- 200 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
The concept of ethnic, racial, and gender humor is as sensitive a subject today as it has ever been; yet at no time in the past have we had such a quantity of this humor circulating throughout society. We can see the power of such content manifested continually in our culture's films and stand-up comedy routines, as well as on popular TV sitcoms, where Jewish, black, Asian, Hispanic, and gay characters and topics have seemingly become essential to comic scenarios. Though such humor is often cruel, it can be a source of pride and play among minorities, women, and gays. Leon Rappoport's incisive account takes an in-depth look at ethnic, racial and gender humor. Despite the polarization that is often apparent in the debates such humor evokes, the most important melting pot in this country may be the one that we enter when we share a laugh at ourselves.
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Table of contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: The Hazards and Joys of Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Humor
- 1. The Sword and Shield Metaphor and Other Perspectives
- 2. What Makes Us Laugh: Humor Theory and Research from Plato and Aristotle to Sigmund Freud
- 3. Prejudice, Pride, and Play in Ethnic Comedy
- 4. The Origins and Psychology of Stereotypes and Slurs
- 5. The Dominant Role of Jews and African Americans: Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and the Culture of Irony
- 6. Jewish and African American Roots Humor: Saving Grace in the Face of Oppression
- 7. Males versus Females, Gays versus Straights, and the Varieties of Gender Humor
- 8. The "New Breed" of Comedians and Transformation of Ethnicity
- 9. Becoming a Comedian: Ethnicity Helps but Is Not Enough
- 10. In Defense of Ethnic Humor and Its Role in Our Multicultural Society
- Bibliography
- Index