How far is too far

[sobrique]

Something was on the radio as I was on my way home. It was a discussion of humour, and 'stereotypes'.
The source of the discussion was some council workers getting disciplined for 'tasteless' emails.
So thought I'd start the discussion. If we assume that it _is_ actually funny (and not just plain offensive) how far is 'too far'?
Jokes about race? (Englishman, Irishman, Scotsman?)
Jokes about religion? (there was this Rabbi and a Bishop who...)
Jokes about gender?
Jokes about sexuality?

Generally, I'm not offended by much. OK, some stuff gets a bit too far into 'crass', but ...
well, where, in your opinion, does the line lay?

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Jokes about race, religion and sexuality - it depends on the tone. If it's something that's funny just because revealing the true context makes it suddenly make a different kind of sense, I sometimes find them funny. If they're just racist/homophobic and stupid, I delete them and make a mental note not to bother talking to the sender.

Jokes about gender, well, most jokes about gender I've seen are based on the "and of course all men/women are stupid har har har" punchline and just make me think, for fucks sake shut the fuck up, and not bother talking to the sender at all. There are a very very few that are funny.

[dr-wez.livejournal.com]

A corridor-mate of mine once put up an A4 sheet of "why are men like..." jokes in our shared lavatory. Most of them were dross, as you might expect, but the one I always remember is:

"Why are men like bathroom tiles? Because if you lay them properly the first time, you can walk all over them for ever more"

To me, this one scrapes by on being an amusing play on words.

[cbr-paul.livejournal.com]

I'm a pretty non-PC type myself, so I couldn't resist replying to this one.

Jokes about race? Dangerous subject, but acceptable if it is done in a "friendly banter" style, as opposed to generalising negative stereotypes in a broader sense. For example, I don't mind my mates in the pub ripping into my Welsh ancestory in a jocular manner, but if they were to make assumptions about the entire Welsh nation, then I would take offence.

Jokes about religion? As all major religions have existed for at least 1000 years, command millions of followers and billions of dollars in currency worldwide, they should be strong enough to stand a little criticism. Sadly, certain religious groups who I will not name right now, cannot seem to tolerate any form of criticism whatsoever without violent knee-jerk reactions...

Jokes about gender? Too right! Bloody women have no sense of humour anyway...

Jokes about sexuality? I think this is kind of the opposite of the racial jokes: personal jokes about an individual's sexuality, which they may just be coming to terms with, could prove to be unknowingly harmful.


To be honest, some of the only jokes I truly draw the line at are jokes about the disabled or mentally handicapped. Regardless of intent, poking fun at some of the most vulnerable people in society, some of which cannot even stand up for themselves, is never kosher.

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

A study conducted by UCLA's Department of Psychiatry has revealed that the kind of face a woman finds attractive on a man can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle. For example: If she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features; if she is menstruating or menopausal, she tends to be more attracted to a man with scissors lodged in his temple and duct tape over his mouth while he is on fire. No further studies are expected.

[queex.livejournal.com]

There are no inappropriate topics for humour. There are only inappropriate circumstances. At least in my opinion.

With your closest friends, who know you don't harbour any *ist views, just about anything is acceptable. Right down the other end are jokes for daytime or children's TV or speeches by prominent public figures.

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

Hmm, that's an interesting viewpoint. I guess that makes sense to an extent. Question is, how much of that 'inappropriate for a speech' is because we're being overly sensitive about polticial correctness.

[mrbear.livejournal.com]

It's a reasonable view point. Think about how deep into the gutter we get on munday nights, or at the pub.

[queex.livejournal.com]

It's all in context. What's considered acceptable changes quite a bit, and not just depending on the particular audience you have.

There's not as much 'overly sensitiveness' as often gets portrayed. Most articles about 'political correctness gone mad' turn out to be either willful exaggeration or downright untrue. Which is not to say that some people seem to go through life wanting to be offended at every turn.

I think an important factor is the effort you go to to witness it. A billboard is a more sensitive medium than broadcast media, which are more sensitive than 'private' media like books and DVDs, which are more sensitive than private conversation.

[phyrbyrd.livejournal.com]

With me it's dead baby jokes. Or does that count as too offensive to be in this discussion?

[nicolyrezk.livejournal.com]

No-one should make jokes about dead babies, especially when they can't hear it.

[sobrique.livejournal.com]

Dead baby jokes are intentionally 'offensive', but in my opinion don't really present a 'stereotype' to be offended by - you're offended because they're about horrible things happening to dead babies, not because one of the babies is black.

[huwjones.livejournal.com]

Well, on the racist side, one rule of thumb I've heard is if you replace the minority with Blacks (or Jews) and it's still funny, then it's probably actually funny.

I can't say I really have the investment in religion to be offended by any joke referring to it.

Most gender-based humour amuses me.

Sexuality is odd ground I find. As someone else mentioned, jokes the group abstractly work, but making a jibe at someone in particular is liable to offend a lot.

In fact, mostly I find making someone in hearing distance a direct butt of the joke is risky, whilst sweeping generalisations cause little fuss.