Abstract
Gender-related humors have their own way of being funny; and this research aims to find out how and why they are funny. For this purpose, both researchers have collected 50 gender cyber humors and analyzed them, first, to decode how their logical mechanism relates to specific linguistic features, and secondly, to uncover how gender stereotyping contributes to the comical effects. The twisting of logic and linguistic ambiguity is analyzed formally using Attardos (2001) General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) and supported by gender studies. The findings reveal that the logical mechanism consists of elements of incongruities, and gender stereotyping presents negative stereotypical images. The analysis further shows that some gender stereotypical images ridicule traditional roles of man and woman while others make fun of non-traditional representations. This shift from women only to both men and women as targets of gender humors has been an impact of effective feminist movements.
Highlights
Almost everyone agrees that humors are creatively produced and intended to be humorous
The second sub-section discusses gender stereotypes in gender humors, pointing out which stereotypes belong to which gender and why, and explaining the shifting tendency from the traditional male dominance to the non-traditional male-and-female equality
Gender humors have a unique way of triggering laughter, by twisting the logical structure of the humorous text and by depreciating either the male or female party
Summary
Almost everyone agrees that humors are creatively produced and intended to be humorous. The health benefits of humor are well documented by the scientific and medical community (Bennett, 2006). Because of their virtues, we can find them almost everywhere in our daily lives, such as in media and social interactions. Not every humor fascinates people; there are some humors which are considered to be more negative phenomena. In this case, it refers to those with crude ideas behind them and they should not be taken for granted in the academic world, e.g. ethnic jokes, political humors, gender humors, and many others
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