When Women Take the Mic: Why Female Comedians Reclaiming the Narrative Matters

It’s hard enough being a woman in comedy surrounded by men…we don’t need to shrink ourselves once we get the mic. Image credit: Ben Thompson Photography

After a recent comedy night celebrating International Women’s Day, I received an email from an audience member. It was polite. Thoughtful. Not aggressive. But it questioned something interesting...

Specifically, it questioned why some of the comedians (all female) were making jokes about women’s bodies and sexuality. The irony of this struck me almost immediately. Because for decades, arguably centuries, jokes about women’s bodies have been a staple of comedy. The difference? Those jokes were usually written and told by men.

And suddenly, when women tell them about themselves, the tone shifts. The question becomes: Is this appropriate?

That email got me thinking about the long history of women in comedy and what happens when women take control of the narrative.

For most of comedy history, women weren’t the storytellers

Stand-up comedy developed largely in male-dominated spaces: working men’s clubs, bars, late-night comedy circuits.

Women were rarely the ones holding the microphone.

They were the material.

Jokes about wives. Jokes about girlfriends. Jokes about women’s bodies. Jokes about ageing women. Jokes about women being “difficult”.

Comedy didn’t invent these stereotypes but it certainly helped reinforce them!

Even today, women make up only around a quarter of stand-up comedians and on some circuits, up to 90% of applicants for stage time are men. So when women take the stage, they’re not just telling jokes. They’re entering a space that historically didn’t expect them to be there.

Women in comedy have always been “too much”

Throughout comedy history, women who broke the rules were often criticised for being

too loud, too sexual, too crude, too angry, too political.

In other words: Too visible.

Comedian Joan Rivers, who built a career out of brutally honest jokes about ageing, sex and beauty standards, famously said:

“I wish I had a twin so I could know what I’d look like without plastic surgery.”

Her humour about her own body shocked audiences at the time. But it also did something radical. It allowed women to laugh at the impossible standards placed on them.

Rivers once said something even more revealing:

“I don’t exercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.”

That irreverence wasn’t just funny. It was rebellion.

When women tell the joke, the power shifts

There’s a huge difference between a joke about women and a joke told by women.

Comedy scholars often call this subversive humour, humour that flips cultural expectations.

When women talk about their bodies, sexuality, motherhood, menopause, relationships or societal pressures, they’re often doing something deeper than just getting a laugh. They’re reclaiming territory.

As comedy researcher Ellie Tomsett writes:

“Female comedians frequently challenge gender stereotypes by turning the gaze back on the culture that created them.”

In simple terms: The joke is no longer on women. Women are in control of the joke.

And sometimes… it’s just a joke

There’s another important point that often gets missed in these discussions. Not every joke told by a woman needs to be a political act.

Sometimes comedians aren’t reclaiming trauma.

Sometimes they’re simply having fun.

Stand-up comedy is one of the few art forms where someone can walk on stage, say something ridiculous and feel completely alive in the moment.

For many performers, that’s the real magic.

The freedom to speak, experiment, be playful, fail and push boundaries.

Comedy has never been a polite art form.

Comedy is uncomfortable

Comedy often sits right on the edge of discomfort. It pokes at the things we’re not supposed to talk about. Sex. Bodies. Power. Inequality. Social expectations.

Historically, when men made these jokes about women, they were often seen as edgy.

When women make those same jokes about themselves? Suddenly the conversation changes. It becomes about taste. Appropriateness. Tone.

But the reality is this: Women deserve the same freedom to be messy, outrageous, clever and provocative as male comedians have always had.

The real shift

The most exciting thing about modern comedy isn’t just that more women are performing.

It’s that women are increasingly shaping the conversation. They’re writing the jokes. Telling the stories. Challenging the stereotypes. And yes, sometimes laughing at the very things that were once used against them.

For a long time, women were the punchline.

Now they’re the ones delivering it.

And honestly? Comedy is far more interesting because of it.

At Gags for Good we aim to create spaces, where people can take the mic, own their story, and be heard on their own terms. We don’t condone deliberately offending, punching down or being mean, but we do believe in creating space for honest, unapologetic self-expression.

April x