Humor and performing gender on TV cooking shows

A central aspect of humor is its social function in relating to others and in performing gender. Drawing on insights from interactional sociolinguistics and gender studies, this article explores the relationship between humor and gender in the context of one US instructional tv cooking show The Pion...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Matwick, Keri, Matwick, Kelsi
Other Authors: School of Humanities
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/86249
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49280
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:A central aspect of humor is its social function in relating to others and in performing gender. Drawing on insights from interactional sociolinguistics and gender studies, this article explores the relationship between humor and gender in the context of one US instructional tv cooking show The Pioneer Woman. The gender element, while essential to performed humor, is often neglected in research on humor, language, and the media; therefore, this paper looks into how humor is signaled in the cooking show individually and jointly. Humorous joking of the female host Ree Drummond is discussed, specifically self-directed humor and teasing as expressed in personal stories and exaggeration. The ambiguity of the humorous messages reveals contradictory messages: on the one hand, self-deprecating humor reveals feelings of inadequacy for not meeting gendered status quo, and on the other hand, teasing and self-deprecation function as a persuasive strategy to promote the celebrity’s cooking and brand.