"How Many Lesbians Does It Take . . .": Jokes, Teasing, and the Negotiation of Stereotypes about Lesbians

Headnote

This article examines how women in two different social networks, a lesbian feminist network and a recreational softball team, embed formulaic jokes and teasing within larger interactions in order to stake out a stance with respect to culturally salient stereo-types about lesbians. The women balance the competing and complex demands of an orientation to social similarity and social differentiation.

[identity, indexicality, stereotype, lesbians, humor]

Introduction

On February 15, 2001, the exchange below was aired on an episode of E.R., a prime-time hospital drama shown on the NBC television network in the United States. The scene opens with Kerry, one of the main characters on the show, and Kim, her first female lover, arriving at a table in a busy restaurant at which two other women, friends of Kim, are seated. Previous scenes in this episode and others have shown Kerry's discomfort with public discussions of her relationship with Kim and of lesbians in general. The dinner conversation begins with a discussion of women who identified as lesbian but later married men. This leads to a discussion about whether or not the benefits of heterosexual marriage outweigh the limits of heterosexual sex. That discussion prompts the exchange below.

Example 1: The U-Haul Joke

1 Christy: Hey, everyone at this table has slept with Kim.

2 Kim: Stop it.

3 Christy: I'll bet she brought a U-Haul on the second date.

4 Kerry: What, I don't get it?

5 Kim: Oh, it's a lesbian joke

6 Kerry: Oh.

While several of the subsequent episodes focus on Kerry's gradual acceptance of the identity label "lesbian," in this episode, Kerry abruptly leaves the table following this exchange. As she explains to Kim later, she simply isn't ready to be "in" on lesbian jokes.

The joke in question is a "lesbian" joke insofar as it articulates a stereotype about lesbians, namely one concerning the speed with which lesbians enter into committed relationships with one another. The joke circulates widely in the non-television world and typically takes the form: What does a lesbian bring on a second date? A U-Haul (or, in other versions, a toothbrush or her cat). The reference to the joke, rather than the actual telling of it, is meant to invoke social knowledge assumed to be...