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Women In Comedy

This semester, I'm going to be creating a new Wikipedia page on Women in Comedy. I hope to include an overview of this history, descriptions of key figures, and an exploration of the unique experience of women in this male-dominated field. Here is a link to my full proposal: https://docs.google.com/a/rice.edu/document/d/1UJdSykEbyqvAJloB6tw6eWdHG-xAtc_95r9z7Bgtfs0/edit?usp=sharing

LINK TO DRAFT: Draft:Women in comedy

First Steps - a couple of short paragraphs, not structured yet....

Comedy, or creative works with the intentions of humor, is thought to have originated in Ancient Greek Theatre in 425 BCE.^[1] Women have long been represented in the field of comedy from Jane Austen to Amy Schumer, Phyllis Diller to Wanda Sykes^[2]^[3]. Their contributions to the world of comedy have spanned both time and medium. Expanded introduction.

In many societies around the world, a woman's role has affected her flexibility in comedy. In countries that historically view women as inferior to men, comedy is seen as a masculine discipline.^[4] The common perception that women aren't funny pervades all aspects of comedy, including stand-up, television, and movies.^[5]^[4]^[6] The comedy establishment, influenced by patriarchal society, has relegated women to the "side of tears and loss."^[7] Women are almost completely excluded from comedic works of literature.^[4] Partriarchal values influence on the female experience in comedy.

Stand up comedy, in particular, is described as a masculine art form.^[6] The words that are used to describe success are often violent, such as killed or annihilated.^[6] The performer must take charge of the stage, claiming it as their own via the phallic symbol of the microphone.^[6] The early female figures in stand up, such as Phyllis Diller, were able to enter the mainstream through their willingness to self-deprecate and declare themselves ugly. In other words, they were able to enter, but on the terms of male comedians.^[8] More modern female comedians cite a need to tailor their comedy to what men would find to be funny, with change in this mentality only coming very recently.^[6] Special case of stand up comedy.

Figures such as Tina Fey have paved the way in the modern era for large-scale growth in female comedy.^[9] Her public appointment as the first female head writer of Saturday Night Live placed her in a position to serve as a feminist comedy icon.^[9] Many of her sketches became iconic, particularly her satirical portrayal of Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin.^[10] Important figure of Tina Fey.

Annotated Bibliography

Blanch, Sophie. "Women and Comedy." In The History of British Women’s Writing, 1920–1945, pp. 112-128. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2013.
- Explored the alternative contributions of British women to writing, agains the push to be taken 'seriously.'
Kohen, Yael. We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy. Macmillan, 2012.
- Covers the last six decades of female comedian in the United States, including how they fought their way into a male-dominated field.
Allen, Carol. "" Shaking That Thing" and All Its Wonders: African American Female Comedy." Studies in American Humor 12 (2005): 97-120.
- What is African-American female comedy and how did it form? Explores how this genre is simultaneously hidden and exposed.
Adams, James N. "Female speech in Latin comedy." Antichthon 18 (1984): 43-77.
- Explores how the different trends of female speech (conservatism etc) carry into Latin comedy.

Horowitz, Susan. Queens of comedy: Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, and the new generation of funny women. Vol. 2. Psychology Press, 1997.
- Biography of four figures via interview about their personal and professional lives.
Flowers, Arhlene A., and Cory L. Young. "Parodying Palin: How Tina Fey’s visual and verbal impersonations revived a comedy show and impacted the 2008 election." Journal of Visual Literacy 29, no. 1 (2010): 47-67.
- Uses Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin to describe how broadly satire can affect politics.
Bilger, Audrey. Laughing Feminism: Subversive Comedy in Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, and Jane Austen. Wayne State University Press, 2002.
- Focuses on the work of Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, and Jane Austen in their quest to point on prejudices again women using satire, burlesque, and parody.
Lauzen, Martha. "The Funny Business of Being Tina Fey: Constructing a (Feminist) Comedy Icon." Feminist Media Studies 14, no. 1 (2014): 106-117.
- Analysis of the process by which Tina Fey became so successful in comedy and how the media portrayed her success.
Women in Comedy – Documentary - http://www.makers.com/documentary/womenincomedy
- Documentary about female experience in comedy with numerous clips and interviews.

Bore, Inger-Lise Kalviknes. "(Un) funny women: TV comedy audiences and the gendering of humour." European journal of cultural studies 13, no. 2 (2010): 139-154.
- Study on how male and female audiences view majority female casts of comedic work, why such casts are seen as for women only.
Fraiberg, Allison. "Between the laughter: Bridging feminist studies through women’s stand-up comedy." Look who’s laughing: Gender and comedy (1994): 315-334.
- Uses two women with very different career paths to describe how feminist studies and comedy can be married together.
Press, Andrea L. Women watching television: Gender, class, and generation in the American television experience. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991.
- How a woman's ability to identify with what she sees on the television screen affects their assessment of realism of that world.
Ward, Emily. "Feminism and Political Satire: Excavation through Humor." (2016).
- Exploration of the similar skills and crossover between feminism and political satire.

Neglected Tropical Diseases

Link to Full Proposal

I think that the sharing settings currently require me to approve access. I will be doing so as quickly as possible.

https://docs.google.com/a/rice.edu/document/d/1GjMAVcSkGDW2rM1ECM6BoeU8jK46i2HuCsJ60-ZxPjk/edit?usp=sharing

Brief Plan for Edits

       This article is currently rated as C-Class by WikiProject Medicine and B-Class by WikiProject Sanitation. It is rated as Mid-Importance for both. I would argue that this designation is not correct. The issue of neglected tropical diseases is much important than it is currently designated as.

Neglected tropical diseases are among some of the most prevalent afflictions globally. However, as their name suggests, they do not receive nearly as much attention as they merit. This is due, at least in part, to the politics of research and development, as well as a general lack of knowledge about the burdens of the ‘developing’ world. They also represent one of the foremost issues in evolutionary biology: disease control. Not only could further research investment lead to the bettering of billions of lives, but it would also have a profound effect of the field of biology. There is so much knowledge to gain from research that will have applications and benefits for decades to come. For these reasons, I believe that this article must be expanded to fully cover the topic.

Currently, the article focuses heavily on the descriptions of each one of the neglected tropical diseases, as well as the various efforts for prevention. I agree that these are two very important sections to emphasize. However, many other topics are left with much less coverage. It would be advisable to increase coverage in the following areas: history, disease burden/geographical distribution, barriers to treatment, relevance in the developed world, and co-infection among other things.

I noticed a couple of things that seem to be characteristics of featured and other highly rated articles. They are certainly better written than the Neglected tropical disease one is now. For Chagas Disease, there is a very logical progression from transmission, to diagnosis, to prevention. There are also a very high number of academic papers cited in the References section. The introduction section also did a very good job of covering the content of the article without being too lengthy. These are all things that I hope to do for the Neglected tropical diseases article.

Sections to Add

1. History – This article currently does not have any information on as to why these diseases are in the condition that they are in now. This is crucial to understand, especially as a way to prevent other diseases from falling into this category. I also would like to look at the early history of scientific discovery related to the diseases, as the lack of R & D is one of the major issues within the topic currently.

2. Add to: Social Impact – One of the most crippling aspects of infection with this family of diseases, aside from the physical manifestation, is the social stigma that surrounds the physical manifestation. This disproportionately affects women, who often find their small amount of agency taken away. Many are ostracized and prevented from touching food/water resources. Additionally, there is documentation of a negative correlation between infection and school attendance. This is important because not only does school represent an opportunity for education, but it also is an important social institution. Many with these conditions feel like their support system is not there for them, and it isn’t. There is an underexplored connection with mental health as well.

3. Disease Burden/Geographic Distribution → to be combined with Epidemiology – The epidemiology section is currently very stunted in the article. It solely covers the helminth diseases and is two sentences long. I am proposing adding information on disease burden and the geographic distribution. This would be a good place to add a summary table of stats on the diseases, where information is available. It would also be helpful to have some more general information about transmission, an especially crucial topic in curing and prevention. I am also going to move the section up to right after the list of diseases, so as to better connect it to the relevant biological information.

4. Add to: Economic Impact (Proposed new section name: Economics of Treatment) – The current section of Economic impact contains information mostly on the economics of treating this group of diseases. The potential economic impact of the alleviation of this public health problem is only briefly touched one. Therefore, I believe that it would be more fitting to re-title the section to ‘Economics of Treatment.’ However, the information on lost economic potential should not be left out, but should be more clearly defined within the section. I may make it into a section with this one.

5. Add to: Health Impact (Co-infection) – One important issue that I do not think is addressed quite enough in the main article is the issue of co-infection. It is the case, for many people, that their diseases burdens are made that much heavier by infection with multiple NTDs. There has also been research that shows that people that have been or are infected with some NTDs are more likely to become infected with diseases like the big three. We must consider the implication outside of just the disease in order to fully comprehend the public heath situation.

6. NTDs in the Developed World – While I am not set on this title, as we have talked a lot in class about the problematic distriction between developed and developing nations, I do think that the material is very relevant to the topic. Within this section, I will cover the recent spread of NTDs to the Southern regions of the United States and parts of Europe. I will elaborate on the correlation between disease and high rates of poverty. Lastly, I would like to write about how the response to NTDs in the developed world differed from the overall reaction. This is to say, how the issue was covered with much more urgency once the danger came to the developed world.

7. Barriers to Treatment (Reasons for Neglect) – This section will be a summarization of the public’s response and efforts to curb the spread of NTDs. I hope to synthesize many of the points I previously brought up, including affected populations, the state of the drug industry, the developed vs. developing issue, and others. As this section addresses the main reasons why these diseases are ‘neglected,’ I believe that it should be expanded to fully encapsulate the topic. I am also keeping this section in its original location, because it transitions well into the section on prevention.

8. General Update to Facts (not a section, but interspersed) – This section aims to update any outdated information and add information on how the spreads of these diseases have changed in recent history. It will not be an actual section, but rather a general update to the article. While there are two specific sources listed, all sources listed will have relevant information to this topic.

Beginning Edits

Edit of Summary Section

ORIGINAL

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of tropical infections which are especially common in low-income populations in developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. They are caused by a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminths. Different organizations define the set of diseases differently. In sub-Saharan Africa, the impact of these diseases as a group is comparable to malaria and tuberculosis.^[1] Some of these diseases have known preventive measures or acute medical treatments which are available in the developed world but which are not universally available in poorer areas. In some cases, the treatments are relatively inexpensive. For example, the treatment for schistosomiasis is US$0.20 per child per year.^[2] Nevertheless, control of neglected diseases is estimated to require funding of between US$2 billion to US$3 billion over the next five to seven years.^[3]

These diseases are contrasted with the big three diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria), which generally receive greater treatment and research funding. The neglected diseases can also make HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis more deadly.^[4] However, some pharmaceutical companies have committed to donating all the drug therapies required, and mass drug administration (for example mass deworming) has been successfully accomplished in several countries.^[5]

Seventeen neglected tropical diseases are prioritized by WHO. These diseases are common in 149 countries, affecting more than 1.4 billion people (including more than 500 million children)^[6] and costing developing economies billions of dollars every year.^[7] They resulted in 142,000 deaths in 2013—down from 204,000 deaths in 1990.^[8] Of these 17, two were targeted for eradication (dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) by 2015 and yaws by 2020), and four for elimination (blinding trachoma, human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy and lymphatic filariasis by 2020).^[7]Only 22 cases of dracunculiasis remained as of the end of 2015.^[9]

EDITS

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of tropical infections which are especially common in low-income populations in developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. They are caused by a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminths. These diseases are contrasted with the big three diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria), which generally receive greater treatment and research funding. In sub-Saharan Africa, the impact of these diseases as a group is comparable to malaria and tuberculosis.^[1] NTD co-infection can also make HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis more deadly.^[4]

In some cases, the treatments are relatively inexpensive. For example, the treatment for schistosomiasis is US$0.20 per child per year.^[2] Nevertheless, control of neglected diseases is estimated to require funding of between US$2 billion to US$3 billion over the next five to seven years.^[3] Some pharmaceutical companies have committed to donating all the drug therapies required, and mass drug administration (for example mass deworming) has been successfully accomplished in several countries.^[5] However, preventative measures are often more accessible in the developed world, but not universally available in poorer areas.

Seventeen neglected tropical diseases are prioritized by WHO, though other organizations define NTDs differently. These diseases are common in 149 countries, affecting more than 1.4 billion people (including more than 500 million children)^[6] and costing developing economies billions of dollars every year.^[7] They resulted in 142,000 deaths in 2013—down from 204,000 deaths in 1990.^[8] Of these 17, two were targeted for eradication (dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) by 2015 and yaws by 2020), and four for elimination (blinding trachoma, human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy and lymphatic filariasis by 2020).^[7]

Section on Reasons for neglect

ORIGINAL

Feasey argues that this group of diseases has been overlooked because they mainly affect the poorest countries of the developing world and because of recent emphasis on decreasing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.^[9] Fenwick also argues that far more resources are given to the "big three" diseases, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, because of their higher mortality and public awareness rates.^[10] He states that the importance of neglected tropical diseases has been underestimated since many are asymptomatic and have long incubation periods. The connection between a death and a neglected tropical disease that has been latent for a long period of time is not often realized.^[10] According to the Financial Times, reason for neglect for these disease is that they are not commercial and consequently patents and profit play no role in stimulating innovation. Like all non-commercial areas, these diseases are the responsibility of governments and philanthropy (including industry philanthropy).^[60]

Dr. Peter Hotez points out that in developed nations, lack of knowledge in the healthcare industry and few conclusive diagnostic tests perpetuate the neglect of this group of diseases. NTDs, while less prevalent in these countries, still pose a large public health problem. In the United States alone, there are at least 12 million people suffering from these neglected parasitic infections.^[61]

EDITED, going to be removing the bold...

Section on developing nation issues

Additionally, neglected tropical diseases are often associated with some kind of social stigma, making their treatment more complex. Disease control is greatly affected by this stigma, as it decreases help-seeking and treatment adherence.^[11]

Section on developed nation issues

In developed nations, neglected tropical disease also pose a threat to human health. They make up a hidden disease burden among the poorest of wealthy societies.^[12] In the United States, high rates of parasitic infection can be found to be distributed along geographic, racial, and socio-economic lines. Within the African-American community, there may be up to 2.8 million cases of toxocariasis. Rates of toxocariasis, trichomoniasis, and other neglected infections occur in the United States at the same rate as Nigeria.^[12] Within the Hispanic community, neglected infections are concentrated near the US-Mexico border. Vector-born illnesses are especially high, with some rates approaching those of Latin America.^[12] However, in the developed world, diseases that are associated with poverty are often not addressed as comprehensively as they should be. This may be due to lack of economic incentive and public policy failings.^[12]

Section on the failings of the drug industry/public policy

According to the Financial Times, reason for neglect for these disease is that they are not commercial and consequently patents and profit play no role in stimulating innovation. Like all non-commercial areas, these diseases are the responsibility of governments and philanthropy (including industry philanthropy).^[60]

A review of public and private initiatives found that of the 1393 new chemical products that were marketed in the period of 1975 and 1999, just 16 related to tropical diseases and tuberculosis. The same review additionally found that there was a 13-fold greater chance of a drug entering the marking being for central-nervous-system disorders and cancer than an NTD.^[13] Currently, the pharmaceutical industry views research and development as highly risky. For this reason, resources are not often put into the field of NTDs (as diseases of the poor) and new chemical products are often expensive. While often developed countries will rely on government-run and private partnerships to fund such projects, developing nations frequently have significantly lower per head per annum spending on these diseases.^[13] Due to lack of incentive in the pharmaceutical industry, successful NTD treatment programs have often relied on the donation format. The Mectizan Donation Program has donated over 1800 million tablets of ivermectin.^[14]

public policy

In developed nations such as the United States, a lack of awareness prevents effective policy generation and leaves health care services unequipped to address the issue. Additionally, there is little effort put into taking and maintaining large data sets on neglected disease in the United States. The first summit on the issue was held by the Adler Institute on Social Exclusion in the United States in 2009.^[12]

Section on Social impact

ORIGINAL

Several NTDs, such as leprosy, cause severe deformities that result in social stigma. Lymphatic filariasis, for example, causes severe deformities that can result in denial of marriage and inability to work.^[10] Studies in Ghana and Sri Lanka have demonstrated that support groups for patients with lymphatic filariasis can increase participants' self-esteem, quality of life, and social relations through social support and providing practical advice on how to manage their illness.^[58]

Deworming treatment is correlated with increased school attendance.^[10]

The impact of NTDs is tied to gender in some situations. NTDs disproportionately affect females. This is especially true in the cases of schistosomiasis, dengue, hookworm, and Chagas disease. There is also the added risk of hookworm infection during pregnancy and the potential to transfer diseases such as Chagas during pregnancy.^[54] A study in Uganda found that women more easily obtained treatment because they had fewer occupational responsibilities than men and were more trusting of treatment, but ignorance of the effects of medicines on pregnant women prevented adequate care. The paper concludes that gender should be considered when designing treatment programs.^[59]

EDITED - extension to add, after the social stigma section

A 2012 review found that infection with a neglect tropical disease predisposes individuals to poor mental health.^[15] This is partially due to the social stigma that surround NTDs, but is also likely caused by the subsequent lack of access to health and social services. Overall, being a member of the infected community was found to cut individuals off from multiple aspects of society via civic rights, educational opportunities, and employment. The authors suggest that more research be directed into the psychological aspects of neglected tropical diseases in order to fully untangle their co-effects.^[15]

Section on Epidemiology - title change?

ORIGINAL

The six most common NTDs include soil-transmitted helminths (STHs)—specifically roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) and hookworms (Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale)—schistosomiasis, trachoma, and lymphatic filariasis (LF).^[65] These diseases affect one-sixth of the world's population with 90 percent of the disease burden occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.^[65]

EDITED

Information on the epidemiology of neglected tropical diseases is often fragmented and of low reliability.^[16] Therefore, it is currently difficult to synthesize all of the information on this family of diseases. One effort to do so is the Global Burden of Disease framework. It aims to create a standardized method of measurement.^[16] The principle components of the approach involve 1) the measuring of premature mortality as well as disability, 2) the standardized usage of DALYs (disability-adjusted life years), and 3) wide spread inclusion of diseases and injury causes with the estimation of missing data.^[16] However, the DALY has been criticized as a 'systematic undervaluation' of disease burden.^[17] King asserts that the DALY emphasizes the individual too much, while ignoring the effects of the ecology of the disease. In order for the measure to become more valid, it may gave to take the context of poverty more into account. King also emphasizes that DALYs may not capture the non-linear effects of poverty on cost-utility analysis of disease control.^[17] In the future, new measures may be developed to better capture the true effects of these disease while still created a standardized system.

[1]
Aristophanes (1996-01-01). Lysistrata. Nick Hern Books. ISBN 9781854593252.
[2]
"Laughing Feminism | Wayne State University Press". www.wsupress.wayne.edu. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
[3]
Kohen, Yael (2012). We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy. Sarah Crichton Books.
[4]
Caliskan, Sevda (1995-01-01). "Is There Such a Thing as Women's Humor?". American Studies International. 33 (2): 49–59.
[5]
Hitchens, Christopher. "Why Women Aren't Funny". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
[6]
"Women in Comedy". MAKERS. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
[7]
Knobloch, Susan (1996-01-01). "Review of The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter". Film Quarterly. 50 (2): 58–60. doi:10.2307/1213431.
[8]
Horowitz, Susan (1997). Queens of comedy: Lucille Ball, Phyllis Diller, Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, and the new generation of funny women. Routledge.
[9]
Lauzen, Martha (2014-01-02). "The Funny Business of Being Tina Fey: Constructing a (feminist) comedy icon". Feminist Media Studies. 14 (1): 106–117. doi:10.1080/14680777.2012.740060. ISSN 1468-0777.
[10]
Flowers, Arhlene A.; Young, Cory L. (2010-01-01). "Parodying Palin: How Tina Fey's Visual and Verbal Impersonations Revived a Comedy Show and Impacted the 2008 Election". Journal of Visual Literacy. 29 (1): 47–67. doi:10.1080/23796529.2010.11674673. ISSN 1051-144X.
[11]
Weiss, Mitchell G. (2008-01-01). "Stigma and the social burden of neglected tropical diseases". PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 2 (5): e237. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000237. ISSN 1935-2735.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
[12]
Hotez, Peter (2009-11-01). "Neglected Diseases Amid Wealth In The United States And Europe". Health Affairs. 28 (6): 1720–1725. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.28.6.1720. ISSN 0278-2715.
[13]
Trouiller, Patrice; Olliaro, Piero; Torreele, Els; Orbinski, James; Laing, Richard; Ford, Nathan (2002-06-22). "Drug development for neglected diseases: a deficient market and a public-health policy failure". Lancet (London, England). 359 (9324): 2188–2194. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)09096-7. ISSN 0140-6736.
[14]
Colatrella, B. (2008-09-01). "The Mectizan Donation Program: 20 years of successful collaboration - a retrospective". Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. 102 Suppl 1: 7–11. doi:10.1179/136485908X337418. ISSN 0003-4983.
[15]
Litt, Elizabeth; Baker, Margaret C.; Molyneux, David (2012-05-01). "Neglected tropical diseases and mental health: a perspective on comorbidity". Trends in Parasitology. 28 (5): 195–201. doi:10.1016/j.pt.2012.03.001. ISSN 1471-5007.
[16]
Mathers, Colin D.; Ezzati, Majid; Lopez, Alan D. (2007-11-07). "Measuring the Burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases: The Global Burden of Disease Framework". PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 1 (2). doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000114. ISSN 1935-2727.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
[17]
King, Charles H.; Bertino, Anne-Marie (2008-01-01). "Asymmetries of poverty: why global burden of disease valuations underestimate the burden of neglected tropical diseases". PLoS neglected tropical diseases. 2 (3): e209. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000209. ISSN 1935-2735.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)

Annotated Bibliography

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