Posted by Tamar on October 10, 2005, at 6:50:23
In reply to Re: I thought it was funny » gardenergirl, posted by Gabbix2 on October 10, 2005, at 3:01:27
It’s an interesting subject… I have to say I find racist jokes extremely offensive, but I’m rarely offended by jokes about the difficulties men and women have in getting along. And I’m very feminist. I wouldn’t have been offended if the joke had been told the other way around:
“Women are from Venus and we just can’t ship them back quick enough.”Jokes about the ‘sex war’ usually involve stereotypes that I think are unhelpful. And yet, because there are so many jokes about both men and women, I feel more free to laugh. But some of my friends (who are also feminists) were offended by jokes that I laughed at. I’m always interested in critiquing jokes to explore what the stereotypes are and why people find them funny.
I would give examples but I’m afraid of offending people. However, I think it’s possible to laugh at ‘sex war’ jokes because I believe that men and women will continue to make efforts to get along. There’s something of a biological imperative. At least for heterosexual people, we pretty much *have* to find ways of getting along with the opposite sex. Sometimes there’s relief in using humour to express our frustration with the opposite sex. We laugh at them, but usually we know we’re not going to stop associating with them.
However, I don’t believe that the same applies to race or religion, because there isn’t the same imperative to get along with people who are different from ourselves. I think jokes about race or religion are usually divisive and cruel. I don’t tell racist jokes and I have strong words with people who tell them to me.
But… I’d be interested to hear from people who disagree with me, because my views on these things are always provisional. Maybe there are good reasons for not laughing at ‘sex war’ jokes. I probably haven’t thought of everything. I’d be keen to know what other people think…
Tamar
poster:Tamar
thread:564070
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/relate/20051002/msgs/565173.html