Blond Joke

[Peikko 1,575]

Humor is subjective. What society deems as despicable acts of inhumanity are not. Big difference.

Ah, so in your opinion the damage inflicted on a group by means of the use of stereotyping is dependent on whether or not the group stereotyped has been the subject of 'despicable' acts or not? Gotcha.

[PhiLandShiR 18]

Ah, so in your opinion the damage inflicted on a group by means of the use of stereotyping is dependent on whether or not the group stereotyped has been the subject of 'despicable' acts or not? Gotcha.

I bet she gets all PO'ed at the GEICO commercials too...

Best blonde joke I ever heard was:

Why did the blonde have a bruised belly button?

Cause she had a blonde boyfriend...

[scandal 951]

Ah, so we have crossed the line as to what is an acceptable stereotype. I guess blonds simply have a better sense of humour than jews

I think you raise an excellent point MC. I was thinking about that at some length when I saw that post, and was reflecting on why I thought it was tasteless while the blonde jokes were not.

I'm speaking personally here, just how I perceive things. This is not intended to reflect anything broader than just my perception of what's funny or acceptable to me.

I think that some Holocaust jokes can be very funny. For example, it depends on the delivery, on who is telling it, on who the audience is, on who the "butt" of the joke is (a joke targeting Jews has a very different tone than one targeting Nazis, for example). I've heard jokes told by a Jewish person to a Jewish audience about the mishaps of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto or other Holocaust settings. The jokes depend on the Holocaust setting for their humor, but are not intended to be nasty. I also think it can be ok for non-Jews to tell such jokes, or for even edgier jokes to be told in a setting where it's clear that no malice is intended.

I think ultimately the difference between ethnic/racist jokes (anti-Jewish, anti-black, anti-gay, etc) vs. other stereotype jokes (blonde, dead baby, etc.) is that nobody really persecutes blondes or believes that all blondes are stupid, and nobody really believes that dead babies should be abused. On the contrary, these jokes work precisely BECAUSE blondes in our society are often associated with style and beauty and glamor, and babies are cute and cuddly and innocent. The jokes work by turning our commonsense notion of these people on their head. Nobody really believes that the teller of a dead baby joke wants to kill babies! Whereas unfortunately there is a long history of bigotry and oppression which exists to this day of certain people. Jokes that emphasize that bigotry and oppression can be funny in the right context, but quite often simply highlight the joke teller as a bigot.

[Darnell 8,478]

What made it funny? I don't find it funny, nothing about it makes me grin or giggle. I am supposed to 'lighten up' just because you giggle like a school boy at the idea that some women who are blond are really this stupid?

Or - you might recognize a historical comic genre titled, "Stupid Blonde Jokes".

One could hope?!?!?

Edited March 19, 2010 by Darnell

[Peikko 1,575]

I think you raise an excellent point MC. I was thinking about that at some length when I saw that post, and was reflecting on why I thought it was tasteless while the blonde jokes were not.

I'm speaking personally here, just how I perceive things. This is not intended to reflect anything broader than just my perception of what's funny or acceptable to me.

I think that some Holocaust jokes can be very funny. For example, it depends on the delivery, on who is telling it, on who the audience is, on who the "butt" of the joke is (a joke targeting Jews has a very different tone than one targeting Nazis, for example). I've heard jokes told by a Jewish person to a Jewish audience about the mishaps of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto or other Holocaust settings. The jokes depend on the Holocaust setting for their humor, but are not intended to be nasty. I also think it can be ok for non-Jews to tell such jokes, or for even edgier jokes to be told in a setting where it's clear that no malice is intended.

I think ultimately the difference between ethnic/racist jokes (anti-Jewish, anti-black, anti-gay, etc) vs. other stereotype jokes (blonde, dead baby, etc.) is that nobody really persecutes blondes or believes that all blondes are stupid, and nobody really believes that dead babies should be abused. On the contrary, these jokes work precisely BECAUSE blondes in our society are often associated with style and beauty and glamor, and babies are cute and cuddly and innocent. The jokes work by turning our commonsense notion of these people on their head. Nobody really believes that the teller of a dead baby joke wants to kill babies! Whereas unfortunately there is a long history of bigotry and oppression which exists to this day of certain people. Jokes that emphasize that bigotry and oppression can be funny in the right context, but quite often simply highlight the joke teller as a bigot.

For the most part, I do agree with what you are saying here. However I do think it is reasonable to occasionally examine if what passes for humour is based on bigotry and there is a case to be made that women suffer in the work place because of perceptions that they can not perform to the same level as their male counterparts and it is certainly plausible that blond jokes perpetuate this negative opinion of women as inherently ditzy.

More than that, it did not make me giggle

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

More than that, it did not make me giggle

You should probably get that checked.

[Peikko 1,575]

You should probably get that checked.

You can have your reaction to jokes tested in the USA??? I'll make an appointment...