Abstract

Misogyny is a prime example of a concept that humans cannot fully solve. In this thesis, I am examining comedy as an outlet for misogyny in today’s culture. This thesis collects data from the social media platform, TikTok, to gather social reactions to a prominent and controversial act in stand-up comedy. This act was performed by Matt Rife in November of 2023 on the popular streaming service, Netflix. In this particular act, Rife opened to his live audience with a joke about domestic violence and its victims. This study includes a qualitative content analysis of both the Netflix special and comments posted on TikTok. In accordance with existing literature, results indicated that individuals are still extremely sexist towards women. After witnessing sexist comedy, prior research states that women are at a higher risk of gender-based or sex-related abuse and that men were more likely to have their prior sexist beliefs reinforced. Women have been minimized and undermined through comedy for many years, and sadly this has not changed even though advocacy for women has been at an all-time high. The social reactions show that sexism still runs rampant in society, just now we are seeing the more harmful consequences of it more clearly through mainstream media.

Semester/Year of Award

Fall 2024

Mentor

Victoria Collins

Mentor Department Affiliation

Justice Studies

Mentor Professional Affiliation

Department of Justice Studies

Access Options

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Scholars

Degree Level

Bachelors

Department

Justice Studies

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