During this semester in Comparative Ethnic Studies 101 we have discussed ideology and racialization in the United States; and have examined how race and social class intersect and are co-constitutive in the making of social identities in the United States. Ideology is the set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society. While doing some research on Ideology I came across a statement on Wikipedia which states “When most people in a society think alike about certain matters, or even forget that there are alternatives to the status quo, we arrive at the concept of hegemony.” This is similar to ideology because it is the idea of a dominant control or influence over others. For our Final group presentation we were asked to present any topic related to the discipline of Comparative Ethnic Studies. The group I was a part of decided to look at stereotypes portrayed through standup comedy routines. We chose to look at routines from Dave Chappell, Jeff Dunham, George Lopez, Martin Lawrence and Anjelah Johnson. Each comedian has a different racial background. We then researched some general stereotypes and found that:
African American Stereotypes:
- Irresponsible - Teen Pregnancy- Drop-outs- Incarcerated- Love fried chicken and Kool-Aid- Lazy- Athletic- Violent- Live in the ghetto/the projects- Loud, obnoxious, and rude- Nappy hair- Bad attitudes, disrespectful- Hoodlums- Poor- Obese- Sex, drugs, porn, weed- Guns- Low job expectations
Caucasian Stereotypes:
- Trailer trash, redneck- Sense of entitlement, power- always think they're right- Rich with big houses- Have better jobs- Racist- Smart- Drink a lot of beer- No rhythm and bad music- Can't discipline their kids- Stuck-up- Nerds- Always in a hurry and on time- Impatient, rude- Scared- Serious
Latino Stereotypes:
- Construction workers- Flirtatious, lots of PDA- Family-oriented- Dangerous, gang members- Taking over everything- Filling cars with people- Illegal immigrants- Hard workers, odd jobs- Thieves- Ruthless- Fake teeth- Jewelry- Greasy hair- Spicy food- Run-down houses- Don't use their intelligence- Nosy- Too many kids
Asian American Stereotypes:
- Good students/studious- Intelligent- Bad drivers- Strict parents- Lots of relatives- Watch anime
- Musically talented- Hello Kitty- Eager to please- Passive- Honor tradition- Stingy
Native Americans:
- Nature lovers- Wise elders- Drunk/alcoholic- Savage- Poor- Violent
As we watched the routines and compared the stereotypes we decided to question whether or not these comedian’s jokes were focused around their own race or if they were focusing on another race. For example Dave Chappell pokes fun at his own racial stereotypes the clip we watched Chappell talks about how much African American’s like chicken. On the other hand in the clip we watched of Jeff Dunham he uses a puppet named Achmed who is suppose to be a dead terrorist. Dunham uses Achmed to bring Middle Eastern stereotypes into his routine. In the clip Achmed also brings up Common Jewish stereotypes, while Dunham scolds Achmed, telling him he does not want those stereotypes in his show. Using these puppets Dunham is bringing up controversial topics however his puppets are doing the ‘talking’ so these topics are much more accepted by audiences as funny. Anjelah Johnson used both inner group and outer group approach; Johnson starts her routine out by joking about common Latino stereotypes, how they are Nosy with too many kids and how important family is. She then goes on to impersonate Asian Nail salon workers. Throughout her routine she pokes fun at how the ladies are so eager to please you; also how stingy they can be. For example she refers to how everything is only five dollars extra.
I feel that there are different opinions on racial stereotypes in comedy. Adelina Anthony who is a “a self-identified Xicana-IndÃgena lesbian multi-disciplinary artist” (http://www.adelinaanthony.com/) who uses comedy to get through to her audiences wrote her view on Comedy as Resistance in Bitch Magazine “Sit Down Comedy” Fall 2009 issue. Anthony says “…Since I’m writing with a queer Chicana audience in mind, it’s meant for us. We recognize the stereotype[s] – even how we sometimes play into them ourselves. If I pole fun at lesbians of color (with a progressive agenda, of course), then it’s the work of healing – and that’s the best effect of laughing in a group setting. The roar of the audience on some jokes points to that collectivity of experience and culture” (http://www.racialicious.com/2009/10/23/quoted-adelina-anthony-on-comedy-as-resistance/). Anthony believes in the inner group approach, which comedians focus on their own race and finds the outer group offensive. As my group did more research we began to ask ourselves. Do these racial stereotypes comedians used in their routines, whether inner group or outer group approach are actually helping end stereotypes or aiding fuel to these stereotypes?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baDJ-ZIvYy0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCbD9o948ec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXsumTWmwNc
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