Ellie Tomsett – författare

What are the barriers to women’s participation in live comedy, and how are these barriers maintained in the digital era?In this book, Ellie Tomsett considers how the origins of stand-up comedy still impact on current live comedy production, and explains how the contemporary stand-up scene continues to reflect wider societal stereotypes about the capabilities of women.Using primary data collected from women-only comedy nights and immersive research with the UK Women in Comedy Festival in Manchester, Tomsett analyses examples of stand-up performed by contemporary comedians - including Bridget Christie, Luisa Omielan, Lolly Adefope and Gráinne Maguire - and provocatively questions how these performances relate to conceptions of feminist and postfeminist humour, as well as notions of backlash against contemporary feminisms. She focuses on live comedy that is explicitly feminist to consider how social attitudes to women, the increasing visibility of female labour outside the home, and the emergence of multiple (and sometimes contradictory) feminisms has influenced the comedy produced by women comedians in 21st century Britain.

What are the barriers to women’s participation in live comedy, and how are these barriers maintained in the digital era?In this book, Ellie Tomsett considers how the origins of stand-up comedy still impact on current live comedy production, and explains how the contemporary stand-up scene continues to reflect wider societal stereotypes about the capabilities of women.Using primary data collected from women-only comedy nights and immersive research with the UK Women in Comedy Festival in Manchester, Tomsett analyses examples of stand-up performed by contemporary comedians - including Bridget Christie, Luisa Omielan, Lolly Adefope and Gráinne Maguire - and provocatively questions how these performances relate to conceptions of feminist and postfeminist humour, as well as notions of backlash against contemporary feminisms. She focuses on live comedy that is explicitly feminist to consider how social attitudes to women, the increasing visibility of female labour outside the home, and the emergence of multiple (and sometimes contradictory) feminisms has influenced the comedy produced by women comedians in 21st century Britain.

Working Women on Screen: Paid Labour and Fourth Wave Feminism critically examines screen media representations of women’s participation in the contemporary labour market. The edited collection brings together contributions on Aesthetic Labour; Power, Politics, and Neoliberal Industries; and Sex, Sexuality, and Relationships.Within the context of fourth wave feminism, there has been a new proliferation in the global media landscape of representations of women’s paid labour. This has coincided with the development of critical and ideological issues surrounding intersectionality and culture wars, as well as the impacts of recessions, political upheavals, and pandemics. Workplace dynamics and post-#MeToo politics have led to the complexification of structures, oppressions and relationships that impact what women can do for money. As a result, the “working woman” is now a constant presence on our screens, though articulated in widely divergent ways. The chapters within this collection critique issues that are deeply embedded in neoliberal conceptions of contemporary feminism, such as aspects of “lean-in” culture, structural oppression, and women’s experiences of the “glass ceiling” and “glass cliff”.The volume as a whole will analyse representations related to the intersecting dynamics of gender, race, class, sexuality, and disability in television, film, social media and video games. It will be key reading for students and scholars in media, gender, and cultural studies.