Wanda Sykes's Views On Stereotypes

Here at the University of California, San Diego, we are known for our diverse student body. With such an environment, I believe it to be appropriate to bring in stand-up comedian Wanda Sykes to come and perform for the university, but not just for the laughs that she will surely bring. Comedy is known to induce laughter, but it is also used to shine light on things that are not generally talked about due to the severity of the subjects, such as discrimination, child abuse, and sexual violence. Sykes addresses these kind of matters very well and in a healing way that help people look past stereotypes to understand each other more. Through her comedy that invokes social injustices and discrimination, Wanda Sykes touches on all the points Richard
Some groups are, however, more dominant than other groups in a way that they are seen as more superior due to the power they hold, their privileges, and their social statuses. Examples of such dominant groups include white people and the wealthy. The people who do not experience any of these privileges and are on the outside of the dominant groups are known to be in outgroups. Members of outgroups are often victims of oppression and many people can hurt from that. However, there are ways to heal, such as by telling stories, and in this case, telling stories through comedy. Critical theorist Richard Delgado, in his essay “Storytelling for Oppositionists and Others: A Plea for Narrative,” believes that outgroup members can use stories in two ways: “as means of psychic self-preservation, and […] as means of lessening their own sub-ordination.” He further adds on that when members of outgroups become familiar with their own historic oppression then that is when they gain healing (Delgado 2437). Wanda Sykes makes several jokes about stereotypes of African Americans and gay people in her comedy special “I’ma Be Me”, but instead of being offensive jokes to those outgroups, Sykes constructs her jokes in a way that doesn’t demoralize them, but rather in a way that changes our modes of thinking about those groups and that puts us in their shoes. For
Speaking from experience, if students found out that there is a famous comedian performing, they would be a lot less inclined to just watch a documentary. At first, they will participate just because they believe that it’ll be funny and not because they’ll receive anything educational out of it, but that will change once they walk out of the room. Comedy is much more than just laughter; the comedians want their audience to feel challenged, something that Wanda Sykes does by talking about the social injustices that we face on a daily basis (Powers and Carr). By feeling these challenges, students, especially college students, will then want to go out there and make a change. An example of such a challenge is when Wanda Sykes makes a joke on how our current educational system doesn’t work because all we do is retain information, take the test, pass the test, and forget all about it (McCarthy-Miller, “Wanda Sykes: I’ma Be Me”). Any student can and will relate to this because that is how grades and schools everywhere function now, and such a joke will certainly spark a light in the students that want to make a change. Another reason why comedy is a good way to educate the students is because of the way that comedy is overall. Many comedians will use stories, sometimes their own personal stories to tell jokes, and stories are powerful because they can “be used to empower