ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on instances of verbally expressed humour targeting gender that can be found on the internet with particular attention to humour that "goes viral" by means of social media. The portrayal of the mother-in-law in jokes is generally that of an intimidating battle-axe clutching a rolling pin. Christie Davies, in fact, puts the preponderance of jokes told by men about wives' mothers down to a gender divide, claiming that joke-telling is a masculine pastime. Although Davies does not mention the word "sexism" in his discussions, the language in which blonde jokes are couched does indeed strongly whiff of sexism. Stand-up female comedians appear to be especially fond of particular topics upon which they build a humorous discourse that is often self-deprecatory in nature and that makes up a large part of their repertoire. The basic scatological humour is multiplied because she is a young, attractive female.
