Healing Shame by Challenging the Body Politic: What Laughter Offers Feminism and Veterans in an Age of Dirty Tricks

ABSTRACT In this article, we explore what humor has to offer to two groups that are not typically treated together, feminists and veterans, who have experienced trauma as a result of false representations of them starting in the Nixon era. Our cross-disciplinary approach uniquely intertwines history and feminist theory with neuroscience and psychiatry, revealing connections between political gaslighting and the repression of inner truths relating to trauma. Ultimately, we find that when it comes to healing the mind we must also heal the body politic.