Hung out to dry: use and consequences of disparagement humor on American Idol
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Beth Montemurro
Beth Montemurro is an associate Professor of Sociology at Penn State University, Abington. Her research focuses on social constructions of culture, gender, and sexuality. She is the author of
Deserving Desire: Women’s Stories of Sexual Evolution (Rutgers University Press, 2014) andSomething Old, Something Bold: Bridal Showers and Bachelorette Parties (Rutgers University Press, 2006).
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Jacob A. Benfield
Jacob A. Benfield is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Penn State University, Abington, who specializes in applied social and environmental psychology. His interest in humor focuses on its use as a social tool to either facilitate or hinder interpersonal relationships. Disparagement and superiority over others overlap with his more general research interests in aggressive behaviors.
Abstract
Humor can be a means of social control and establishing boundaries between social groups. Disparagement humor, which is belittling and degrading while laughing at a target, is such a means of social control. Through the use of disparagement humor, people establish in-groups and out-groups and audiences of disparagement can enjoy vicarious superiority, as long as they are not members of the targeted out-group. In this paper, we look at the way disparagement humor is used on a mass stage, the popular reality television program American Idol. Using qualitative content analysis, we explore the ways in which social outsiders are marked as out-groupers and the ways their outsider status primes them as easy targets for aggressive humor. We find that disparagement humor is more often directed at social outsiders than insiders and audiences are directed to view such contestants as inferior. We also find that the gender and power of judges impacted the use of disparagement humor.
About the authors
Beth Montemurro is an associate Professor of Sociology at Penn State University, Abington. Her research focuses on social constructions of culture, gender, and sexuality. She is the author of Deserving Desire: Women’s Stories of Sexual Evolution (Rutgers University Press, 2014) and Something Old, Something Bold: Bridal Showers and Bachelorette Parties (Rutgers University Press, 2006).
Jacob A. Benfield is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Penn State University, Abington, who specializes in applied social and environmental psychology. His interest in humor focuses on its use as a social tool to either facilitate or hinder interpersonal relationships. Disparagement and superiority over others overlap with his more general research interests in aggressive behaviors.
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©2015 by De Gruyter Mouton
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- The social consequences of disparagement humor: Introduction and overview
- Disparagement humor and prejudice: Contemporary theory and research
- Sexist humor and social identity: the role of sexist humor in men’s in-group cohesion, sexual harassment, rape proclivity, and victim blame
- Put-Down Humor Directed at Outgroup Members Increases Perceived – but Not Experienced – Cohesion in Groups
- Hung out to dry: use and consequences of disparagement humor on American Idol
- Sexist humor as a trigger of state self-objectification in women
- Humor as an abrasive or a lubricant in social situations: Martineau revisited
- It’s just a (sexist) joke: comparing reactions to sexist versus racist communications
- Gender disparaging jokes: An investigation of sexist-nonstereotypical jokes on funniness, typicality, and the moderating role of ingroup identification
- The rhetoric of disparagement humor: An analysis of anti-semitic joking online
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- The social consequences of disparagement humor: Introduction and overview
- Disparagement humor and prejudice: Contemporary theory and research
- Sexist humor and social identity: the role of sexist humor in men’s in-group cohesion, sexual harassment, rape proclivity, and victim blame
- Put-Down Humor Directed at Outgroup Members Increases Perceived – but Not Experienced – Cohesion in Groups
- Hung out to dry: use and consequences of disparagement humor on American Idol
- Sexist humor as a trigger of state self-objectification in women
- Humor as an abrasive or a lubricant in social situations: Martineau revisited
- It’s just a (sexist) joke: comparing reactions to sexist versus racist communications
- Gender disparaging jokes: An investigation of sexist-nonstereotypical jokes on funniness, typicality, and the moderating role of ingroup identification
- The rhetoric of disparagement humor: An analysis of anti-semitic joking online
