Last night during the Emmys I saw Hannah Gadsby give one of the funniest award presentations I’ve seen. She blatantly said she was invited because she hates men, in what was clearly a self-deprecating joke based on the politically charged ceremony and her hyper-feminist appearance. She then told all the men in a sarcastic manner to relax, it was just a joke. Fittingly, the award was presented to a man who wasn’t even at the ceremony: best director for The Crown, Stephen Daldry.
This morning I found a video of it on YouTube. Predictably, many men were hating on her in the comments section. The only positive comments were from women. So, I lit a fire and said, “I’m a man and this was hilarious.” Now I’m getting the same kind of reaction she is!
These men clearly aren’t getting her act. She’s dressed up like a man while acting like a man-hating feminist (maybe she is, but she’s a comedian first), intentionally provoking a reaction from them to elevate her humor. The hypocrisy of her act is so extreme that I find it difficult to see how anyone could take her seriously. I don’t think these men can see past her appearance; it seems just because she looks like a man, it threatens their manhood on some level. Then when she says what she says, the threat gets amplified because they are blinded by their impressions.
The same goes for what I said. I am comfortable enough with my sexuality not to be offended when a comedian says she hates men. Yet the replies I get are that I don’t know what comedy is and I should turn in my man card. Am I not a man because I thought her joke was funny? As Sherlock Holmes would say, "Dull!"
It says a lot of about the state of sexuality in our culture. Hannah might be doing fine in Australia, but America will be a far greater challenge. As a young up-and-coming comedian, who might have started a whole new genre of comedy, I applaud her for having the courage to take this big step. May she go far and not let the brutes get her down.
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