A Critical Discourse Analysis of Gender Stereotyping in Stand-Up Comedy: A Case Study of MC Jesse's Churchill Live Performances

Abstract

This study focuses on the critical discourse analysis of gender stereotyping by MC Jesse in stand-up comedy. There is dearth of in depth researches on stand up comedies to explain how gendered language elicits laughter. The study will be based on the performances of Mc Jesse in the Kenyan TV show, Churchill Live Show normally aired on Nation Television-Kenya (NTV). The objectives of this study are to analyze gender stereotyping, establish the strategies used to bring out gender stereotyping and to find out the audiences' perceptions in Churchill live show. The study makes use of Critical Discourse Analysis theory by Fairclough and Wodak and the Cooperative Principle by Grice to explore the gender stereotypes and attitudes against women. The study will seek to find out whether negative gender stereotypes against women are found in Mc Jesse's jokes. The data will be derived from past ‘Churchill Raw Shows' editions from the You tube from 2015 to 2017, three Focus Group Discussions with twelve participants from three secondary schools and in-depth interviews with five participants of the ‘Churchill Live Show' audiences. CDA being a labour intensive approach, the data used will be limited to two years. Data analysis will involve transcription of the raw data from the original language, translation into English language and thematic content analysis to understand the theme of gender stereotyping as used in Jesse's comedy. The expected findings will benefit the policy makers and gender specialist to formulatepolices which will be effective on the use of gender stereotypes positively in the Kenyan society.