Men and women have very different ideas about what is acceptable for them to do as a profession according to society. The difference in the two genders is an ongoing topic in the comedy world and it will be for a long time. The fact of the matter is that while in today’s society the two genders are considered equal, we are still not the same. This is a classic way to create a joke and almost every comedian out there has written a joke about the differences in the two genders.
Most notably for me was Bill Burr when he did the skit about how men can’t hit women but women can hit men. This was hilarious to me because to an extent it was so true. It brought up a funny childhood memory for me. I had a neighbor whose girl friend took a hammer to his car and all he could really think to do was watch her do it and then call the cops. This isn’t the only difference in the genders though. Another classic gender joke is the men who want to be nurses. Those guys just get laid into by all of their friends. Its not because there homosexual or anything either its just that society says that it is weird for a man to be a nurse, if they wanted to go into the medical field then they should go to medical school and become a doctor (according to society). It is the same way for women. It is strange to a lot of people to see a woman driving a garbage truck, or doing anything in the construction world. Society tells us that this is weird and that it is a good idea to make fun of people who go against societal norms, it has become acceptable to laugh at theses people.
In The Full Monty the men in the story become strippers after being put into a position of desperation. The town accepts this behavior from these men and encourages them on their journey. Aside from the town the movie itself is saying that it is acceptable for these men to do this. The fact of the matter is that it would be different if the characters were women and not men. Women would be looked at as whores or prostitutes and this would not be encouraged. Besides that the men in the movie were not models. A heavy woman would not have been able to pull this off. Men would not go to see a large woman dance on a pole. This could just be the difference in the brain chemistry of men and women but a woman would not get away with what the characters in the movie pulled off. This is once again society determining what is and isn’t acceptable for each gender to partake in, and for other members of society to accept.
We have really strange standards. I think about this all the time. Lately I've been playing soccer with a bunch of guys (mostly European who are worse about the standards--comically so). Most of them aren't that much bigger than the girls I play with. Some are smaller. But they apologize profusely every time they even get close to me. I find this pretty funny. I joke to my boyfriend after the games "Oh no, I think I touched your hair folicles and blew air in your general direction, I am so sorry, are you ok? Are you sure? I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Let me look at that. O let me go get you a bandaid. That looks bad." All the time doing the motions to go along with the stick. The standards are ridiculous, but the humor about them is ripe because of their ridiculousness.
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