Have you heard the one about what Stewart Lee was wearing at his last gig? Or the one about the gendered material of Ken Dodd? No, neither have I. When it comes to comedy, it’s impossible to shy away from the fact that women have a tougher time of it than men. Female comedians are judged more heavily on their material, but also on their looks, appearance, mothering skills, sexual status … the list goes on.
But not only do women get judged more harshly as performers, they also account for only around 10% of the industry – with most of the top gigs and pay packets going to men.
This discrimination that occurs in the comedy industry is, on one level, a microcosm of what happens in society. So although women are now much more prominent on the comedy circuit, the sad truth is that there is still a long way to go before women get heckled in the same way as men.
That’s why Amazon’s new comedy series, The Marvellous Mrs Maisel – which features a woman with a knack for stand-up – is depressingly brilliant. Depressing because, although the show is set in the 1960s, its observations about the industry are frustratingly relevant to this day. And brilliant because the show’s creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, has seen there is clearly a growing appetite for women in the funny roles – after a successful showing of its pilot, the show has been picked up for two seasons.
The female comic
The US stand-up Amy Schumer recently asserted during an award acceptance speech, that the act of being a female comic is in fact an act of feminism since it strongly suggests that a “woman’s comedic voice is as valuable as a man’s”.
My own research looks at the “constrained voice” of the female stand up. This is the idea that the female comedy voice is so heavily scrutinised, and has been entrenched in patriarchy to such an extent that the female comic is inhibited and unable to express herself authentically.
In this way, the female comedy performer’s career path is unlikely to be very easy, since she, by the very nature of her act, invalidates cultural norms of respectability and traditional femininity.
The funny woman
To try and tackle the inherent sexism in the comedy industry, some time ago the BBC banned all-male panel shows – pledging to include one female in each programme.
But such gestures have led to a kind of “spotlight effect” where the elected woman may feel responsible for representing all women – and are then potentially scrutinised as “the woman” in a male-dominated show.
It can also lead to the female guest in question finding herself part of a tired format that relies on heavy editing. This is probably why stories on the comedy circuit of women loathing those gigs are plentiful.
Women on top
To stop this from being the case, there needs to be more done to get the numbers, and the ratio of men to women equal in comedy. It wouldn’t be hard; there’s no shortage of funny women for these shows.
Similarly, there needs to be an equal number of women on comedy bills, as well as more female sketch shows and female-centred sitcoms commissioned by TV channels. Getting more female directors involved would also help make programmes relevant for the 50.8% of the population who aren’t male.
The Marvellous Mrs Maisel is written and directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino who created the Gilmore Girls. Instagram.com/maiseltv
It is clear then that just like Miriam Maisel in early 1960s New York, many female comedians and comedy fans are still frustratingly waiting for a time when the female comedy performer is judged solely on her ability to make people laugh.
But until then, despite the fact that women have to work much harder to gain the respect of their audience – and their peers – it is encouraging to see a new generation of female comedy talent coming up through the ranks to share their voices with the world. Whether it’s a world that’s ready for them yet, though, is another issue.
As a female actor in my mid 50s I’ve never felt more invisible, neither have I felt angrier. There are few parts out there for women my age and as much as there are some decent roles for the big guns – think Frances McDormand in Nomadland, Catherine O'Hara in Schitt’s Creek or Jane Fonda in Grace and Frankie – there simply aren’t enough to go around. It’s thoroughly depressing and it feels like it’s getting worse.
Research from 2019 found that older women are often relegated to supporting roles in films – or are consistently portrayed as grumpy, frumpy or senile.
The study analysed representations of older adults, in the top-grossing films of 2019 in Germany, France, the UK and the US – with a specific focus on women aged 50 and over. The study found there weren’t any women over 50 cast in leading roles in 2019’s top films, while two men over 50 were featured as leads. And when older women did appear, they were cast stereotypically.
Another study from 2018 found that only 35% of the top-grossing films from that year featured 10 or more female speaking characters. Compare this to the 82% that had 10 or more male characters in speaking roles.
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Similarly, an analysis of over 10,000 films made in the UK between 1911 and 2017 found the gender mix in UK film casts has not improved since the end of the second world war. Female actors have also tended to make fewer films and have had shorter careers than male actors.
The analysis also found that unnamed characters who work in high-skilled occupations, such as a doctor, are also much more likely to be portrayed by men.
Caroline Noakes MP, the chair of the women and inequalities committee, has highlighted this issue on Twitter saying she has written to Ofcom to ask for a meeting about the under representation of women aged over 45 by UK broadcasters.
Written out
What’s perhaps most disturbing is the impact this is having on women and girls of all ages. It’s a painful irony that a multi-billion pound industry, purporting to mirror real life is essentially erasing women’s stories from our screens.
And when older women are shown, TV and film casting often favours women who have bodies that are the shapes and sizes of younger women. Research from the US has linked this to eating disorders and negative body image in older women.
The same goes for women behind the camera. In the US, for example, women comprised just 8% of directors working on the top 250 US domestic grossing films in 2018.
Victoria Mapplebeck, professor in digital arts at Royal Holloway University of London has recently written about how she was unable to continue working as a film director after she had a child. She writes:
"I had to give up my career as a director overnight, realising that the insecurity of a freelancer didn’t mesh with being a single parent. Flexible working wasn’t on the table 17 years ago. Back then you were expected to work long hours and weekends. I knew this would be impossible while raising my son alone."
Unable to get funding, she took matters into her own hands and used to iPhone to make a new documentary. She won a Bafta for her smartphone short Missed Call.
Women off-screen
In my work as an actor and writer, I’ve witnessed how the industry treats older women – if I send a script to a producer, for example, I’m inclined to include only my initials.
I have recently written and performed a spoken word piece to raise awareness of this issue, in support of the Acting your Age campaign, which calls for equal career trajectory for men and women in the entertainment industry.
My piece talks to the Silver Foxes – the men of the industry: “bossing stage and screen, being seen while his female counterparts gather dust…tentatively wondering if surgery is an option”.
The campaign, started by actor and campaigner, Nicky Clarke, has been supported by the likes of David Tennant, Julie Graham, John Simm, Amanda Abbingdon, Ray Winstone and Juliet Stevenson.
Hugh Quarshie, a Ghanaian-born British actor, who has also backed the campaign, likened the invisibility of older women on screen to past black representations in TV and film. He says serious pressure must be put on the producers and broadcasters to provoke rapid change and deal with the problem of invisibility.
As part of her research for the campaign, Clarke found that only 9% of UK viewers can recognise more than 15 women over the age of 45 on our screens compared to 48% of viewers who can easily identify more than 15 men of that age on screen.
While 50/50 gender split in roles and more older women cast in TV and film will help matters, what we really need is more women behind the camera and in the writing studios telling stories that women of all ages want to hear.
In the age of multiple streaming services, this should be possible. Particularly so given that women watch and stream more TV shows than men. Women’s viewership needs to be valued, indeed, as the end of my poem states: “Beware, Beware, Beware…she ain’t going nowhere”.