Now, I do acknowledge that there is a time and place for categorization and stereotype jokes. Telling a black joke to a group of Black Panthers would not be very productive. Neither would telling gay jokes at a gay pride event, or a sexist joke at a feminist rally. There is a time and a place for these things which depend on cultural norms and level of intimacy with the audience. If one is with a comfortable audience who understands one's intentions, the stereotype joke can be very humorous and not at all insulting. Same with when one is a different culture. What is treated as acceptable in one culture can be the taboo of another.
I still promote caution when practicing such jokes, but there are times when they can be used when they are socially acceptable.
I find your point interesting and will be posting a blog to comment on it.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the right question is "is this socially acceptable?" Since slavery, for example has been socially acceptable for most people in most of human history, we might need a more objective measure of gender put-down humor's moral acceptability.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt that acceptability should not be a condition for whether a practice should continue, as many men are completely comfortable with allowing the status of women to go unchanged. Is there a time and place when a particular race, gender, or class should be subordinate?
ReplyDelete