Ep. 2 - Panel 1A - Part 1 - Speaking sex in Mrs Browns' Boys - Sarah Anne Dunne (UCD)

NPPSH Conference

The proposed presentation aims to review the critically acclaimed television series Mrs Browns Boys and its representations of sex, sexual repression and pleasure, and even marital rape. The series relies on a bawdy a coarse humour which heavily incorporates the use of sexual innuendo and slapstick comedy to convey and address serious social issues which, historically and presently, are often silenced, such as that of marital rape – in a brief sketch, Mrs Brown describes her late husband ‘taking advantage of [her] whenever he likes’. Mrs Brown’s Boys further develops on themes of sexual desire and female pleasure and its repression in Irish culture up until the 1990s (and perhaps even beyond). Moreover, when such themes and discussed, often between Mrs Brown and her incumbent friend Winny, ongoing sexual pleasure and need is identified and given voice in an attempt to destigmatise and challenge the view of older women as de-sexed or un-sexual beings. Evidently, despite its (in)famous humour tones and comedic plotlines, Mrs Brown’s Boys is a series which frequently plays on and with narratives incorporating sexual pleasure – or a lack, thereof – and which, moreover, addresses the reality of marital rape at intervals. Sarah Anne Dunne is a third-year doctoral candidate at UCD currently researching the manifestations of rape culture which occurs on social media networks. This passion piece emerges in response to both her interest in the subject and her love of Agnes Brown.