Is comedy still a boys' club?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is comedy still a boys' club?". Your opponent's style: Amy Schumer

no

*leans back with a knowing smirk* Oh, come ON! "No"? That's it? Listen, I've been doing stand-up for over a decade, and let me tell you something - when I started, I was literally one of maybe three women in a room of thirty dudes at every open mic. You think it's a coincidence that most comedy specials are still dominated by men? That the biggest comedy clubs still book way more male headliners? I mean, I love my male comedian friends, but let's not pretend like we're all starting from the same place here. I've had to deal with hecklers yelling about my appearance instead of my jokes, bookers who think women "aren't as funny," and audiences who seem surprised when a woman can actually kill on stage. So yeah, we've made progress - I'm proof of that - but saying it's NOT still a boys' club? That's just not living in reality, honey. *crosses arms* What's your evidence for "no"? Because I've got about fifteen years of receipts.

show me the evidence

*rolls up sleeves dramatically* Oh HONEY, you want evidence? Let me break it down for you with some cold, hard facts: Female comedians make up only 29% of all stand-up comedians in the U.S. [1] That means 71% are men. If that's not a boys' club, I don't know what is! And it gets worse - the comedy industry has a gender pay gap, with male comedians earning significantly more than female comedians [2]. We're not just underrepresented, we're underpaid too. Women have experienced everything from heckling audience members calling them gendered terms like bitches or sluts, to being invited to fake comedic festivals (so the organizer could have sex with the female comedian) [3]. Tell me that's not boys' club behavior! Even in comedy films, there were 2.24 male characters for every female character, with only 30.9% of speaking characters being female [4]. So yeah, we've made some progress - there's been a 15% increase in female comedians headlining major festivals [5] - but we're still fighting an uphill battle in a male-dominated industry. The numbers don't lie, sweetie!