Comments on: Dressing up sexist humor?

By: Racism Doesn’t Trump Gender But Self-Righteousness Trumps Reason at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:21:25 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:19:32 +0000

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.

By: Cara

Cara — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:23:17 +0000

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.

By: rich

rich — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:26:54 +0000

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.

By: Cara

Cara — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:44:23 +0000

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: dew

dew — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:13:54 +0000

Oh, and I also wanted to say I love the bingo cards in your sidebar.

By: dew

dew — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:13:38 +0000

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.

By: Elaine Vigneault

Elaine Vigneault — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:09:20 +0000

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.

By: fellow-ette

fellow-ette — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:09:04 +0000

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.

By: Brenda

Brenda — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:23:08 +0000

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.