No that wasn’t a re-working of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but is instead just a few of the roles that women in comedy have been pigeon-holed into playing for far too long.
This article, inspired by Comedienne Doon Mackichan’s Memoir, ‘My Lady Parts’, will explore how this is an issue that has often been brushed under the carpet by many critics and in some cases feminist activists too.
I mean think back to the 60’s and 70’s...Sexism wasn’t just embedded in British Comedy Culture, it was British Comedy Culture.
Mackichan opens her memoir reminding readers that she has had to live a life of ‘defying stereotypes’, unfortunately something that both her and many of her fellow contemporaries have had to dedicate most of their careers to. I mean think back to the 60’s and 70’s (I appreciate that’s quite difficult to do for most of us) but Sexism wasn’t just embedded in British Comedy Culture, it was British Comedy Culture.
Even Female-Centric shows by female writers, like Carla Lane’s The Liver Birds were cursed by Crude and Cringe Mini-Skirt jokes and sly, sleazy middle-aged men. On the Buses and George & Mildred, two of the 70’s most successful comedic protégées, are also examples of this, both were plagued by creepy male sexuality but also cruelty to women. Lines such as ‘I’ll Give you One’, ‘Show us your Tits and Bits’ and ‘Cor look at that bit of crumpet’, didn’t just showcase shocking writing but also showcased what was deemed acceptable during this time- the humiliation of women, meaning actresses of the time were doomed into playing these two-dimensional ‘dolly birds’.
Take the late great Anna Karen’s portrayal of Olive Butler and Yootha Joyce’s portrayal of Mildred Roper, in On the Buses and George & Mildred respectively. Both were excellently executed but the roles were ridiculously stereotypical, unconventional, frumpy, sex-starved maniac’s who were made the butt of the jokes. If the women weren’t unattractive and cock-hungry, they were overly-attractive and dim, there was no in between during the seventies sitcom scene.
Looking for a Dawn French/Roseanne Barr sort of bird.
In saying that, these restrictive roles for women were not just shelved into some seedy dressing room of the 1970’s, typecasting is an issue that has been feared by Comedienne’s across many decades. Shameless star Tina Malone, discussed the prejudice faced by plus sized women over thirty during the 1980’s and 1990’s, saying every audition offered to her would say ‘Looking for a Dawn French/Roseanne Barr type of bird’. Again, although this may appear trivial, this is another example of how women are being stereotyped and forced into roles that were deemed fit for them, based on appearance not comedic talent or acting ability.
Oh, and if you’re wondering why this stereotyping appears to be mainly taking place behind the backdrop of sitcoms and stand ups, it’s because, producers, writer’s and all-round misogynists can get away with it. Why is that? Well, that’s because this sexist and androcentric view of what makes a woman funny can be disguised as just good old-fashioned British humour. However, what many writers have forgotten is that this type of humour, along with that type of Britain do not exist anymore.
Even more contemporary types of sitcoms, still placed entrapped women within a domestic orbit. Think about Outnumbered and My Family, both the leading female characters are presented as stress-heads, hen-pecking their husbands into a punchline. The female characters which exist on the peripheral of contemporary comedy shows are presented as either menopausal or cardboard cut outs of camp soap vixens. It's almost as if women can't exist as anything else, eh?
Finally, now to the woman who inspired this article. Doon Mackichan. She has played some of my favourite comedy characters of all time from Swanchita Haze in Brass Eye to Jane Plough in Toast of London. However, her roles too have been cursed by sexism and ideals of what women of a certain age should be.
One of her most recent roles to date, that of Cathy Whyte, in Two Doors Down, although desperately hilarious at times and of course sensationally played by Mackichan, is a role yet again plagued by stereotypes that surround the older woman.
Cathy is a fifty something, chain smoking, vengeful alcoholic. Now we must praise visibility of older women on our screens who aren’t confined to a life of domestic depression but with Mackichan’s character it feels restrictive, a male-eyed view, if you like, of how all 50+ Glaswegian women behave and sometimes these sexist stereotypes are just hard to overlook, mainly because we know how to spot them all too well.
I owe so much to funny women. The likes of Mackichan, Caroline Aherne, Victoria Wood, Jennifer Saunders and Julia Davis, to give a personal commentary, have inspired my sense of humour, writing styles and my outlook on life.
We must celebrate female comic talent. I owe so much to funny women. The likes of Mackichan, Caroline Aherne, Victoria Wood, Jennifer Saunders and Julia Davis, to give a personal commentary, have inspired my sense of humour, writing styles, my outlook on life and to some degree my politics, through their creation of (and for being) ground-breaking women within the comedy world.
But although women can be and often are devastatingly funny and authentic comedic talents, what this article, along with Mackichan's must-read memoir, has shown us, is that we must never forget that a woman’s world and a woman’s work are never as funny as they seem at first glance.