A Case Study in Transmisogyny: The Colbert Report & The Daily Show

[Shana A]

A Case Study in Transmisogyny: The Colbert Report & The Daily Show

Dec 3 • Blog, By Leela Ginelle PQ Monthly

http://www.pqmonthly.com/case-study-transmisogyny-colbert-report-daily-show/17594

"Governor Bob Riley, of Alabama, is fond of banana pudding...when served off the breasts of a Thai ->-bleeped-<-." – The Colbert Report

Isn't Stephen Colbert funny? He's a satirist.

"...President Elect, Obama is meeting every day with his transition team, or in beltway lingo, 'trannies'." – The Colbert Report

He pretends he's a conservative pundit, like Bill O'Reilly, but you can tell he isn't. He never makes jokes that are actually hurtful to minority groups, like gays and lesbians. It's more like he's making fun of conservatives who in real life would make those jokes. Clever, huh?

"C'mon democratic party. Play along! If your party does not implode, we'll have to go with our backup scandal. Ed Rendell is a ->-bleeped-<-!" – The Colbert Report

There seems to be one exception to this, though. A group he appears to think is beneath dignity, and that feels free to bully. A set of slurs he finds hilarious.

[ZoeM]

In all the world wide, there's only one group on which it's insult Open Season... Every season..,

Conservatives.
His anti-conservative 'humor' is just as hurtful, and leads to real life negative stereotypes, ostracism, and even potential hate crimes.
But it's OK, 'cause open season?

[Ltl89]

I don't watch either show, but i would be surprised if they both show hate and contempt to the trans community.   I think off color jokes that are done without hate are sometimes okay.  It depends.  In the sake of humor, I let some things pass because i dont want to be the pc police.  However,  I've seen this pop up so many times that there probably is more to this than just kidding around.  It's been a long time since I've watched either show, so I'm ignorant to what they have said. Though, I didn't like what was quoted in this article nor did I find it funny.  If there are numerous instances of rhis, then their detractors may have a point.

For the record though, I don't find "->-bleeped-<-" offensive, but i realize many people do. ->-bleeped-<- on the other hand annoys me.

[suzifrommd]

I was so shocked by this, I didn't believe it. I actually dug up one of the Stewart quotes. He really did say it. The nasty part starts at 2:38. Disgusting and hateful. My whole opinion of Jon Stewart just changed.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-july-22-2003/queers-vie-for-the-straight-tie

[BunnyBee]

Colbert says oafish things all the time as a satirical commentary on conservative pundits, so I give him a pass mostly.  He does do the same thing with other minorities and women, like all the time.  That's the whole joke.

Jon Stewart on the other hand I don't give a pass.  I watch both of these shows a lot and there have been a lot of things said on the daily show that have made me feel bad iver the years, and Idk, it's upsetting, cause you expect him to be an ally, but instead out comes terrible things from his mouth.   I do think if the right empathetic appeal was made to him he would stop, cause I think the insensitivity comes from ignorance.

Anyway, it happens infrequently enough that it isn't a huge deal to me.

[JillSter]

http://www.queerty.com/stephen-colbert-issues-colbology-for-transgender-cow-joke-about-pink-slime-20120404/ (video in the link)

2012. His "apology" was just an excuse to make another transphobic joke. Since he was responding to criticism about exactly that, the transphobic fake-apology comes across as contempuous imo. He literally has no respect for the trans community. There's harmless jokes, and then there's contempt masquerading as humor. He crosses the line often.

Jon Stewart is no better. I know it's supposed to be comedy, and nobody is safe from being the butt of the joke. But it's pretty disproportionatly aimed at the trans community considering their primary target is the republican party. It's lazy writing, and as comedians and entertainers they should be ashamed of going with the played-out easy joke as often as they do. And as human beings, and supposedly open-minded liberal people, they should be ashamed of how despicable some of those jokes have been.

[suzifrommd]

I know it's supposed to be comedy, and nobody is safe from being the butt of the joke.

But we know of course, that if Mr. Stewart had made a comment about how absurd it would be if a person of color were to join the Supreme Court (or a Latino, Muslim, or any other minority group that has learned to speak up for itself), there would be a torrent of criticism aimed his way.

Unfortunately trans folk have not learned to speak up for ourselves, so this is considered acceptable humor.

[BunnyBee]

I think it will change, and maybe it actually will take us standing up for ourselves better, without being terrible about it.  But 10 years ago there were a lot of things that were acceptable to make fun of that aren't now.  There were comedians then and there will be comedians now that resist the evolution, but yeah, lazy.  It's like, you're a comedian, you're supposed to be a wordsmith and you can't come up with a way to express a joke without demeaning people?   If you use somebody's person, like who they are, to get your joke across or as a punchline, you are exhibiting a severe lack of empathy and you just shouldn't do it.

[MaidofOrleans]

We as a group aren't above jokes. It really all comes down to context. Start looking at how much any group is made fun of by comedians like these. Everyone gets targeted. Best not to take it so personally.

All good comedy is at someone or somethings expense.

[suzifrommd]

We as a group aren't above jokes. It really all comes down to context. Start looking at how much any group is made fun of by comedians like these. Everyone gets targeted. Best not to take it so personally.

I'm more troubled by the nature of Stewart's joke. He ridiculed the notion of a transgender supreme court justice.

That sort of humor - that rests on the notion that trans people are some how incompetent or not serious enough to hold positions of responsibility - is dangerous.

Might hearing a respected person like John Stewart express this attitude help perpetuate the discrimination so many of us are subject to?

[Oriah]

...sticks and stones.....we all knew about the hate long before transition