TV comedy has a woman problem. The representation of women in comedy in general is depressingly low, and it’s especially obvious on television, where most of the faces people see on screen are not only male, but white. In 2010, women’s site Jezebel called out The Daily Show for the lack of women on screen and in the writer’s room, arguing that while the show was progressive, groundbreaking, and hilarious in many ways, ultimately, the lack of women was a noticeable and profound slap in the face. The show’s female staffers responded publicly, but their response didn’t address the larger issue: why were so few of the show’s correspondents women?
Then it was SNL’s turn, as the venerable sketch comedy show recently featured actress Kerry Washington as a guest and forced her to play every Black woman in each sketch she appeared in because it has no Black cast members. Her appearance seemed to be a rather hipster racist poke at critics of the show’s lack of diversity—the show took the route of disingenuous self-awareness in a setting that made it clear the producers didn’t really understand the problem with the show’s racial imbalances. (The two Black men on the cast have declared they’ll no longer solve the diversity problem by appearing in drag, with one of the actors helpfully saying there just aren’t enough good Black women in comedy.)
And now the Colbert Report has been singled out for the lack of women on staff, with Colbert responding in an utterly puzzling fashion, declaring that he ‘doesn’t know why’ more women aren’t on the show, and he’s equally confused by the lack of people of colour on the staff. Oddly enough, he states that the show has a colour and gender-neutral casting process (applicants submit writing samples), but unlike producer Shonda Rhimes, who uses a similar method, his show is mysteriously male and white. What a mysterious coincidence!
In the raging conversations about all three shows, some common threads have appeared. Many people seem to believe that women—in particular women of colour—aren’t funny and thus don’t appear on comedy shows simply because they’re not good enough. (Such logic also explains, of course, issues like the lack of representation of women in the sciences—they’re just bad at science, everyone, stop freaking out!) Despite the numerous women comedians rising up to declare that this logic is utterly absurd and providing compelling evidence to prove it, white male comedians seem to cling to the idea that women just don’t have the right kind of humour to belong on such programmes.
As Whoopi Goldberg points out, it’s not like these are new issues. The lack of women in comedy, and SNL’s struggles with depicting Black women, has been an ongoing problem that has less to do with the ineptness of women in comedy than it does with sexism in terms of casting, opportunities, and show development. (Where, for example, is the female equivalent to The Daily Show or The Colbert Report?) She notes that SNL has had a woman problem for over 15 years and it should hardly be remarkable now, with a raised eyebrow and a challenge to the community, asking why this conversation seems to be just starting.
Comedian Nefetari Spencer recently spoke with Salon about her 2008 audition for a spot on the show after its sole woman of colour left the cast. After making it all the way to the final test, she was ultimately not chosen, despite the fact that, as she pointed out, SNL would be hurting for someone to play the role of Michelle Obama. “I can’t speak for all African-American women who do sketch but I can say I think there are some out there who are ready. Hell, I thought I was ready but maybe not,” she said, stressing the fact that there are Black women ready to take up comedic roles, if offered an opportunity.
The white and male production teams of comedy shows at least pretend to be genuinely puzzled about why there are few women, and even fewer women of colour, among their ranks. This doesn’t speak well of men who are obviously intelligent, observant, and quick on their feet, all traits vitally necessary for performing well in comedy, and particularly in sketch comedy like that on SNL. In the face of such obvious gender imbalances, something is clearly going wrong, and has been going wrong for a long time. Even as comedians like Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes, Whoopi Goldberg, and more keep audiences laughing, they’re denied the opportunities their male counterparts get, and are forced to work twice as hard for half the recognition.
SNL’s somewhat petulant skit seemed to suggest that people are demanding some sort of quota or parity programme, making light of the idea that it should behave with some degree of social responsibility when it comes to casting. But perhaps what comedy needs actually is some form of affirmative action, a recognition that women in comedy are presented with more stumbling blocks and barriers and thus need to be considered with more care during the process of casting shows and guest stars.
And they also need to be considered more seriously as producers, writers, and developers. Mindy Kaling’s eponymous half-hour comedy has proved to be an exception to the rule that women aren’t allowed to develop comedies, and it’s proved to have staying power. We need more woman-powered shows on television in order to balance out the ranks and combat the sexist and outdated notion that women can’t be funny, or don’t have ‘the right kind of humour’ for given comedy environments.
The problem here isn’t the women and their pesky lack of humour or refusal to apply for positions on comedy shows, but the shows themselves—and their pesky sexism.