Women's Laughter: A History of Power

In European culture, the ability to laugh and provoke laughter has long been the prerogative of men: women's laughter was considered to violate decency and spoil beauty. When and how does laughter become a realm of freedom, and how is its history intertwined with the history of women's emancipation?

Sabine Melchior-Bonnet deciphers the historical roots of the taboos associated with laughter and shows how women gradually gained the right to enjoy it and joke. From the Old Testament and Greek cults to Virginia Woolf and stand-up comedy – the history of women's laughter reflects many contradictions and, conversely, achievements in the cultural history of Europe.

Sabine Melchior-Bonnet is a historian, a specialist in the history of emotions. She worked at the Collège de France and is the author of the books "The History of the Mirror" and "The Flip Side of Love," published by "NLO."