Shameless comedy: investigating shame as an exposure effect of contemporary sexist and feminist rape jokes

Abstract

This article adds to the conversation of controversial feminist humour by moving away from debates as to whether rape jokes can be funny or feminist and instead examining how they may impact feminist women and female sexual assault survivors. Beginning with a brief discussion of shame’s characteristics and uses, this work investigates various critical status difference factors including the kind of rape joke (sexist or feminist), the gender of the comedian, the composition of the audience, the social setting, and the level of trust, to determine how rape jokes create or alieve shame in female feminist audience members. By studying contemporary rape jokes from comedians including Daniel Tosh, Dave Chappelle, Jim Jefferies, Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, and Heather Jordan Ross, through an affective lens, this research shows that whereas sexist rape jokes told by male comedians to a mostly male audience may force women to experience shame (whether intentionally or unintentionally), feminist rape jokes told by female comedians are more likely to eliminate or prevent shame.