sexist to attack the person who is ahead in the polls and has the greatest amount of publicity. Clinton brings criticism on herself during the debate by being the frontrunner, not because she’s a woman. I agree with you; I fail to understand why she would pick that particular moment to cry foul and sexism. True, that was a horrendous showing at the debate on her part, but it had nothing to do with sexism.
And it’s not like they even attacked her on sexist terms. They didn’t say that she was too “soft” on crime/terrorists/whatever — in fact, they said that she was too “hard.” They didn’t bring up her husband (like the moderators and pundits repeatedly have done), or even said anything about a “first woman president” — they didn’t even insinuate any of it. I also think that it would be far more sexist to not debate with her because she’s a woman, and supposedly some delicate little flower that can’t take it. To claim that it’s sexism, I think, is actually a cheap shot — especially when there is so much actual sexism occurring. And it really is aggravating when someone makes the unfounded claim that one time, because then it’s the time that’s held up as proof that sexism is always made up and over exaggerated. And it has nothing to do with me liking Edwards and Obama, either, because I don’t like Kucinich or Gravel, and they’ve been attacking her from day one, and I’d say the same for them.
And this is highly relevant: from what I read, her campaign did actually call it sexist. But according to zuzu, it never happened. Which would be great. And in which case I take back my remarks. And remind myself for the one millionth time that when dealing with reports on Clinton, triple verification is necessary.
Well no, she referenced the “pile on” politics of all of them attacking her as what happens when as a woman she has to compete in the “all boys club.” She never used the word sexist, but the implication was what started the whole controversy.
But they were actually two different instances. The “all boys club,” I think, is accurate and a perfectly acceptable statement. And yes, they did pile on her, but that’s what happens in debates. It’s the media who seems to have conflated the two, and it’s pretty fucked.
I didn’t really think of it as sexist. I kind of thought it was making fun of the other candidates for being sexist, ie. calling her a witch even though she didn’t look like one at all. Maybe I’m being generous because I like Amy Poehler and I know she considers herself a feminist. It could have been funnier though (the Dodd and Biden bit was good, as was Bill Clinton as Mystery). Eh.
In terms of the sketch, I wish Obama had done something that was a bit more overtly self-mocking. There’s no point in going on a sketch that makes fun of ALL the other candidates and not mocking yourself a little bit. And if his wearing an obama mask was supposed to be self-aware it was too subtle.
and yes, the SNL Hillary caricature is really irritating and one-note. Blah.
It wasn’t really funny and that’s the most important thing. I mean, if something’s funny, you don’t have to explain the joke to the audience. The whole skit seemed like it was written for idiots.
I agree with Elaine. Not funny, condescending. And sexist, yeah. And I guess I just don’t think it’s appropriate for a serious politician to take part in a comedy sketch. At least he had only a small part.
Oh, and I also wanted to say I love the bingo cards in your sidebar.
Well geez, you two, I thought that parts were at least amusing. Then again, I’m someone who spends WAY more time than can possibly be healthy mocking politicians in private, in both bizarre and occasionally tasteless ways. So there’s that.
I don’t actually have a problem with politicians acting in a comedic sketch, as long as it’s not vastly inappropriate — which is why I was asking myself if Obama crossed the line, here. I also think that it’s a lot more tasteful (and funnier!) to mock yourself instead of your opponents, but it’s also obviously riskier. But in general, I think that it can be a fun and harmless thing to do, and a way to get that stupid “who would I like to have a beer with?” vote. While I certainly want my president to be serious, I also don’t want him or her to be utterly humorless, either. That is one thing I like about Obama — he has been genuinely funny during debates on more than one occasion, while still maintaining an aura of a serious politician with serious ideas.
Oh, and Libertarian Bingo is probably my all-time favorite.
By the way, you were spot on about the media’s fucked up portrayal of the “gender card,” I apologize if I inferred anything based on the articles I read.
Really, that’s fine — I read the article that you posted, along with at least two other articles before you posted it and came away with the same impression. This is a whole bunch of bullshit right now, though, and the way that the other candidates (namely, Obama) are responding to something that she never said is also really pissing me off.
It’s important to remember that the basis of much humor is irreverence. My own personal boundaries concerning humor and good taste are much more permissive than most, but it’s a gray area. Sometimes I’ll poke fun at those I respect the most, and when I hear jokes that target my gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, I can generally laugh it off pretty easily. I think being able to do so is a sign of healthy emotional maturity. However, a shared understanding of what truly “crosses the line” is truly clear as mud.
[...] points to Obama participating in a SNL sketch that is construed as sexist. While he does not participate directly in Hillary-bashing, he is still a part of the sketch. She [...]