This Sociologist Knows What Comedy is Missing: More Abortion Jokes
There have been a few surprising pro-life messages snuck in to pop culture lately (see Ashton Kutcher’s Character on The Ranch… is Pro-Life? and Eminem has a Top 20 Song…with a Pro-Life Message?). But if this feminist sociologist has her way, we won't be seeing it for much longer. Apparently what our entertainment actually needs is more abortion jokes. And you thought it just needed more humor. Oh you.
"The purpose of including an abortion plotline is simply to make jokes about abortion, recognizing that such satire is valuable for some people as both a means and an end,” Sisson explains.“This should not be surprising: comedy has often been used as a subversive way of challenging predominant social structures,” she adds, arguing that because comedy has a history of challenging taboo social issues, abortion “is even intuitive new ground for comedy to address.”
Not only could an abortion plotline be “funny,” but it could also help encourage mainstream support for abortion access because television can have a strong influence on popular culture, Sisson speculates, citing for example the rise of feminist and pro-abortion iconography based around the Hulu show The Handmaid’s Tale.
Don't get me wrong. I've been known for having a sick sense of humor. It's a job requirement at LwC. But abortion? Not anything funny about that.
Actually, someone tried abortion jokes last year. They bombed like Lena Dunham doing feminist spoken word at the Apollo. Because outside of college campuses and Planned Parenthood office parties, killing unborn children just really isn't all that funny. It's actually kinda evil. You are evil if you find aborting babies funny.
Can you make jokes about anything? Sure. We're not saying you can't. But if you're struggling to mainstream abortion, and your solution is to slap an LOL sticker on it, don't be disappointed when no one laughs. Chop shopping your kid for (pick your reason) doesn't tickle the funny bone like a pie to the face.
