ABSTRACT
AT 5’4”, FEET PLANTED FIRMLY ON THE EARTH, LOUD, SLOPPY, AND foulmouthed, Roseanne looks more like a woman ready to fight over a sale item in a bargain basement store than a leader in women’s comedy. Nevertheless, through a crafty combination of an aggressive persona and a housewife theme, Roseanne’s comedy has widened the boundaries for women comedians and has brought feminist themes into the mainstream. As she told Alan King in an interview: “The goddess of all creation said that it was about time that someone started talking about how us women have been overlooked. She asked me to go out there and do it” (Barr, interview).
