WE STAND UP FOR WOMEN The impact of gender inequalities on the minority of women in the stand-up comedy sector in Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels).

Details

Supervisors

Jammaers, Eline

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

Making people laugh seems so easy for a stand-up comedian. Yet every laugh is the result of hard work, constant investment, doubt, and pressure to win and audience’s approval. At the moment, the stand-up comedy industry is predominantly male. It is reasonable to believe this is the result of the problem that women are often perceived by society as less funny than men. This stereotype presents many barriers to talented female comedians practicing their vocation, as many international festivals, galas and policies still do not fully support women in the industry to unleash all their potential. This results in the absence of female stand-up comedians in posters, programming and even in some cases in completely abject language. Problems of misogyny and sexism persist daily. In a world where diversity and inclusion have become a priority, assuring gender equality, and proving concrete solutions to reach gender parity in different work domains is timely. Women have been advocating for more equal rights since decades now. Still, it took until 2015 with the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (No. 5 gender equity) and the launch of the #MeToo movement in 2017 that concrete and positive efforts towards gender equality emerged within the stand-up profession. Indeed, the press, politicians, researchers, and stakeholders in the stand-up community began to become aware of the abnormality because of the laces of these various movements. The research objective is therefore the following: to explore the experiences of women stand-up comedians (WSCs) in the Wallonia-Brussels federation. We will try to confirm or reject the hypothesis of the presence of inequalities in the world of stand- up comedy in French-speaking Belgium. Welcome to the world of those who create laughter.