Gurba Comedy and Social Justice

 Laura Latham 

EN 446D 01 

March 27, 2023

Comedy and Social Justice

These articles are centered around comedy’s place in areas of social reform, which is the most prevalent focus of modern comedy. The impact of comedy in social justice is astronomical. For instance, in the Gurba article, she is using comedy to address her experience with sexual assault which is a large issue in the United States and internationally. She uses the joke about not wearing the correct underwear to be raped. This allows the audience to laugh because they understand not wearing appropriate clothing and underwear for an occasion, but at the same time, the audience can think of how her situation differs in that wearing the wrong pair of underwear was the least uncomfortable part of her day. The audience then is forced to put themselves in Gurba’s shoes and understand that there should be a solution to prevent these sort of atrocities from occurring. The Comedy and Social Justice article also expresses how comedy for social justice allows taboo subjects to be talked about. This is especially the case with sexual assault. Rape and sexual assault are extremely sensative subjects, however Gurba is able to present them in a way that the audience is not thinking about the graphics and the social boundaries. The audience with Gurba’s description is only focusing on the human aspect of how this mentally and physically affected her. Especially after the pandemic, using social media posts to spread awareness has been the norm for activist groups. These loads of posts have been found to make the public weary and tiresome of these important issues. There were too many facts being spread at once and this led to a disinterest in important issues. Comedy on the other hand requires less thinking as it shows you how to feel and how to react. When consuming comedy the effect of a tragedy or injustice is gradual. As the Comedy and Social Justice article points out, comedy provides an opportunity to keep the audience engaged with positivity. For instance, when reading social media posts, they contain lists of facts that have to be read. Comedy allows breaks of comic relief and reflection before consuming all of the information. It even adds optimism to what seems to be impossible and daunting situations.


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