Running head: WOMEN ARE FUNNY

Women are Funny: A Feminist Look at Deandra Sweet Dee Reynolds

Amber M. Middleton
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

WOMEN ARE FUNNY

Women are Funny: A Feminist Look at Deandra Sweet Dee Reynolds

The comedy industry was built and maintained on an idea of masculinity. As Patterson
(2012) notes, television comedys production culture is absolutely gendered and privileges
masculinity (p. 237). Since the beginning of film, women have had to fight for the
acknowledgement of their ability to have a sense of humor. As Karnick (1999) explains, turn-ofthe-century newspapers often claimed women were about as comical as a crutch or having the
capability to joke and laugh, but there being a fundamental difference between the laughter of
men and women (p. 80). Claims similar to these have been continually publicized even as
recently as 2007 when Christopher Hichens declared, Why Women Arent Funny in a Vanity
Fair article (Lauzen, 2014). Even though there has been immense change in the comedy industry
since the early 1900s, the similar themes of domestic containment of women and repressive
female power have hung around throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Patterson (2012)
explains that women are placed within the patriarchy as the butt of the joke, or the one who
passively responds to male humor. In other words, women in comedy have dominantly played
the voice of reason, or have been stuck with the task of cleaning up the mess of male comedy.
In recent years women have stepped out into a new role in comedy, especially with the
popularity of Bridesmaids, and the fame of female comedians like Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy,
Amy Schumer, and others. However, there still seems to be an imbalance between the
acceptance of female comedy and the comedy industryfor example, the female-led 2014
comedy film Tammy was considered a financial success, but only made half as much money as
the male-led 2014 comedy 22 Jump Street (Rosa, 2015). As women are moving away from
being the butt of the jokes and are more actively being the creators of humor, how do female
comedians stand out among the men?

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One recent female comedian who has held her own amongst her male co-comedians is
Kaitlin Olson, the female star of FXs Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. As Schmeiser (2009)
notes, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia looks like it should be a stereotypical sitcom
nightmare: a nearly all-male cast and one token woman (para. 4). Kaitlin Olsons Deandra
Sweet Dee Reynolds is this token woman of the show. As Schmeiser points out, Dee
Reynolds breaks the mold of what is expected by the token woman in a comedic sitcomshe
does not play the voice of reason, she flings herself into physical comedy, and schemes as much,
if not more, than the men of the show. With the increase in female participation and success in
the comedy industry, it is important to critique how female comedians have been able to hold
their own and stand out among their male counterparts.
A feminist criticism will help explain how inequality has been created and perpetuated
throughout the history of the comedy industry (Brummet, 2012, p. 178). Through Dees
character in Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, these inequalities are refused and overthrown
by her construction of self, and her opposition to the feminine norm created by the comedy
industry and society (Brummet, 2012, p. 179). The comedy industry is an example of a
patriarchy, as most elements that surround creating comedy have always been male-dominated,
an it is inherently difficult for a woman to gain success in this system of male power. Dee
Reynolds is a modern example of an unruly woman, who by readily making a spectacle of
herself addresses the female place in the comedy industry, therefore enabling the revelation and
upturning of the construction of gender norms in comedy.
Women and Comedy
From Moms Mabley, Lucille Ball, and Carol Burnett, to Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres, and
Melissa McCarthy, women have proved they belong in the comedy industry (Cohn, 2012).

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However, female presence and the roles they have played in the film industry have often
reflected the place women have in society. Where female comedians are now are not where they
have beenthey have had to fight for their place among the men.
Women Arent Funny
Much of Americas film past has contained a notion that women cannot be funny. Early
romantic comedies expressed the domestication of women, and early male-centered comedies
expressed a misogyny of repressive female power (Karnick, 1999, p. 78). The film industry,
like many other societal constraints, worked to put and keep women in their rightful place. The
common opinion was that women were too sensitive and empathetic to find humor in the
misfortunes of others that comedy invoked (Karnick, 1999). A change came in the roaring 20s,
when women gained some autonomy in society, and comedy film of the time began to reflect
this societal change. Russo (1988) notes that comedy began to open up transgressional spaces for
opportunities to parody and expose stereotypical feminine ideas.
Karnick (1999) analyzed female comedy teams that existed during this decade. These
women represented an emerging female potency built around a growing autonomy and
increased presence in public life, by being the producers of jokes and humor, not the butt or
objects of the joke (p. 77; p. 91). Producing and executing successful jokes created a power in
itself as laughter worked to disguise a mutually shared identification that was previously unheard
of. The women became unruly spectacles as they made fools of themselves and reveled in
public acts of unruliness (p. 78). As women claimed the pleasure and power from these unruly
spectacles, they began to contradict the idea of domestication. These early female comedians
created an alternative to what was expected of women at the time. As Karnick (1999) explains,
the unruly women laugh together at a seriously flawed society and its imperfect rules (p. 91).

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This period of comedic female prosperity would not last long. With the economic
downturn of the 1930s, unruly female comedies became a thing of the past. Film no longer
showed women living alone or in the working world, because they were more needed in the
home with their families (Karnick, 1999). Instead of a theme of unruliness, female domesticity
became a major focus across the entire film industry. The thought of unruly female comedy
being successful left the minds of the film industry until almost a century later. Until then,
female comedians were often considered grotesque or unfeminine, or thought to have entered
comedy because they were not glamorous enough for other sects of the film industry (Murray,
2005). If a female comedian did make it onto television in the 1940s and 1950s she was
partnered with a male star, such as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (Murray, 2005, p. 159).
Women Are Funny!
With the eventual rise of feminism and change in female societal roles, it makes sense
that women would again begin to play larger roles in the film and comedy industries. Female
unruliness left the film industry for almost fifty yearsand was still not widely accepted until
very recently. One spectacle of female unruliness, Roseanne Barr, emerged in the 1980s and
1990s. Roseanne and her self-titled show offered a curious example of contradicting the
expectations of female comedians of the previous fifty years. According to Rowe (1990),
Roseanne had ventured farther than her comic foremothers, entering the masculine terrain of
the tendentious joke (p. 75). Roseanne stood out amongst her fellow female comedians,
producing a specific strain of female grotesque that was continually associated with her (p.
74). Rowes (1990) analysis of Roseanne focuses on her unruliness that came from her authority
of self-construction, her ways of opposing domestic goddessness through spectacle, and her
excess and looseness that marks her opposition to bourgeois and feminine standards of

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decorum (p. 78). Rowe (1990) translated Roseannes grotesque nature to be along the same
lines of the unruly female comedians who existed earlier in the century.
Most scholarly attention toward the shift in comedic female roles that occurred in the
1990s and early 2000s is focused on the writer, producer, comedian, and actress, Tina Fey. As
Patterson (2012) suggests, Fey is ideologically significant because she highlights and
challenges the labor of comedy stardom and the feminized space of television stardom
similarly to what the female comedians did in the 1920s and 1930s (p. 232). As the first head
female writer of Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey is a great example of women in the comedy
industry. Patterson (2012) explains that Fey, like other successful female comedians, challenges
normative essentialist perceptions of what it means to produce and execute comedy. Roseanne
Barr and Tina Fey both paved the way for many female comedians to come, creating a new wave
of crudeunrulyfemale comedians, including Sarah Silverman, Melissa McCarthy, Chelsea
Handler, Amy Schumer, and Kaitlin Olson, who have emulated and evolved from their own
comic foremothers.
Deandra Sweet Dee Reynolds. Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia was created in 2005
by three of its stars, Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day. Kaitlin Olson and
Danny DeVito joined the gang that runs a rugged Irish bar, Paddys Pub. Goodman (2006)
calls the show a willful and fearless politically incorrect gem that pushes any available boundary
of what is considered offensive. Goodman explains the infectious goofiness the show has while it
manages to be offensive without seeming like it is being offensive on purpose. The overall
premise of the show is the misadventures of the gang: Charlie, Mac, and Dennis, Dennis twin
sister Dee, and their dad Frank. Most episodes are based on poorly planned schemes that ensue in
ridiculous outcomes. The show has covered hot-button topics like abortion, racism, gun control,

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underage drinking, gay marriage, and classism that provide the cast opportunity to show how
morally superior they are to each other, with little success. The present study will pull examples
of Dee Reynolds character from three episodes that deal with the characters pregnancy from
seasons five and six of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
As women have proved they have a place in the comedy world, the industry still needs
someone to prove women can keep up with, or even be funnier, than male comedians. Rowles
(2009) explains Dees character as the complete opposite of the strident, sexless, humorless
stereotype; she is vain, morally questionable, and will rent out her uterus to the highest bidder
(Dee Reynolds section, para. 2). Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia puts Dee at the same (low)
level as the male members of the cast. Rowles suggests that Dees character does not represent
conventional feminism but instead is the antithesis to televisions typical gendered humor
(Dee Reynolds section, para. 2). It is hard for one to sit down and say that Its Always Sunny in
Philadelphia is presenting a successful feminist discourse. There are many apparent flaws to this
idea, including the continual attempts to marginalize Dee as being irrelevant by virtue of being
a woman, the attacks on womens health, a glorification of stalking and harassment, and the
repeated sexual objectification of almost every woman who walks on set (Schmeiser, 2009).
However, if we focus on Dees character itself, and observe the show through a satirical lens, a
feminist critique of Dee Reynolds might yield an interesting insight into the role women play in
comedy.
Methods
The comedy industry, like much of the film industry, was established as a patriarchy
through the ideas that men are the only ones able to successfully produce humor. Men have
dominated the industry in every way, including writing, producing, consuming, and acting. A

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feminist framework can be used to examine Dee in Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia to discover
ways the normal patriarchal inequalities that have traditionally existed in comedy are rejected.
Brummett (2012) suggests that radical feminists point out how patriarchal systems, like the
comedy industry, creates gender inequitably, which occurs through the unconscious and its
repression. Brummett also describes the ways in which texts can empower women, such as
alternative rhetorical forms, and different ways of seeing a text. If Dee Reynolds is seen as a text
within the patriarchy of the comedy industry, her character can be seen as an alternative
rhetorical form that can actually empower women. Lauzen (2014) points out that there is an
incongruous relationship between femininity and humor, in that comedy requires the comedian
to call attention to herself, which is an act denoting a position of authority and superiority that
is typically an association made with masculinity, not femininity (p. 107). Lauzen goes on to
explain that to be a woman and a comedian is to confront and subvert the very power that keeps
women powerless (p. 107).
Patterson (2012) suggests defining female power through self-worth and individual
choice and liberation. One feminist strategy that arises from this focus on individual choice is the
concept of unruly women, which was discussed previously in the cases of 1920s comedy teams
and Roseanne Barr of the late 1900s. Rowe (1990) defines the tradition of unruly women as a
topos of female outrageousness and transgression from literary and social history (p. 75).
Examples of spectacle unruliness from female comedy teams of the 1920s included returning
the male gaze, exposing and making a spectacle of the gazer, and claiming the pleasure of
making spectacles of themselves and negating their own visibility into society (Karnick, 1999, p.
78). When women become unruly spectacles they willfully and actively make fun of themselves
instead of being the consequence of male humor. Much like the female comedy teams of 1920s,

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todays female comedians have evolved from being the butts or objects of jokes to being actual
producers of humor, while also not being afraid to produce comedy that some might deem
unladylike.
According to Rowe (1990), the idea of unruly women stemmed from a sexual inversion
of the woman being on top (p. 76). This concept introduces the social and political issues that
occur when what belongs below (women) usurps the position of what belongs above (men)
(Rowe, 1990, p. 76). The unruly woman uses her body and speech to violate the previous
patriarchal ban on making a spectacle of herself. Most importantly, the unruly woman becomes
a source of danger for threatening the conceptual categories which organize our lives (Rowe,
1990, p. 76). The source of an unruly womans oppositional power is her ambivalence, which is
contained within her comedic freedom (p. 76). According to Russo (1988), the periodic
excesses of unruly women and the comic conventions that she enacts allow her a space to act
out the dilemmas of femininity, to make visible and laughable the tropes of femininity (p. 214).
In this sense, women can be spectacles without being seen as weak. The character of Dee
Reynolds is a clear example of an unruly woman. Examining the actions that make Dee
unruly, especially how she handles herself in the most fundamentally female rolemotherhood,
will show how breaking the mold in any patriarchal sense can be a useful feminist discourse,
finally proving that women can in fact stand among men in comedy.
Analysis
As previously stated, Dee Reynolds defies the traditional female role expected in comedy
by not playing the voice of reason, using overwhelming physical comedy, and scheming as much
as her male co-stars. Most of all, Dee holds her own amongst the male comedians by defying the
female containment that normally exists on television. Rowes (1990) critical elements of

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Roseanne Barrs unruly womanhood included the construction of self, the opposition to domestic
goddessness, and the opposition to feminine standards. The character of Dee can also be
constructed as an unruly woman through these elements. Kaitlin Olson has constructed the self
of Dees character, opposes all things to be considered a domestic goddess, and through Dees
actions and the outcomes of them proves her opposition to female standardsespecially through
her overthrowing of the traditional concepts of motherhood and pregnancy.
Construction of Self
Even though one of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia's creators, Glenn Howerton, has
said that he initially wanted to find somebody who could be as funny as the guys when casting
Dees role, the first episodes of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia began to confine Dees part
into the traditional stereotypical box of female comedy (Rosa, 2015, para. 15). These first
episodes gave Dee lines like You guys. Come on, you guys. Thats stupid, you guys, which
Howerton later claimed is the exact opposite of what they intended for the character (Rosa, 2015,
para. 26). However, Olson began playing a more active role in creating Dees character and she
transformed into the crude, hilarious, and physically comedic character audiences have
become fond of (Rosa, 2015, para. 29). Instead of trying to write for a female character, Olson
suggested they just write another funny character, and by playing it she would make it female
(Rosa, 2015). Olson is responsible for the spectacle nature of Dees actions, beyond just acting
the part the men gave her. Like Roseanne did with her character, Dees character has gained
power because of Olsons role in creating her, and her stepping in to give Dee a chance to really
be funny (Rowe, 1990).
One interesting contribution to Dees character is Kaitlin Olsons real life pregnancy
being written into the show. According to Morabito (2013), television has a long and storied

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tradition of hiding stars pregnancies with billowy tops, strategically placed props and shots
framed from the chest up (para. 2). The choice to oppose this industry norm and write Olsons
real life pregnancy into the show produces a feminine power in itself. The writers of the show
crafted a whole storyline, spanning across multiple episodes, to accommodate Olsons
pregnancy. This is especially powerful in a show that rarely incorporates recurring storylines.
Despite the accommodations during her pregnancy, Dee loses none of the unruliness that has
evolved throughout the show. The producers of the show also chose to give viewers a photo of
Olsons baby at the end of the sixth season, which connects the show directly to her real life
situation.
Opposition to Feminine Standards
Rowe (1990) explains how feminists of the past were taught to manipulate men by
becoming domestic goddesses, but future female comedians, like Roseanne and the presently
studied Kaitlin Olson, would instead build their feminist success by exposing the tropes of
femininitythe ideology of true womanhood, the perfect wife and mother, and instead
cultivating the oppositethe unruly woman (p. 78). Dees character is particularly interesting
because multiple episodes begin with a desire for stereotypically feminine things. For example,
she repeatedly desires romantic relationships, even marriage, and in one episode she desires a
female friend dynamic inspired by Sex and the City. However, every motivation for these desires
does not come from an actual desire to become a domestic or feminine goddess, instead they
come from a need for revenge, prestige, and being better than the people around herall
considered masculine motivations.
When Dee tries to fit into the mold of what is expected of a female, she fails miserably
every time. For example, all of her romantic relationships end when the man realizes how

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horrible of a human being she is; she only wants to get married when she sees another female
character of the show getting married, and the only other female characters who will hang out
with Dee are as messed up (if not more messed up) than hergiving her no hope to fulfill her
Sex and the City fantasy. The most effective way to explore Dees character through a feminist
lens is to see her when she is given these traditional female roles. Dee is shown as an unruly
woman mainly by comparison to how one would expect a female to act in situations she is
placed in, especially throughout the theme of motherhood and her pregnancy. By examining how
Dee interprets this mother-role into her crude lifestyle, it is obvious how much of an unruly
woman Dee really is. The following sections will examine Dee in three episodes that involve the
pregnancy theme, offer examples that showcase Dees unruliness, and offer interpretation for
how this reflects the feminist ideas that have been studied in the past.
The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis. The first episode of season five begins with
Dees expression of having huge news. The male cast members ignore her until she proclaims
Im having a baby! and Frank responds Do yourself a favor and flush it out (McElhenney,
Howerton, Mann, Sielaff, & Einhorn, 2009). As Dee begins to explain her plan to become a
surrogate mother, the others interrupt her to wonder if this plan involves them in any way, and
then express their absolute apathy for her plan. The idea of the male character's complete
indifference toward Dee and her plans, but her continuation of her plans despite their
discouragement, is an example of her power on the show. Despite the guys opposition to
scheming with Dee on multiple occasions, she goes on to scheme without their help. The fact
that her schemes usually do not end with success does not give her any less power as the female
character of the show, because any schemes started by the male characters also never end with

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success. If anything, her failure puts her on the same level as the male characters because they all
fail miserably no matter what they do.
Another important aspect that begins in this episode is the motivation behind Dees desire
to become pregnant. Dee is single, in her early thirties, and of lower economic status, and when
she proclaimed, Im having a baby! a lot of assumptions could have been made. However, as
she goes on to explain, People who cant have kids are willing to pay a shitload of money to
people like myself who can carry it for them. She is not becoming a surrogate to empathetically
help out a couple in needshe wants to become a surrogate because she is a horrible, greedy,
manipulative, conniving person that will do anything for money. As Dee meets with the couple
who wants her as a surrogate, she is interestingly presented in comparison to the docile, soft
spoken wife who wants the baby. She calls attention to herself with her outrageous comedy,
especially when placed next to this more domestic female character. She blatantly lies about her
drug and alcohol use, her mental and physical stability, and even goes so far as demandingly
calling the wife a good girl, when the wife agrees to get her a swimsuit so she can swim in
their pool so her tubes dont get all tensed up. While on the surface this scene just goes to
show how horrible of a person Dee is, it is interesting to note how much time Dee is given to
showcase her horribleness.
This scene is also important because of the stark contrast between Dee and the wife, and
also offers an opportunity for the extreme physical comedy the character is known for when Dee
attempts a jack-knife into the pool and lands in a painful belly flop. As the couple expresses their
expected gratitude and excitement, Dee wants to get right to her real motivation: Lets talk
turkey, and by that I mean money. Here the viewer gets to see the extent of Dees greedy
motivation as she presents a spreadsheet that includes deals for doubling down or having as

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many babies as possible for more money. Dee makes pregnancy a business transaction, with the
baby becoming a commodity and her one hell of a uterus being a service. This episode
exemplifies Dees outrageous opposition to the feminine standard of empathy and emotion, as
she feels no emotional connection to the thought of carrying a baby inside of her. Dee enters the
masculine territory of manipulation and tendentiousness as she exposes what motivates her to
act.
Who got Dee pregnant? Much later, the seventh episode of the sixth season opens with
Dee eating sandwich after sandwich after sandwich, and the gang berating her for her fatness
(McElhenney & Day, 2010). Dee bluntly replies, Im not fat, Im pregnant, and Mac points
out, I feel like you say that all the time though, and Frank again suggests, You better do
yourself a favor and flush it out. Even though it is not stated right away, these lines suggest a
connection to the previous episode, The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis, and it is suggested
that even though Dees initial pregnancy scheme failed she must have continued scheming
behind the scenes. The ability to scheme is a source of power for the characters in the show, and
this multi-episode continuation of a scheme showcases Dees power. The gang goes on to again
express their utter apathy for Dees situation: We dont care about you, or your body, or your
baby and they continue their previous conversation of making fun of Dee until she proclaims:
Well, you should give a shit, because one of you is the father. Dee uses the power that has
been given to her by becoming pregnant to suggest this. She has the ability to make the others
care about her pregnancy by the only way possible: involving them directly. Her power of
manipulation shows the similarities between her power and comedy and that of her male
counterparts. Instead of being the voice of reason, Dee is the voice of senselessness, causing an
insane manhunt for answers that lasts the entire episode.

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The men spend the rest of the episode figuring it out, and come to the horrible
conclusion that Dennis, Dees brother, had accidently and drunkenly got Dee pregnant. Dennis
becomes sick until the very end of the episode when Dee confesses that she just told them that
one of them had gotten her pregnant, because they made fun of her for eating the sandwich. She
explains that she had just wanted to upset them and get them going, which obviously worked.
Similar to the previous episode, Dee uses her pregnancy to manipulate othersthis time to get
back at the gang for making fun of her. Dee has directed all the attention to herself, which is a
very difficult task on the show since attention is a highly desired thing for all characters.
Attention is also a basic element of being an unruly woman. As previously mentioned, Lauzen
(2014) claims that comedy requires one to call attention to oneself, which is an act of authority,
superiority, and often associated with masculinity. By claiming the attention and controlling the
way the men act throughout the episode, Dee subverts the idea that men are the ones with
comedic authority. This attention does not last long, however, as once Dee says that none of
them is the father the men dont give a shit anymore who got her pregnant until the very last
episode of the same season.
Dee gives birth. Dees opposition to feminine standards regarding pregnancy are
especially shown when she goes into labor. This episode begins with Dees water breaking, the
gang taking her to the hospital, and the men getting hung up on finding the guy who got her
pregnant. Dee says, Oh no, that guy? There is no guy...why dont you guys do what you do best
and dont care (McElhenney, R. et al., 2010). This scene sparks the two storylines of the
episode, in which Dennis stays with Dee at the hospital, while Frank, Charlie, and Mac vow to
find the dad of the baby. The desire to find the dad is purely selfish, only occurring after the men
decide the baby would be their responsibility since Dee is the most irresponsible person on the

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planet. They realize this task might not be easy because as Frank notes, Dee has bedded a few
stinkers, and Charlie suggests she might not even know herself. Similar to the previous
episodes, Dees pregnancy sparks the storyline of the entire episode, which again gives Dee the
ultimate scheming power.
Frank, Charlie, and Mac decide to throw a party to round up all the men of Dees past.
This is probably the first time anyone, including the viewers, have fully realized how many men
Dee has slept with. As the guys interrogate each man, they find out that Dee has been
consistently sleeping with many of the men from previous episodes, even though their
relationships had all seemingly ended horribly. Dees system for maintaining these men is
manipulation, as one man puts it: she gets drunk, calls him mean names, and then he just caves
in. Mac and Charlie explain that shes just berating these guys into having sex with hershes
slamming ass all over town! and realize that shes getting way more action than them. Notice
that they do not even mention Dee is promiscuous, and instead Dee is praised for her ability to
manipulate men and trick them into sleeping with her.
Through this revelation, Dee is given power as a sexual being, much like the men of the
show gain cultural capital from sleeping with as many women as possible. As suggested by
Rowe (1990), one of the fundamental concepts of the unruly woman comes from the idea of
sexual inversion, or what usually belongs below usurping the position of what belongs above
(p. 76). Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, like many male-centered comedies, has a strong
theme of men competing to have sex with as many women as possible. This is seen especially
with Dennis character, who has dozens of sex tapes recording his sexual conquests. When Dee
is discovered to have slept with so many men, and being the instigator of the sexual
relationships, she has usurped the mens power as sexual conquerors. In her unruliness and

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opposition to the feminine standard of modesty, Dee has become a more skilled conqueror than
any of the male characters.
As the rest of the gang sets off to find the father, Dennis walks in on Dee standing on a
chair with wheels trying to fix the TV in her hospital room. Dennis berates her for her
irresponsibility and insists she lies in bed and does nothing, which can be seen as another
feminine standard of helplessness. What is expected of Dee, like most pregnant women, is for
her to be bed ridden and reliant on men, like Dennis, to take care of her. However, when Dennis
leaves the room Dee gets right back up to try to fix the TV again. This small action, and her later
slipping out of the hospital to grab a sandwich and soda, suggests Dees strength against what is
expected of her. In these moments it is obvious that Dee is unruly: she doesnt listen to Dennis
and she doesnt listen to the societal norms about how she should act going into labor. She wont
sit down, and she wont let Dennis control her. Dee is also crude up until the point of birth. She
schemes alongside Dennis while simultaneously experiencing painful contractions. Her last
contraction before she goes into the delivery room is explained by her proclaiming, This sucks,
this sucks a bag of dicks! which again shows an absolute contrast from what would be expected
from the docile, soft-spoken domestic woman who is often portrayed in this mother-role.
The fact that Dee is this unruly while doing the most feminine thing possible, birth, offers
interesting insight into what it means to truly be a woman. Dee is obviously a woman, as she is
completing the action that fundamentally defines womanhood. However, Dee doesnt act like the
women usually found on television, or the stereotypes found in society. The character of Dee
Reynolds reflects an aspect of actual female roles in society that has rarely been shown before
a role that proves women cannot be defined by a single stereotype of domesticity and the ability
to be tamed. A woman can be crude, single, a sexual conqueror, and still fulfill the ultimate thing

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that makes someone a woman. Dee wasnt the first unruly woman to be on television, but since
Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been on air for so long, I suggest that Dee has helped
make it possible for the more modern female comedians to be even more unruly than herself.
Conclusions
The infiltration of unruly women into the comedy industry that began in the early 1900s
has reflected an acceptance of new female roles in society. The idea of an unruly woman,
especially one who exists in a masculine industry, sparks a conversation about how we view
womanhood, and will hopefully spark an overturning of feminine standards and domestication
found on television and society. When more women are shown to oppose stereotypical female
roles, like being the butt of the joke, or being passive and reasonable, the world is more able to
see the wide variety of roles women actually can play. Dee Reynolds is a great example of a
horrible woman who is still allowed to be a star of the show. She is a modern example of an
unruly woman, who readily makes a spectacle of herself. Instead of returning the male gaze,
exposing and making a spectacle of the gazer, and claiming the pleasure, like the unruly female
comedians of the early 20th century, Dee Reynolds has invoked and maintained a new gazethe
female gaze (Karnick, 1990, p. 78).
She has exposed and made a spectacle of any notion that women cannot be funny, and
has claimed the pleasure by opening the door for any other unruly female comedians to maintain
that gaze. I suggest applying this framework to more modern female comedians, like Amy
Schumer, Melissa McCarthy, or Rebel Wilson, or even non-comedian actresses that are similarly
unruly in other genres, like drama or sitcom. These unruly women are able to address the female
place in the comedy industry, therefore enabling the revelation and upturning of gender norm
construction in comedy. With more analysis of female unruliness in the film and television

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industry a new genre of feminism could be created, and offer beneficial insight into the
representation of what it means to be a woman.

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