<
https://theconversation.com/russell-brand-how-the-comedy-industry-uses-humour-to-abuse-and-silence-women-213885>
"Over the last ten years I have been researching the barriers to women’s
participation in the UK comedy circuit. During that time, it became clear to me
that the live comedy industry has a particular susceptibility to fostering
spaces of abuse.
Recent allegations against comedian Russell Brand were published by
The Sunday
Times,
The Times and Channel 4’s
Dispatches. Brand has denied the
allegations in a video posted to his Instagram account.
Much discussion about the allegations has highlighted the possibility that
celebrity status can be leveraged to abuse and silence women. There has not
been as much attention, however, to the way Brand’s persona as a comedian and
the specifics of the comedy industry may have influenced events.
The live comedy industry (as with many creative industries) employs a huge
number of precarious freelancers. It is therefore sadly unsurprising that power
imbalances exist between comedy bookers, producers or household-name talent and
those starting out on the circuit.
Comedy as an industry, both in its live and media forms, continues to be male
dominated and so these power imbalances are gendered. Women and non-binary
comedians encounter sexually abusive behaviour and misogyny on the circuit with
startling regularity.
But there’s something that can make the industry a particularly toxic
environment: the comedy itself. The interactions baked into the live comedy
industry (both on and off stage) make it simultaneously easier for those in
power (mostly men) to obscure sexually aggressive behaviour and misogyny, and
harder for women to speak up against it."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
