The Daily Show And Sexism — Hey,That’s Not Funny!

You know, I wasn’t entirely satisfied with my rant on The Daily Show/sexism fiasco, but I’ve only just realized what was bothering me.

Last night, the Show returned and took on the Sherrod scandal with a very funny bit where Wyatt Cenac and Jon Stewart argued about why we can’t have discussions about racism. It was, as usual, a well-written reminder of why race is still an issue that needs to be talked about. But as I watched, I kept thinking, Why on earth couldn’t they have done this with the sexism thing? Why can’t we have a funny skit about why we can’t talk about sexism?

No, really, why? Edgy race jokes, playing on the show’s own correspondents, are par for the course, but the one time sexism becomes a real issue, they trot out every female employee in an earnest and defensive display that might as well have said,”That’s not funny!” Why was there one lame joke in response to the ordeal (“Jezebel thinks I’m sexist pig!”) while skits about race are a staple of the show?

Obviously, the writers had more time to deal with the Sherrod scandal, but I don’t think that the entirety of the situation. Erasing racism and sexism means equal opportunity joking. By treating sexism as, paradoxically, too serious to joke about, The Daily Show is actually hurting the cause. Its exellent and edgy jokes about race treat the meta-issue, namely that no matter how much we’d like to think we’re past racism, we’re not, and we need to keep talking about it until we are. But, apart from a few excellent Sam Bee skits during the Clinton candidacy, there aren’t many skits that treat sexism qua sexism.

Until we can joke about race and gender in the same way, we’re stuck in vicious little holding pattern: sexism, unlike racism, is never a four-alarm issue in the “serious” news, but now it’s also too serious to joke about in the funny news. We lose on all counts.

As frustrating as it is, last night’s clip was still funny, so here it is — but seriously, imagine how much cooler the Show would have looked  if it had done this for the sexism thing!!