"Why are the 'bros' funnier?"

A few weeks ago, I was at a speech tournament that had a talent show. We were busy discussing some ideas for acts that could be funny when one of my teammates commented, “I wish I were a bro, so I could be funny.”

I was immediately taken aback by this statement, so I asked for clarification. She elaborated, saying, “If I do one of these acts, it might be kind of funny, but if a bro did it, it would be so much funnier. The bros are just funnier.”

For the first time ever at a speech tournament, I was left speechless. The conversation left me in awe at my teammate’s nonchalance towards this supposed truth, making me wonder what had led her to believe this so fully.

I had always known about the gender gap between men and women in comedy, but I had never thought about how much it is ingrained in us that women ‘just aren’t as funny.’ According to Katie Sayer of The Oxford Student, “Even in terms of representation, a study of comedy blockbusters revealed that there are, on average, 2.24 male characters for every female character with speaking lines.” Furthermore, Sayer reports, “A BBC study found that 53% of women experience sexual harassment at work. For female stand up comedians, that figure rises to 75%, with 25% of female comedians having been molested by a fellow comedian.”

Margot Keeler of The Women’s Network was shocked that when she googled “famous comedians,” she “had to scroll past almost 20 names on two pages to get to a female comedian.” Although we all can quickly identify successful woman comedians like Jennifer Coolidge, it is important to note how much harder it was for these women to garner recognition in an already-grueling business. In the article “Standing Up: Feminism in Comedy,” Alex Salvi references the concept of “Girls’ Nights” in comedy clubs, saying: “The notion that one night is dedicated to an entire gender is a testament to the gender disparity in the industry.”

In The Guardian, Dean Burnett reports that “clichés like ‘women comedians only talk about women things’…can usually be translated as ‘women comedians talk about things from the perspective of a woman.’” He explains that the degradation of women in comedy can be attributed to society’s opposition towards women’s voices. For centuries, women’s voices were and still are stifled, which can cause the response to female-led comedy, an art that depends primarily on individual voices, to be poorly received.

Comedian Mindy Kaling adds, “I never want to be called the funniest Indian female comedian that exists. I feel like I can go head-to-head with the best white, male comedy writers that are out there. Why would I want to self-categorize myself into a smaller group than I'm able to compete in?” Female comedians are just as capable as any other comedians and it is important that the playing field be leveled so that all funny voices can be heard. Furthermore, Kaling illustrates the deeper issues of intersectionality in comedy. As difficult as it is for white women to become successful comedians, it is even more systemically difficult for women of color to find the same success.

Comedy is an art that requires the bravery to stand up in front of people and do everything in your power to make them laugh. Any audience is difficult to succeed in front of, but performing in front of one that is conditioned to believe that women aren’t funny is even more difficult. We are capable of becoming the ideal audience for all comedians, so let’s make room onstage for more than just “the bros.”