However harmless humor may seem at first glance, its power rests with the ways it upholds and transgresses social norms. Every day, we use humor to get laughs, deal with difficult situations, and proclaim our shortcomings. But we also use humor to address sociopolitical issues, skewer stereotypes, and galvanize others. Humor is a fluid medium which can be used to transcend social rules; but how offensive is too offensive? When we poke fun at stereotypes or injustice, do we risk perpetuating the behavior we mock?
There is no definitive answer to these questions, since each person has different standards for appropriate comedy. When it comes to offensive humor, the common response to someone’s objection is, “Aw, can’t you take a joke?” or “You have no sense of humor.” However, a person can have a great sense of humor and still be offended—a key maxim of comedy is know your audience, and that is never more important than in a social situation where you may risk hurting your friendships and offending your peers.
The grayest areas are ethnic and self-referential humor, since both these genres elucidate prejudices or common perceptions about the comedian hirself. In many communities, it is acceptable to poke fun at one’s own culture, but it is considered offensive when an outsider makes fun of that very same culture. When speaking to a broader audience outside of that community, the comedian may appear to accept potentially stereotypical notions of hir culture, especially if hir comedy routine is the audience members’ main exposure to that culture.
After all, humor is the main form of political awareness to which most Americans have access, whether it be through television or the internet. Many of us on campus have cracked at least one ethnic joke or have probably laughed at one. Since we are an open campus with an open community, we should not limit our interactions or censor ourselves; rather, it is more important for us to be respectful of each other and of the cultures and historical backgrounds from which we derive our heritage.
For example, a Jewish student may not find a joke about the Holocaust offensive, but the joke is still disrespectful because it does not acknowledge the gravity of the murder of six million Jews and several million suspected homosexuals, gypsies, and disabled persons. The Wesleying post on Latin@ Affirmation Month offended both Latin@s and non-Latin@s alike mainly because it made light of sexually objectifying women and seemed to perpetuate exoticism of Latinas, a vestige of colonialism which has lasted to this day.
However, humor has also allowed us to expose and counter injustice and ignorance. Offensive humor galvanizes us: it forces us to connect with our feelings, and it even forces us into dialogue with others about important social issues. That purpose is admirable, but not if it harms other people. Comedy should stick a thorn in our sides, not bleed us to death.
I am not advocating that we all react viscerally to every joke that might be considered offensive. Nor am I arguing that we all limit ourselves to solely politically correct humor, or even that offensive humor is entirely unacceptable carte blanche. However, I believe that we all have an obligation to respect all members of our community and to take others’ feelings and histories into account.
We have come this far as a society because we have stopped relegating all women to the role of housewives and sex objects, because we have stopped calling all African American men the “n” word and “boy”, because we have stopped sending homosexual people to mental institutions, because we have started hiring disabled people as workers in more advanced fields, and because we have started to question a history of white male Christian supremacy.
We have not stopped all hate and prejudice, nor shall we in the near future. Nevertheless, we are progressing as a community, a nation, and a world, and we shouldn’t risk regression for the sake of laugh.
Alperstein is a member of the class of 2014.
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