Laughing All the Way to the Polls

By Audrey Bilger, Bitch Magazine. Posted January 5, 2006.

Once upon a time, politics was serious business.

These days, however, presidential merit is measured as much by frat-house standards as by traditional approval ratings (apparently, American voters would rather have a beer with Bush than with Kerry), and a well-timed joke can sometimes sway public opinion more effectively than a reasoned argument.

Thanks to the advent of television as a force in politics -- not to mention the rise of 24-hour news channels and the internet -- politicians now work closely with comedy writers to add laugh lines to their speeches and, in the process, improve their images.

But when it comes to women in politics, the rise of humor as a campaign requirement only makes their efforts more difficult. Former Texas governor Ann Richards may have gotten laughs at the 1988 Democratic National Convention when she described George H.W. Bush as having been born "with a silver foot in his mouth," but she also made enemies. A few years later, when George the Younger defeated Richards for the governorship, his supporters cited that very line as a particular offense.

Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins, in an interview with political analysts Sue Tolleson-Rinehart and Jeanie R. Stanley for their 1994 book Claytie and the Lady, said of Richards: "I think…[one] thing that men find very threatening is funny women. I mean, with Ann it was a real problem…. They just did not know what to make of her…. If they realize that a woman can be funny, I think men are afraid that that tone can be used against them. And they don't like it."

In 19th- and early 20th-century America, women were generally viewed as entirely lacking in a sense of humor, and witty women were deemed not only aberrant but most likely sexually promiscuous. It's arguable whether things have changed much since then: While there are certainly more female humorists now, the shibboleth "women just aren't funny" persists everywhere from comedy clubs to TV networks to high schools.

None of this has ever kept women from being funny, of course, but the substance of their humor continues to be subject to the judgment of men, who have historically deemed themselves arbiters of what's funny, not to mention who's funny.

Simply put, a woman who makes jokes -- much like a woman who seeks public office -- steps outside the bounds of traditional femininity. So when it comes to women using humor in the realm of politics, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Ann Richards herself recognized that having a flair for the witty remark was a mixed blessing. Early in her career, she received numerous invitations to speak at roasts, and even though she enjoyed these appearances, she realized the potential pitfalls. As she wrote in her 1989 autobiography Straight from the Heart:

I was always worried because there is a general feeling that if you're funny you're not serious. People don't know how many brain cells it takes to be funny…. Humor is a powerful tool. It clears the air. Once you laugh, your mind is opened and then you are able to hear the other things that are being said to you.

Richards's statement encapsulates a primary issue facing women in politics: Humor can be an extremely effective political tool, but a woman who wields it risks appearing frivolous or ditzy. Rather than denoting confidence and power, a woman's sense of humor can also be radically misunderstood, and even used against her.

Experts on humor have long recognized its power to put people at ease and to make them more receptive to the humorist's point of view. In recent elections, candidates perceived as stiff and too cerebral (hi, John and Al!) came under media attack for lacking personality. Every candidate knows it's important to smile for the cameras because frowns and serious looks don't go over well.

Toss gender into the mix and things get more complicated. A woman who is perceived as too serious, like Hillary Rodham Clinton, gets called a ballbreaker; a woman who is too funny, as Ann Richards worried, might not be taken seriously. Male politicians have to strike a balance between the comic and the serious, but women, as the saying about Ginger Rogers's dancing goes, have to do it backwards and in high heels.

For those seeking the highest political office in this country, a sense of humor is essential for currying public favor. Gerald Gardner, who collects examples of presidential humor, asks in his 1986 book All the Presidents' Wits: The Power of Presidential Humor, "Why is it that if a man [sic] wishes to hold the most demanding position on the face of the earth, he must be able to tell a joke?"

He cites Ronald Reagan's comedic ability as one of the reasons for the Gipper's enormous popularity, and underscores the tendency of American voters to choose personality over substance. "A sense of humor," according to Dwight D. Eisenhower, "is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done."

Audrey Bilger researches and writes on women's humor. She lives in California.

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from AlterNet! Sign up now »