Is Funny the new Tough?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuOc62x9cCc

For this week’s blog post I could not think of what I wanted to do. I wanted to focus on Katz’s video because I found was he was saying very interesting. However, it is difficult to just turn on the TV and hope to find a show about a woman being abused or men being overly masculine and then write something educational about it. So for this week I am taking a different approach. I am using a clip from one of my favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan, to talk about how I believe that some comedians such as himself use comedy to challenge masculinity.

Katz’s explains in his video that how media effects masculinity. He explains the ever changing view of strong and tough men and how the importance of strength has become more and more evident over the years. However, I feel that since the release of Katz’s video the world has made some in allowing men to show a side that is less masculine. However, this is only in certain situations. In this case I am using standup comedy as my example.

In this clip we of course see Jim making fun of females and how they choose to dress on Halloween. However, the joke takes a twist when he expresses himself as an overly sexual “kitty.” In this case Jim is comedy to challenge masculinity. He addresses himself first as cat woman and then continues on a path that represents him as a sexual being. We find this funny because he makes it humorous with the sexual nature of his costume. The important thing to note is that it is through this humor that we find it acceptable to act this way. Jim Gaffigan is a highly respected comedian; therefore, it is acceptable for him to make a fool out of masculinity and sexuality.

With Jim Gaffigan as my example I feel that masculine culture is always being challenged through comedy. It is funny for grown men to go on a stage and degrade themselves for humor. But why? Why is it that we find this funny? Maybe it is because we know that there is more to masculinity than being tough. Maybe masculinity needs humor, curiosity and a good joke here and there. Jim Gaffigan makes these jokes more and more and brings himself to the center of all of his jokes, he is the victim of his own jokes. Then why is he never seen as less than a man? Therefore, does a man really need to be tough and demanding or can he be funny and silly?