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317 Pages·2015·2.28 MB·English
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Humour and Gender Hegemony: The Panoptical Role of Ridicule vis-à-vis Gender by Mostafa Abedinifard A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Comparative Literature University of Alberta © Mostafa Abedinifard, 2015 Abstract In this dissertation, I read gender humour through the lens of masculinities studies and critical humour studies to contribute to gender studies and humour studies. I engage two crucial problems and propose solutions and possibilities. The first problem concerns the state of the concept of ridicule—as a form/aspect of humour—within gender-related debates and specifically ridicule’s place in challenging and enforcing gender hegemony. In such discussions, ridicule and humour are frequently mentioned as insidious social control strategies through which certain forms of masculinity and femininity are abjected. Despite their recognizing such role of ridicule, however, the above debates never grant the role any theoretical significance. Critically reviewing the related literature, I draw on Michael Billig’s theory of ridicule as a universal reinforcer of the social order to argue that ridicule, as occurring in mainstream gender humour, plays a panoptical role in enforcing inequitable gender relations. As a pervasive disciplinary tool, gendered ridicule causes self-regulation in social agents who then wish to consent to the cultural ascendancy of certain modes of gender performance and the subordination of certain other forms of performing gender. By connecting this fearful consent to debates in gender studies about the role of abjection in the creation of gendered subjectivities, I also hypothesize that ridicule occupies a necessary role in the creation of gendered beings in the first place. I raise my main argument in Chapter One. In Chapters Two to Four, I illustrate the argument by analyzing various types of mainstream gender humour—with a particular emphasis on the genres of canned joke and sitcom—from Iranian and Anglo-American (mainly the U.S. and the U.K.) societies and cultures. The main humour types and/or categories include those targeting women, homosexuals, effeminates as well as bodily non-normative and ethnic/racial femininities and masculinities. For the Anglo-American sections (Chapter Two and parts of ii Chapter Four), besides related joke cycles, episodes from the sitcoms Two and a Half Men (2003-2015) and Ellen (1994–1998) as well as spots from the Get a Mac Ad campaign (2006- 2009) are analyzed. For the Iranian part (Chapter Three and parts of Chapter Four), the main focus is put on the contemporary Qazvini and Rashti joke cycles, the sexual humour of the classical Persian satirist Ubeyd Zakani (d. ca. 1370), and his modern counterparts. My main argument, given humour’s well-known potential for subversion, may arouse the objection that ridicule always exists as a counterhegemonic tool to resist hegemonic gender norms. I tackle this possibility in the last Chapter Five, where I discuss the possibilities and restraints of feminist and in-group lesbian humour as representative categories of fringe or non- mainstream gender humour. I argue that this resistant humour, due to its minimal normalizing power—compared to the heft of mainstream gender humour—apparently cannot offset the latter’s disciplinary power and thus be effectively subversive of patriarchy. The second problem I focus on is the way gender theories inform prevalent textual analyses of gender humour. Examining the pertinent literature, I argue that the critical blind spots need redress and enrichment. While analyzing gender humour, I argue, many humour scholars either resist gender theories or employ theories incapable of explaining intricacies related to gender. To address this insufficiency, I suggest that we use—as I have done throughout— comprehensive theories that not only embrace multiple masculinities and femininities but also heed the intersection of gender and other identity elements. I use Raewyn Connell’s gender hierarchy model as a case in point. In contrast to much work in gender studies that recognizes, yet understates, ridicule’s political force in favour of gender hierarchy, this research contends that the above force is universal and central, and therefore must be foregrounded in gender studies. Within humour iii studies, too, the research contrasts with exculpatory accounts of humour that downgrade or deny humour’s effect on the social order. My findings indicate that mainstream gender humour, while reflecting the gender order, is most likely to affect that order, too. Finally, unlike much research in feminist humour studies that puts too much hope in seditious functions of fringe or marginal gender humour, I find that such humour cannot find recognition among mainstream audiences unless its underlying assumptions find cultural ascendancy. iv Preface Parts of chapter 1 of this thesis have been published as Abedinifard, Mostafa. “Rev. of Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Humour.” Inquire: Journal of Comparative Literature 2.1 (2012). Web. Parts of chapter 4 of this thesis have been published as Abedinifard, Mostafa. “The Gender Politics of Iraj Mirza’s ‘Aref-Nameh’.” Iran Nameh: Persian Quarterly of Iranian Studies 28.3 (2013): 200-215. v to Soroush and Ava vi Acknowledgements First off, I sincerely thank the University of Alberta and particularly the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies for supporting my studies for four years, during which I developed the current research. Besides, this dissertation could not have been possible without the support of several wonderful people. I owe many especial thanks to my supervisor, Professor Jerry Varsava. During the long period of the research, Dr. Varsava proved to be a very knowledgeable and experienced, reliable, approachable, and patient mentor and friend. While our numerous talks continually assisted me in developing and refining my research interests, Dr. Varsava’s shrewd feedback on my work not only helped me significantly improve the research but also avoid serious pitfalls in it. It has been a real pleasure and privilege working under his supervision. I am also very much grateful to my other Supervisory Committee members, Professors Irene Sywenky and Manijeh Mannani, whose meticulous and conscientious readings of my work always resulted in further improvement of my writing and research. Dr. Mannani’s feedback was especially helpful regarding the Iranian chapters. As members of my Candidacy Exam and/or Examining Committee(s), Professors Daniel Fried, Gary Kelly, and Lahoucine Ouzgane provided helpful and constructive feedback. They all have my gratitude. I am also particularly indebted to my External Reader, Professor Delia Chiaro, for her very helpful comments on the dissertation. Also, I am truly obliged to the professors with whom I took courses, or whose courses I audited, during my PhD program at the University of Alberta. While some of these professors did not have a direct role in the accomplishment of this research, their seminars all provided me with propitious opportunities to hone my reading, analytic, and/or writing skills. These dear Professors are Brad Bucknell, Odile Cisneros, Daniel Fried, Cressida Heyes, Lahoucine Ouzgane, Asma Sayed, Irene Sywenky, and Massimo Verdicchio. Morteza Abedinifard, Janet Afary, Marco Montiel Katz, Michael Lahey, Christelle Paré, Paul Sprachman, Henry Suderman, and Amy Tahani-Madaen, all dear professors, colleagues, or friends, provided many useful readings of my work. I thank them most warmly. I owe a special thank you to Henry, Marco, and Michael for being overly generous with their feedback. Other dear professors and colleagues also liberally shared with me sources and/or viewpoints related to my research. These professors and colleagues, to whom I am very thankful, are Michael Billig, Myra Marx Ferree, Homa Katouzian, Peter McGraw, Nasrin Rahimieh, Mohammad Reza Shadrooymanesh, Evan Siegel, Zahra Tizro, and Shervin Vakili. I am also indebted to my extended family and friends in Iran. While I have been away from them for several years, I have always been inspired by their goodness and love. I am especially grateful to my mom and dad, Afsar and Ebrahim, for their never-ending love and support. Last but not least, I owe countless thanks to my best friend and sweet wife Zeinab and to our children, Soroush and Ava. A while ago, a dear family friend wittily mentioned that upon my defense, the PhD would belong to Zeinab for all her sacrifices during my studies. Although jocular, this friend’s statement, always reminds me of Zeinab’s incredibly helpful support, family management, love, and patience during the lengthy period for this research. All my love and thanks to her! We were blessed with Soroush and Ava during my PhD studies. We cannot be more thankful for their being there all these years. I was always inspired with their unconditional love and cheerful spirit. The opportunity they have granted me to play with them, cuddle them, watch cartoons, read books, listen to music, and share knock-knock jokes with them, gives me incredible energy, helps me feel all the more human, and keeps me hopeful of a better future for humanity, a hope that underlies this research. To that wish, and particularly to a world bereft of gender inequality, I have wholeheartedly dedicated this work to them. vii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. ii Dedication ............................................................................................................................................ vi Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................ vii Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................. viii Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS AND THE OUTLINE OF THE ARGUMENT ............................................... 1 MAIN FIELDS OF STUDY INVOLVED: CONCISE INTRODUCTIONS .......................................................... 3 Masculinities Studies ..................................................................................................................... 3 Critical Humour Studies ................................................................................................................ 6 CORPUS AND METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................. 8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................................ 17 CHAPTER SUMMARIES ....................................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER ONE: Gender Hegemony and Ridicule: The Norm-Reinforcing and Disciplinary Functions of Mainstream Gender Humour ..................................................................................... 22 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 22 RIDICULE AS A MAINTAINER OF HEGEMONIC GENDER RELATIONS: A REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE IN GENDER STUDIES ..................................................................................................... 24 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF RIDICULE AND ITS DISCIPLINARY FUNCTION SINCE ANTIQUITY.............. 29 An Apology for Ridicule and Its Embarrassing Power: Michael Billig’s Theory of Ridicule as a Universal Maintainer of Social Order.......................................................................................... 34 PATRIARCHAL GENDER ORDER: MASCULINITY THEORIST RAEWYN CONNELL’S MODEL OF GENDER HEGEMONY ....................................................................................................................................... 40 Connell’s Gender Hierarchy Model............................................................................................. 41 WHAT MAINTAINS THE GENDER HEGEMONY?: RIDICULE AS AN AGENT OF ABJECTION VIS-À-VIS GENDER ............................................................................................................................................ 52 RIDICULE AND GENDER HEGEMONY: THE NORM-REINFORCING AND DISCIPLINARY FUNCTIONS OF MAINSTREAM GENDER HUMOUR ...................................................................................................... 56 READING THE GENDERED IN HUMOUR: RECONSIDERING GENDER HUMOUR IN LIGHT OF CONNELL’S MODEL ............................................................................................................................................. 66 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................... 72 CHAPTER TWO: Mainstream Gender Humour as Patriarchal Panopticism: The Case of Contemporary Anglo-American Folk and Pop Culture Humour ................................................. 74 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 74 MAINSTREAM GENDER HUMOUR AS PATRIARCHAL PANOPTICISM: RIDICULE AND THE RELATIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDERED SUBJECTIVITIES ................................................................................ 78 Humour and the Fundamental Assumptions of Gender Hierarchy ............................................. 79 Hegemonic Masculinity and Its Others: Humour and the Relational Construction of Dominant Masculinity .................................................................................................................................. 88 Marginalized Masculinities and Femininities: The Cases of the Bodily Non-Normative and Ethnic/Racial Gendered Identities ............................................................................................. 104 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................... 127 viii CHAPTER THREE: Shame, Ridicule, and Gender Order: Iranian Modernity and the Contemporary Iranian Gender Jokelore ....................................................................................... 129 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 129 CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN ETHNIC JOKES: OVERVIEW AND LITERATURE REVIEW........................... 130 THE QAZVINI AND RASHTI JOKE CYCLES: CASE STUDIES OF THEIR SOCIO-HISTORICAL ORIGINS AND POSSIBLE FUNCTIONS ...................................................................................................................... 133 Modern Transformations in Iranian Gender Order and the Laughable Man from Qazvin ........ 135 The Stigmas of Lacking Gheirat and Effat: The Rashti Cuckold and His Wanton Woman as National Lessons ........................................................................................................................ 156 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................... 174 CHAPTER FOUR: Gendered Ridicule as a Persuasive/Punitive Tool: Humour and the Rhetorical Power of Hegemonic Gender Norms ........................................................................... 178 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 178 PHALLOCENTRISM AS A PUNITIVE/PERSUASIVE TOOL IN HUMOUR: FROM CLASSICAL PERSIAN HAJV TO MODERN IRANIAN SATIRE .......................................................................................................... 180 The Rhetorical Power of Anal Integrity in Zakani’s Sexual Satire ........................................... 186 Overlaps in Old and New Gender Structures: Hajv, Gendered Insults, and the Modern Iranian Satire .......................................................................................................................................... 198 GENDERED RIDICULE AS A RHETORICAL TOOL IN CONTEMPORARY ANGLO-AMERICAN HUMOUR: THE CASE OF THE GET A MAC AD CAMPAIGN (2006-2009) ................................................................... 212 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................... 224 CHAPTER FIVE: Fringe Gender Humour and the Subversion of Gender Hierarchy: The Cases of the Feminist and Lesbian Humour .................................................................................. 230 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 230 FRINGE GENDER HUMOUR AND ITS SUBVERSIVE POSSIBILITIES: CHALLENGING THE OPTIMISM IN GENDER HUMOUR STUDIES ........................................................................................................... 2311 Rebellious Gender Humour: The Case of Feminist Humour .................................................... 233 The Disciplinary Functions of Rebellious Humour: Feminist Humour and Its Possible Unsolicited Effects .................................................................................................................... 236 Inclusive Feminist and Lesbian Humour: Solutions? ................................................................ 246 REVIEWING A CASE STUDY: A CRITIQUE OF HELENE SHUGART’S INTERPRETATION OF ELLEN (1994- 1998) .............................................................................................................................................. 259 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................... 265 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 267 Works Cited ...................................................................................................................................... 276 ix Introduction STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS AND THE OUTLINE OF THE ARGUMENT In this dissertation, I will draw on theories and debates in critical humour studies and masculinities studies to contribute to gender and humour studies. As an emergent field within the broader interdisciplinary area of humour studies, critical humour studies primarily involve problematic ethical and socio-political aspects of humour and laughter. Masculinities studies, which overlap feminist studies, adopt a critical attitude towards masculinity and mainly aim to disclose non-democratic and detrimental forms of masculinity. I engage two crucial problems and propose solutions and possibilities. To support my claims, I cite and analyze various instances of gendered folk and popular culture humour from (contemporary) Iranian and Anglo- American (mainly the U.S. and the U.K.) societies and cultures. The first problem I examine is the state of the concept of ridicule—as a form or aspect of humour—within gender-related debates. More specifically, I focus on ridicule’s place in both challenging and enforcing gender hegemony. In many theoretical discussions related to gender, ridicule and disparaging humour are frequently mentioned as insidious social control strategies through which certain forms of masculinity and femininity become subject to abjection. While recognizing such a function for ridicule, the above debates never grant ridicule any theoretical significance. Reviewing the related literature and connecting it with some masculinities theorists’ debates on what helps sustain gender hegemony, I draw on Michael Billig’s discussion of ridicule as a universal reinforcer of the social order to argue that ridicule, in the form of gender humour, apparently plays a central panoptical role in enforcing inequitable gender relations. As a pervasive disciplinary tool, ridicule can induce self-regulation in social agents’ gender 1

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LITERATURE IN GENDER STUDIES . mechanisms, in patriarchal societies, work to deter people from attempting, or even feeling the Game of Humor, titled “Sex, Sexist, and Scatalogical Humor,” largely draws upon Legman's
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