Women and Humor ((4 Credits))

Catalog description

What is women's humor? Why has humor by women been largely resisted or overlooked? This study will examine women's use of humor as a form of social protest. In particular, we will look at the movement away from domestic humor of 19th century writers toward the use of satire by writers of the interwar period to the return of domestic humor in the 1950s and the revisioning of female and feminist humor today. Students will gain knowledge of theories of humor and satire as well as an understanding of the changing role of women in America from the 1850s to the present.