I am going to be analyzing the humor behind gender differences, but more specifically the use of humor within the LGBTQ community. Using the book "Gender Outlaw" by Kate Bornstein, I plan on analyzing how she uses humor to try to convey her message about transsexualism.
Starting off in the beginning of the novel, the first sentence written by Bornstein, a MtF transsexual (Born a Male, transitioned to Female) says "People are starting to ask me about fashion. I love that! Maybe they think the doctor sewed in some fashion sense during my genital conversion surgery" (Bornstein 3). Right off the bat, Bornstein gives one of the big differences attributed to gender, sex, and sexuality. Women and homosexual men have a higher sense of fashion than heterosexual men do.
I already know that there are great differences in what is found funny between males and females (sex) and masculinity and femininity (gender). In many ways, the best humor about gender differences comes from satirical comedy, such as this work that I am analyzing. I want to explore just how different the genders can be as well as explore how the LGBTQ community would probably tend to find this book funnier than the heterosexual community.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Humor and Persuasion
Personally, I believe humor can help in persuasion, although I will admit that other forms of pathos could help much much more. The article for the week explains that at times, humor did help the bargain because it helped relieve the stress of the buyer, and they were more willing to pay a higher amount at this point.
There are, of course, a lot of differences that need to be taken into account, if possible, before using humor to try to sell a product. The first difference, the one that the article addressed, is that of sex. Males and females generally have a different view of what's humorous and what is not. In my own experience, I find that males laugh out loud more often, but females tend to find more things slightly funny, and smile more, or laugh quietly more often. In addition, males tend to laugh at more inappropriate things, such as South Park or Toilet Humor, whereas females tend to laugh at more sophisticated comedy, like the movie The Proposal, or shows that do not involve crude humor, such as How I Met Your Mother. (There are of course exceptions to this, but I have personally found this to be true for most cases).
Perhaps one of the best places to look for humor in advertisements is just about any ad that takes place during the Super Bowl.
I know personally, this one is one of my favorite commercials to come out of the 2009 Super Bowl. It is trying to sell a diet soda to men, more specifically Pepsi Max.
While personally I enjoy diet soda as it is, this commercial is just hilarious. But I always enjoy watching other people get injured. It's the whole Schadenfreude idea, that we take pleasure out of someone's pain. This commercial uses that very well. Every time I watch it I literally laugh out loud.
There are, of course, a lot of differences that need to be taken into account, if possible, before using humor to try to sell a product. The first difference, the one that the article addressed, is that of sex. Males and females generally have a different view of what's humorous and what is not. In my own experience, I find that males laugh out loud more often, but females tend to find more things slightly funny, and smile more, or laugh quietly more often. In addition, males tend to laugh at more inappropriate things, such as South Park or Toilet Humor, whereas females tend to laugh at more sophisticated comedy, like the movie The Proposal, or shows that do not involve crude humor, such as How I Met Your Mother. (There are of course exceptions to this, but I have personally found this to be true for most cases).
Perhaps one of the best places to look for humor in advertisements is just about any ad that takes place during the Super Bowl.
I know personally, this one is one of my favorite commercials to come out of the 2009 Super Bowl. It is trying to sell a diet soda to men, more specifically Pepsi Max.
While personally I enjoy diet soda as it is, this commercial is just hilarious. But I always enjoy watching other people get injured. It's the whole Schadenfreude idea, that we take pleasure out of someone's pain. This commercial uses that very well. Every time I watch it I literally laugh out loud.
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