General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why are almost all TV comedy "idiots, buffoons and dumbasses" male? [View all]cheyanne
(733 posts)It's the same reason that lots of comedy is built around men bumbling around.
It's funny because a man is socially of a higher level than a woman; he innately has more power. When a lower-class woman dons mens' clothing it's not funny because there is nothing funny about a lower class person imitating an upper-class person: that's normal human behavior.
But for a man to don the social signifier of a woman is an inversion of human behavior. It's funny because a higher-class person can never really lose their innate power.
A lot of humor is built around is about this inversion: in the middle ages the would be one day a year (I forget which) when the peasants would take the persona of the clergy and nobles. It was considered funny then and it's considered funny today.
Hint: we'll know that we have gender equality when these man inversion jokes are no longer funny.