Gender Roles in Humor

Gender roles can be defined as the set of behavioral patterns assigned to men and women by their society. Gender roles are not static; individuals constantly display their gender-related stance. One of the ways of constructing gender is through humor. As a medium of social self-construction, humor plays into this in a number of different ways, such as through its ability to establish solidarity, impose power upon others, and make oneself available as a potential mate. Gender plays a determining role in people's social interactions. The last few decades have shown a transition of gender research from an essentialist stance (i.e., the way people talk is predetermined by their gender) to a social constructionist one (i.e., gender as a way of placing the individual in ...