The Dad Joke Syndrome: How Shifting Power Dynamics are affecting the Subversivness of Feminist Humor

Abstract

Humor's subaltern power to subvert hierarchies has been utilized by several marginalized groups to target unjust power structures. However, contemporary feminist calls to reshape this art form into their own image might hinder its efficacy. This study aims to investigate the extent to which the political and ideological incentives to combat negative stereotypes and to develop an original theory of comedy is diminishing the quality and the subversiveness of feminist humor. To test this hypothesis a thematic analysis of several lists of feminist jokes was employed. These lists were divided into two major categories: jokes that were labeled as inclusive by feminist standards and the other category involved jokes with ridicule and self-deprecation content. The results show that lists that fit the description of inclusivity for feminists fail to meet the characteristics of subversive humor because they are only enjoyed by feminist themselves and their sympathizers. When the creators of these jokes resorted to traditionally male comedic tactics such as ridicule and self-deprecation they succeeded in meeting those characteristics. These results suggest that feminist humor’s diminishing subversiveness is due to a combination of a shift in social and political power dynamics in favor of feminism and the over stressing on inferring ideological messages at the expense of the aesthetics of humor.