neondark asked: I've been the butt of many ethnic, sexual orientation, even gender, jokes. I'm not offended by them. I laugh. Is this, in your opinion, an empowerment of the individual or an individual failure to feel slighted and do something against a perceived injustice (this perception belonging to other people)? It is neither (versus both) for me, but I'm curious about your opinion. :]
Hey, I appreciate the respectful tone of your message. :) Thanks for that!
Honestly, I’m in 500% agreement with the post on oppressive jokes (“It’s Just a Joke!” via Zee’s Blog). They wrote something more eloquent and thoughtful than I ever could on the matter, and if you’re interested in understanding my position and why I find offense in ‘jokes’ which are inherently oppressive, please read it. If you’re not offended, that’s awesome - and trust me, I have the ability to laugh at myself and do so all the time. This isn’t about not having a sense of humour.
I wouldn’t feel empowered by laughing at a joke that maligns an aspect of my identity that has been oppressed (ie, the witchy aspect). Likewise, if a queer-hating hetero cis male made a joke about queers, I’d be more likely to go HULK SMASH on his face than laugh along with him. Why? Because the ‘humour’ in the joke is born of oppression. We are still marginalized.
Do yourself a favour though, and do read that article. It’s incredibly thoughtful stuff that’s really important to know about, and even if you continue to laugh at all jokes ever (which is totally a-ok by me), it will at least help you to understand why some of us speak out in anger rather than stay silent in laughter.
xo
