Women, humour & work: A literature review

Kate Stone

Kate Stone

With International Women’s Day fast approaching this weekend we are excited that the results of our collaboration with the University of East London is coming to fruition.

It doesn’t feel like a year ago that we were celebrating with the charity Womankind Worldwide with a very special panel event where we discussed ‘The place of women in society and how humour defines us’, followed by a comedy line-up representing women from all around the world.  The resulting podcast is still on line HERE.

UEL

We wanted to explore these themes in more depth this year and had the amazing privilege to work with the University of East London’s Centre of Excellence for Women Entrepreneurship as part of the Make It Global campaign last November when we launched the Funny Women Players as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

We then went on to collaborate with the university on a review of existing research undertaken over the last 50 years based on themes of ‘Women, Humour and Power in the Workplace’.  You can read the full report which was completed by Rachel Densham, a masters student at the School of Psychology, UEL under the supervision of Dr Sharon Cahill, HERE.

It is hard to put an intellectual value on humour – but we think this review provides great insight into how humour transcends the gender divide (or not) and why since the 1990s various companies have been hiring ‘humour specialists’ to improve their business.

Gathering evidence from 50 academic papers and over 3,000 media articles spanning 40 years the review examined how we regard humour generally: “If used positively and judiciously, humour can help to sustain healthy social systems in the workplace by improving communication, reducing stress, enhancing leadership and promoting organisational culture.”  And how the divide between male and female humour is also put under scrutiny: “humour is an intrinsically powerful act and joke-telling is an exceptionally aggressive form of humour which may go some way to explain why men tell more jokes than women in conversation. (Baxter 2011)”

The interplay between leadership and humour was examined in the review with special attention paid to how women can employ humour to boost their career and reputation.

The review found that dividing humour into ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ helped identify how it was used in the workplace. Positive humour is “affiliative and self-enhancing” whereas negative humour is “self-defeating and aggressive” and used as a coping mechanism in stressful situations to inspire a positive outlook.

Yet we still have certain reservations when it comes to professional women and their use of humour to boost their career and reputation.  Joke-telling remains closely linked to masculinity and status in the workplace.

“Recent research has suggested that female bosses are less likely to make jokes in the boardroom. When they did, more than 80% of their quips were met with silence. By comparison, 90% of jokes made by men were met with a positive response (Baxter, 2011).”

Female humour is more collaborative and less about one-liners so it is yet to find its way into the lexicons of leadership. What is indisputable is that comedy sells and bonds in business.

“Humour maintains boundaries between members of in-groups and out-groups, raises the status of the joke-teller and can be used to influence or control the conversational partner(s). Kothoff (2006)”

So, ladies, it is time to get your quips out on the boardroom table!  We want to hear your stories so please comment either below, or on our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

For example, have you found humour a help or a hindrance in your workplace? Have you told a joke or funny story that’s bombed?

We want to know!  In the meantime you can read the review in full HERE!  And read our founder Lynne Parker’s thoughts on her Huffington Post blog HERE!

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Comedy Shorts Award Entry Requirements

The deadline for registration for the Comedy Shorts Award has passed.

Funny Women NextUp…Comedy Shorts Award

Are you a budding Director? Producer? Screenwriter? Are you collaborating with friends to make a funny video? Then we are looking for YOU!

If you have a short film or sketch that you think is hilarious, then enter your work for our Comedy Shorts Award to be in with a chance of winning some life-changing support and mentoring from comedy professionals.

WHAT KIND OF FILM ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?

A 1- 6 minute film that can take the form of anything comical. It’s a great opportunity to show us your creative flair and have fun!

WHO CAN ENTER?

This award is open to all women filmmakers and content developers. The film must be an original narrative created, produced and devised by a woman, or women, although male cast and crew members are allowed.

ARE THERE ANY ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MY FILM?

Yes – we require all films to be 6 minutes or under, to be entirely original dialogue, to not feature brand logos and most importantly, to only use music with the written consent of the performer and/or publisher either personally or via the PRS system https://www.prsformusic.com/ .

WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH MY FILM?

We will broadcast selected entries on our Funny Women YouTube channel and social media (so keep an eye out) and the top 10 finalists’ films will also hosted on a dedicated Funny Women Comedy Shorts Awards page on our website. We will also broadcast the final 3 entries as part of the grand final night.

HOW IS IT JUDGED?

Films are judged for production, concept, delivery/performance, creativity, writing and overall funniness. The top 10 films are then viewed by an independent judging panel of top television and film industry professionals who will choose one overall winner and two runners up. The final three will be invited to attend the grand final in London on the 23rd September.

WHAT CAN I WIN?

2021 Funny Women Awards Prizes

The deadline for registration for the Comedy Shorts Award has passed.

If you need further information please contact us here