Are 'nasty women' funny women?: differential appreciation and selective perception in the case of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between feminist political satire, humor structure, socio-demographic determinants, including ideology, gender, and attitudes about gender equity, and differential appreciation and perception. One hundred and ninety two college aged students (N= 192) in public speaking classes at the University of Delaware participated in a three conditioned experiment that exposed them to a clip of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee that was either ironic, hyperbolic, did not feature an exclusive humor structure. The ironic and hyperbolic clips were feminist in nature. The students were then asked about how they appreciated the clip and how they comprehended the clip.
Results indicated that while humor structure was not a significant determinant of differential appreciation or selective perception, attitudes about gender equity did have an effect on comprehension. Those with higher scores and more feminist attitudes about gender equity perceived feminist humor in alignment with their views, while those with less feminist views and lower scores of attitudes about gender equity interpreted feminist humor incorrectly. This implies that selective perception did occur in terms of attitudes about gender equity.