Dapper laughs - Sexist/Misogynistic?

pesky_jones

For anyone that has seen the recent controversy on social media about him, Is he sexist/misogynistic?

Wunnunda

How about 'Depressing' ?

pesky_jones

Definitely. But sexist/mysogynisitic?

DeVlaeminck

Yes all those things.

madasahattersley

I don't really care what he is, he's a comedian and he makes me laugh.

Just because the feminists say he isn't funny doesn't mean I can't find him funny.

Just because I find him funny doesn't mean I aspire to or am in any way influenced by his ethical or moral standards.

RDW

Sounds like vile stuff, just axed by ITV: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/dapp ... er-4602725

mr_goo

Just a tw4t. There are some subjects that are a step too far in comedy. Its back to the circuit for him.

bompington

Undoubtedly an unfunny pillock of the highest order. But...

DeVlaeminck

But what? He's sexist, misogynistic and I'm glad his show has been axed. I don't think you have to agree with everything in feminist theory to think his kind of comedy contributes to creating social norms that put women at risk of harassment. As for not caring what he is because he's funny, well Bernard Manning was fucking funny but some of his stuff was also racist - often at the same time - being funny shouldn't mean you don't care what else he is.

finchy

The show was dreadful (on ITV2, so not really a surprise), but I think that most of the sexist material in it was so ludicrously OTT that it was actually a bit of a parody. Sort of like Al Murray, except with maybe 1% of the talent.

Pross

Who?

secretsam

Pross wrote:

Who?

+1

If you want someone offensive who's actually funny, try that ginger-haired Scottish fella.

Pross

SecretSam wrote:

Pross wrote:

Who?

+1

If you want someone offensive who's actually funny, try that ginger-haired Scottish fella.

The only word there that narrows the list is 'funny'.

secretsam

It's Frankie Boyle I'm thinking of.

verylonglegs

bompington wrote:

Undoubtedly an unfunny pillock of the highest order. But...

I suspect like many over the age of 25 I had no idea who he was but have now read a bit on him. In that article I agreed with the idea that the dullards on Twitter shouldn't be dicating what's acceptable. On the other side however I found his defense of his material somewhat flawed, he claims he is pushing back boundaries which he says comedians are supposed to do but I can't believe he hasn't read a book or two (actuall I can, kids are f***ing lazy and ignorant these days) which would inform him he's actually just revisiting attitudes from about 40yrs ago, there is nothing new and edgy about his act at all.

rick_chasey

He's definitely misogynist.

How is going up to a woman in the audience and say 'you look like you're gagging for a rape' anything but?

If the OP fails to see this, the OP has some serious issues.

madasahattersley

There's just too many people out there who take it too seriously. Rape jokes aren't funny because they "normalise" rape, or as the newsnight presenter put it this evening "promote sexual violence" - they're funny because we know it's dark material we shouldn't really be laughing at.

Just like the craze a few years back for dead baby jokes. Did everyone suddenly go around murdering babies? Nope.

Yes he's said some highly HIGHLY controversial things, as has Frankie Boyle but as I have high enough moral standards that I never have and never will be sexist racist mysoginist chauvinistic violent forceful predatory discriminatory etc etc, so I feel perfectly secure taking this sort of thing as a joke.

There have been plenty of jokes by plenty of comedians causing controversy, including jokes about issues very close to my heart. I've never been 'offended' or 'outraged' by any of them. If I were offended by them I'd just remind myself I was watching comedy.

DeVlaeminck

Nobody is objecting to comedians saying controversial things per se, nor arguing that specific subjects are off limits for comedy, so the Frankie Boyle analogy is irrelevant. There may well be acceptable rape jokes in certain contexts, it's the specific jokes that Dapper Laughs makes in the context he makes them that some people find objectionable.

rick_chasey

I'm not offended. I'm not outraged.

I see a national broadcaster take a view that a comedian who makes jokes that are rooted in mysogony is not someone they, in hindsight, want to be associated with.

Bare in mind this is against a backdrop of a new wave of feminism.

But I ask the op again - how is it not misogynist?

And I also ask, how is going up to a female member of an audience declaring "you look like you're gagging for a rape" funny? Which bit of that is funny?

There's a reason Bernard Manning isn't on TV. Same reason this bloke won't be.

seanoconn

Reducing women to a series of holes to be conquered could only be described as misogonistic. Not something I would find amusing or choose to watch on TV.

pesky_jones

Rick Chasey wrote:

But I ask the op again - how is it not misogynist?

Erm, that's what I was asking you guys :roll: you'd think you know how a forum works, being a mod and all

When it first came about on social media, it was just the idea and what he did in his show that was sexist/misogynist. At this point I was doubtfull of whether it was. I read an article that said if you watched and liked the show that you hated your mum, your girlfriend, your sister etc. This was obviosuly bullsh1t and automatically swayed me against it. Now it turns out he's being saying stuff like youre gagging for a rape it obviously is misogynist. I just wanted to get some intelligent opinions from you guys, most of the stuff I've seen about it is on social media and I rate your opinions higher.

One thing that does confuse me is how come other Tv characters don't get the same persecution? Jay from inbetweeners objectified women a hell of a lot more then dapper laughs. Barney from HIMYM sleeps with beautifull women and then kicks them out straight away. One of the main critiscicms is that whether dapper laughs is a tv character or not, he is influencing people with the culture - exactly what the others I've mentioned have done?

Ben6899

Rick Chasey wrote:

There's a reason Bernard Manning isn't on TV. Same reason this bloke won't be.

The main reason Manning isn't on TV is because he's dead.

(but I am with you on this one)

Ben6899

Pesky Jones wrote:

One thing that does confuse me is how come other Tv characters don't get the same persecution? Jay from inbetweeners objectified women a hell of a lot more then dapper laughs. Barney from HIMYM sleeps with beautifull women and then kicks them out straight away. One of the main critiscicms is that whether dapper laughs is a tv character or not, he is influencing people with the culture - exactly what the others I've mentioned have done?

Seriously?

These are characters that we're supposed to point fun at. We're supposed to think "what a pr1ck", when Jay is going on about sh@gging all the "birds" at Caravan Club.

pesky_jones

Ben6899 wrote:

Pesky Jones wrote:

One thing that does confuse me is how come other Tv characters don't get the same persecution? Jay from inbetweeners objectified women a hell of a lot more then dapper laughs. Barney from HIMYM sleeps with beautifull women and then kicks them out straight away. One of the main critiscicms is that whether dapper laughs is a tv character or not, he is influencing people with the culture - exactly what the others I've mentioned have done?

Seriously?

These are characters that we're supposed to point fun at. We're supposed to think "what a pr1ck", when Jay is going on about sh@gging all the "birds" at Caravan Club.

True. That's that cleared up then

finchy

Is this any worse than some of Sacha Baron-Cohen's antics in the past?

pesky_jones

Or Keith Lemon? He's pretty bad. Is loose women misandric because they sit on a panel and perve on blokes half there age making sexual innuendos? If misongy is sexual objectification, how is that not misandric?

rick_chasey

Pesky Jones wrote:

Or Keith Lemon? He's pretty bad. Is loose women misandric because they sit on a panel and perve on blokes half there age making sexual innuendos? If misongy is sexual objectification, how is that not misandric?

Women on loose women aren't going up to men and suggesting they look keen for a 'gang rape' do they?

Also, misogyny is a big issue and one that is currently in the headlines as various new technologies make it easier to report every day sexism and misogyny in way that was difficult beforehand.

Keith Lemon is hardly great either, but it's level of degree isn't it?

pesky_jones

No, of course not. But suggesting they look keen for gang rape isnt the only thing that constitues harrassment is it? Is a lower level of sexual harrassment ok? I know what I'm saying is pedantic (and misandry is almost negligble compared to misogyny), but if youre going to talk about eradicating sexual harrassment culture then don't pick and choose.

I guess I found it a little annoying that social media cared so much about him (before his extreme comments, when it was based on the concept of his show), when there are much bigger issues in sexism present. Equal pay in the UK, and the severe sexism and misogyny that exists in other countries. I know just because bigger problems exist it doesnt mean we can't sort out the smaller ones, but I think if as much attention was given to the bigger issues then it would be more beneficial to achieving equality then axing one d1ckhead.

rick_chasey

It's not black and white and it's about context. Unsurprisingly.

MisterMuncher

I loved that tweet when he recommended committing sexual assault on random female passers by, because "they love it". Positively Wildean that.

One thing that separates him from any of those above mentioned is the effort put in. It could pass under the bar set by Little Britain for lazy abuse wit an umbrella up.

Compare him to someone of the calibre of Jerry Sadowitz for shock comedy and he didn't really measure up there either.

finchy

^^^ And that just about hits the nail on the head. The "gagging for rape" joke was part of a show in which he was laughing off suggestions that his TV series was a "rapist's almanac", he had just said that rape is wrong and had been taking the p1ss out of an audience member, accusing him of wanting to rape a woman. As I have said already, I think that the Dapper Laughs character has been made deliberately vile and OTT.

The problem is that he isn't as funny as other comedians who get away with far worse. Sacha Baron-Cohen, for example, feigned knocking one off in a public place, ran through a hotel naked with a sex toy in his hand, including getting into a crowded lift, and subjected at least a couple of interviewees to what might well be called sexual harassment before broadcasting their discomfort to the entire world. But because he's funny, nobody's signing petitions to get him off the TV, possibly because the sort of people who will be signing the petition agree with his political stance.