Are Racist and Sexist (or any "-ist") jokes simply wrong to tell under any circumstances, or is the accepted "wrongness" of the joke itself the very element that makes it appropriate and funny?

YetAnotherCommenter · 2014-05-08T14:54:06+00:00

Take something completely normal, like strawberry jam. Strawberry jam is accepted and normalized in our society.

There are no strawberry jam jokes.

Heterosexuality is socially normal. Outside of radical queer SJW types, there are no straight jokes.

To say that jokes "normalize" the phenomena they joke about makes very little sense at all when you think about it.

Obviously, I ascribe to the second theory; the transgressive and monstorus nature of rape is why rape jokes are funny. If rape jokes normalized rape, they'd undercut their own humor. It also explains why feminist rape activism has actually made rape jokes funnier.

Does this apply to racist jokes? I'm not so sure. But on the issue of rape jokes, rape JOKES are funny precisely because rape is not funny.

SpanishGuy · 2014-05-08T15:15:01+00:00

The mens movement has been complaining about jokes about men for a long time.

Then it tends to object when other people object to jokes that affect them.

If the mens movement is going to reserve the right to object to jokes about men, then it will have to observe any other groups right to object to jokes that affect them.

TheAlphaRanger · 2014-05-08T15:43:42+00:00

Personally, I like to push the boundaries and joke about anything and everything. Why? Because I'm not-so-subtly making fun of the people who actually believe in the retarded shit I'm saying.

If I make a joke about all women being bitches, I'm taking a shot at misogynists. If I make a joke about men being nothing more than walking dicks, I'm taking a shot at misandrists. If I make a joke about black people (especially when I myself am black), I'm making fun of the rampant racism in American society. You see where I'm going with this.

murphtaf · 2014-05-08T15:05:45+00:00

I feel trying to discourage people from certain jokes would be a pretty big overreaction to something petty. If you don't like a joke that someone says, you can either tell them you were offended by it, not be around them anymore, or just get over it. I think jokes are the same thing as words in the fact that they're all about context. At my dorm, I knew a guy who was very sexist; he literally thought that women were lesser than men. If he were to make a sexist joke, I would know that he was sincere in what he meant, and I would be put off by it. But I don't expect that he should be told to not make sexist jokes. (Also, I want to point out that I'm not saying either that that's what you would want)

People don't have the right to not be offended. Other people's jokes, ideas, beliefs, and what-not are going to offend you. I think too many people in this world though, believe they deserve the opposite. 'You can't say that; that offends me!!' I think it just becomes a slippery slope of what's offensive/what's not. And I think it's all determined by how you take it and, again, the context of what they're saying.

So I think in the end, if someone makes a joke that someone else doesn't like, that second person doesn't have the right to try to control what's offensive and what's not. The world's not going to cater to your idea of offensiveness and trying to limit people's speech doesn't work.

Pecanpig · 2014-05-08T16:27:41+00:00

So long as it's funny then I don't care, if it's not funny then I won't laugh.

Nomenimion · 2014-05-08T16:57:24+00:00

The outrageousness is usually what makes the jokes funny.

Kellermann · 2014-05-08T18:16:58+00:00

Eh, that's nothing. In Poland we tell jokes about Auschwitz inmates and their interactions with the SS. Like Jewish lotto or when new barracks were built due to overcrowding but under condition that no Jew can be seen through a window under penalty of being shot on the spot. New barracks turned out to be greenhouses. Bad taste? Very. Funny? Surprisingly hell yeah

Lumiafan · 2014-05-08T22:06:49+00:00

This will forever be my favorite Patrice O'Neal moment. He sums up how I feel about perceived "offensive jokes" like this.

http://youtu.be/fjIuPSuYSOY

cjog210 · 2014-05-08T22:21:29+00:00

I think it depends on your position. I can laugh at a white joke, skinny joke, and a religious joke, but men jokes seem to piss me off. It mostly has to do with how it insults my intelligence, and that is what makes me mad. I guess any jokes that joke around with my intelligence make me mad. It probably has to do with how I have spent most of my life trying to not be an idiot.

I know people who can take those jokes, but other jokes seem to offend them. I suppose that whatever quality you hate to be labeled with will probably offend you the most.

SHITLORDHERE · 2014-05-08T15:43:56+00:00

We always tell some off color jokes as we're adjusting our sheets so we can see out of them and getting our torches ready. It lightens the mood and spirit of things.

SocratesLives · 2014-05-08T15:59:26+00:00

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Nomenimion · 2014-05-08T19:28:48+00:00

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Synovexh001 · 2014-05-09T00:22:25+00:00

Are you pro-choice? Think of how offensive some people find it to murder a baby to be able to keep sleeping around. Are you pro-gay rights? Think of how offensive it is to people trying to protect their children from such sinful degeneracy. Do you think women should be allowed to learn to read? There are literally millions of people who are so offended by that, that they think you deserve to die to protect the sanctity of their wives. I'm in favor of not hurting anyone's feelings, and not trying to piss people off, but the nature of groups using 'i'm offended' as an end-all justification for infringing on others' rights makes me treasure the sanctity of the right to tell dead baby jokes. It's tasteless and vulgar, but so long as we have the right to be tasteless and vulgar, we're all safe.

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