An old post reflecting on the state of the industry in 2013.

This is a slightly re-edited re-post of a blog entry I originally published on Nov 5 2013, at http://alicecomedyfraser.tumblr.com/post/66160887706/storming-the-gates This was when I'd been doing comedy for about a year. - - I’m coming to a point where I am more willing to make other people uncomfortable. I’m still not sure whether that’s a good thing in absolute. I have a feeling it’s a good thing for me, at least. - A lot of my (diffident, buddhist/jewish/catholic) upbringing has left me conflicted about how hard to pursue my goals. - On one hand, being a pushy hustler feels unnatural to me, because I feel like greed and desire should be suppressed and starved (buddhism), and on the other hand, you can’t just sit back and wait to become a victim, we live in the world and we need to look after ourselves and protect our families and make a mark on the world (Judaism). On the third hand, guilt. (catholic). - One part of me just wants to perfect my craft, and wait to be noticed. The other part of me acknowledges that for anyone to pay attention (or money) to me, I need to get all up in their frills. - The feminist in me feels aggrieved that I have to prove myself again and again, but I am also grateful to that gritty, pissy part of my psyche because it is the thing that stings me out of my shell when I want to sit back and wait for the world to come to me. Much of my reluctance to make other people uncomfortable has been burned away by ‘fuck you, don’t tell me what I can’t do’ anger, fuelled and refuelled by the repetitive drone of both charming ironic and unpleasant non-ironic sexism that underlies nearly every gig. - I can describe literally every gig I’ve ever done where my gender hasn’t been pointed out as an issue either for self-congratulation by the booker, or in a joking dig by other acts about 'tokenism’ or as a semi-compliment given by the audience about how most women usually aren’t funny. [this is no longer AS true as when I wrote it but I'm not sure whether it's because I'm further up the ladder, because I socialise less, or because the environment has changed in the last few years. Or a combination of the above factors. As the excellent Tiff Stevenson says, the problem hasn't necessarily gone away just because it's not happening to you anymore] So what, then? - I have been thinking about this. I don’t really resent the antipathy that there is towards women coming in to male dominated industries. - I’m not sure why it doesn't bother me hugely in principle - maybe I’m just desensitised, or maybe I’m realistic. I don’t see a lot of point in being upset about it. On occasion, the gender imbalance in comedy works in my favour, and I accept being dealt those cards with enthusiasm. I don’t feel I am owed them, any more than I feel I deserve to be dealt the cards with sharper edges, but we play the cards we’re given [or other gambling metaphor - I don't play cards, though arguably choosing to pursue comedy is a form of gambling]. - I mean, it annoys me in practical ways, when it gets in my way or is boring, but it totally makes sense. Why should anyone embrace having their power diluted? Rare is the older sibling who's not troubled by the birth of a younger, coming to take their attention. - I absolutely agree that there needs to be less friction given to women trying to get in (in all of the male dominated industries), but I don’t see that friction lessening without significant foot-traffic. Comedy is definitely male dominated, and there is a palpable hostility towards women trying to step onto turf 'owned’ by men. When it’s not hostility, it’s discomfort, and a kind of joking rejection that’s meant as a kind of acceptance, but unfortunately falls short. - I don’t see that same hostility leveled at male gymnasts by female gymnasts or male hairdressers by female hairdressers - you don’t tend to hear 'go back to the boardroom where you belong’ … though I think guys going into female dominated industries are often met by accusations of gayness or effeminacy by those outside the industry, which is its own kind of injustice. - I was at the “Women in Marvel” Panel at New York Comic Con this year, and the advice across the board by the women of Marvel’s creative team was “Start writing comics now, start writing what you want and build the skills to give it to other people.” What I took that to mean is that while in some ways we should feel entitled to equal representation, in other ways we have to take it on ourselves to represent ourselves equally. - While 'if you want it so bad, why don’t you make it’ doesn’t counteract the difficulty and exhaustingly boring groundhog days of pushing against a stream of mild harassment and overt hostility, the 'make it yourself’ argument was being pushed by the women within the industry, who are in fact making it, and asking others to join them in making it. If we all make it, we make one another’s jobs easier. - There’s not a lot of point in resenting the battle, or waiting for the ground to become smooth to tread before stepping onto the field. We have to smooth it with our own feet. - My response to not seeing many women I admired in comedy was to try to make good comedy. In the process, I’ve encountered many more incredibly funny and talented women than I'd thought were there, and seen more women take top positions in the industry. There's still a fight, and part of what we’re fighting for is a sense of legitimacy above tokenism that can only actually be achieved by larger numbers of us seeking entry. Positive discrimination works only very slowly. We need to push from below. We need to be undeniable, and if we walk into a dinner party at a boys club, we need to set our own places at the table and make jokes until everyone relaxes a bit. - We shouldn't have to. But we do need to. The only other way is to expect people to be better than people have ever been in the history, and give up a tribal monopoly without a fight. - Over the past 8 years of being involved in improv, sketch and standup, I have felt the antipathy towards women is lessening (maybe too gradually), and that you meet with less (though still a lot of) pushback. I don’t mind that. Evolutionary adaptation doesn’t just happen. Human adaptation happens as a sort of trial by combat. Most of nature and human nature is like that. We change when the world around us changes. If we want other people to change, we have to change the shape of the world by being present. - The more of us there are doing the work, the less we will be seen as impostors. At some point, if you’re a contextual minority stepping into ground 'owned’ by a dominant class, being welcomed by the dominant class becomes irrelevant. I’d rather take the power away from them to decide whether we can come in by just storming the gates. — Alice Fraser is a Comedian and Writer in Sydney. She can be found online at www.alicefraser.com Book her for gigs.