COPING WITH COVID-19: GENDER AND THE PRAGMATICS OF HUMOR IN MOROCCAN SOCIAL MEDIA

Abstract

There is often an upsurge of humor inspired by tragic circumstances. Soon after the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, humorous posts about the pandemic spread massively on social media. This paper explores contemporary gender ideologies as portrayed in social media humor in light of the Coronavirus pandemic. In particular, this paper focuses on how gender stereotypes and ideologies are constructed and sustained through humor built upon gendered representations. The jokes, memes, and news items posted through social media platforms were analyzed using a Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis approach (FCDA). Data comprised memes and jokes sampled from Instagram, Facebook and Reddit. The findings reveal a complex configuration of factors, such as prevailing socio-cultural and ideological contexts, which, closely interwoven, form the tapestry of gender order and gender roles in the Moroccan society. The analysis revealed that sexist humor propagates baseless generalizations and gender stereotypes. It also amalgamates demeaning language with humor to communicate sexist antagonism. Finally, the study contends that while humor plays a strong role as a coping mechanism during a tragedy, it also enhances the subtle propelling of gender stereotypes that ultimately contribute to sustaining the current existing gender status quo.