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Towards a feminist funny

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Date Issued:
2011
Summary:
Chelsea Handler is a comedian and host of the TV show Chelsea Lately. She has been successful in the late night comedy talk show genre to a degree that no woman has before. While she represents the most significant advancement for women in the genre, she also plays to patriarchal themes in order to maintain her foothold. In my thesis, I locate Handler within the history of women's stand-up comedy, analyzing her appeal via the figure of "The Unruly Woman" and other image types. I apply a mythic analysis as I look for Handler's manifestation of mythic types, including archetypal Goddess representations. I analyze her treatment of violence against women, exploring how Handler approaches these themes in ways that allow her into the "old boys club." I use textual and audience analysis to assess Handler's ability to be a transformative and empowering figure for women in comedy and beyond.
Title: Towards a feminist funny: exploring myth, power and postfeminism in the work of Chelsea Handler.
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Name(s): Walleser, Lauren.
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Issued: 2011
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
Extent: viii, 138 p. : ill. (some col.)
Language(s): English
Summary: Chelsea Handler is a comedian and host of the TV show Chelsea Lately. She has been successful in the late night comedy talk show genre to a degree that no woman has before. While she represents the most significant advancement for women in the genre, she also plays to patriarchal themes in order to maintain her foothold. In my thesis, I locate Handler within the history of women's stand-up comedy, analyzing her appeal via the figure of "The Unruly Woman" and other image types. I apply a mythic analysis as I look for Handler's manifestation of mythic types, including archetypal Goddess representations. I analyze her treatment of violence against women, exploring how Handler approaches these themes in ways that allow her into the "old boys club." I use textual and audience analysis to assess Handler's ability to be a transformative and empowering figure for women in comedy and beyond.
Identifier: 761026594 (oclc), 3322513 (digitool), FADT3322513 (IID), fau:3741 (fedora)
Note(s): by Lauren Walleser.
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Handler, Chelsea
Women in popular culture
Feminist theory
Performance art -- Social aspects
Mass media and women
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3322513
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU