Poll: Do you find racism or sexism funny?

[Dogstile]

I'm intrigued. I got called racist yesterday for laughing at a racist joke. I also enjoy a good "sammich, get me one" joke every now and again and my female friends seem to have no problem with this.

I'm not racist and i'm definitely not sexist (Hell, some might say I like women a little /too/ much.) But I see nothing wrong with enjoying these jokes from time to time. Especially if you don't say them in spite or to anyone you know is going to take offence at them. But of course many people disagree.

So, lets keep this thread clean, no actual racism or sexism here please!

What are your thoughts on this?

Edit: I can't believe i messed up the poll. Whoops!

And I can't change it, assume the bottom option is the bottom option for men.

 

[Dags90]

It's why you enjoy the joke that matters. I find racist and sexist jokes to be so humorous because of how preposterous it is that people actually believe in that stuff. Racism and sexism are like Scientology, they make fun of themselves.

It's like Dead Baby jokes, it's funny because of the absurdity.

How do you make a dead baby float?

Spoiler: Answer.

One scoop vanilla, one scoop dead baby, rootbeer

 

[Naheal]

Good jokes are good jokes. Racist or sexist jokes are just a variety. Slurs when used as a means to offend, however, aren't.

 

[delet]

If it's an actually funny joke, then yes. I live by the standard 'If I can laugh at myself, you can laugh at yourself too' so I often make jokes at my own expense as well. It's not bad at all as long as it's all in good fun.

 

[Marter]

If it's all in good fun, then yeah, it's funny, and definitely not offensive. I don't find any form of comedy offensive, because it's there just for fun. No point in taking offensive from something that didn't mean it.

 

[child of lileth]

Depends. Some of it is, some isn't.

 

[Explosm]

I guess im racist? (Australian) and slightly seixst, I make jokes on both all the time.

But i dont go around bashing blacks/whites (THATS RIGHT IF YOU HATE WHITES YOUR RACIST TOO).

And i certainly dont abuse woman

 

[Omikron009]

I find racist and sexist jokes hilarious. If there's actual racism or sexism behind the joke, then no, but most are just for fun.

 

[DrEmo]

Good jokes are good jokes. Racist or sexist jokes are just a variety. Slurs when used as a means to offend, however, aren't.

Like Naheal said.
There's a difference between a racist joke and a racist slur.
Racist jokes can be funny, so can sexist jokes (Most female comedians make sexist jokes, most black comedians make racist jokes) but they also offend people. Let it be noted that they offend people other than the people being made fun of. A black man can make a black joke and black people will laugh but white people will get offended and say that the joke offends blacks.

 

[SPCF]

I think it's fine as long as nobody takes them seriously.

 

[Mr. Gency]

A racist joke is only in bad taste when someone is offended.

 

[pwnzerstick]

context, context, context, its all that matters, but most of the people who use it are not visibly racist. (I dont wanna get Freudian here and start talking about the sub-concius though)

 

[IamQ]

I love racist jokes and sexist jokes. Just because it's a racist or sexist joke, doesn't mean you'r one of those things. You're just making fun of the different generlilizations there are.

An example of a joke, that is more generalizing than racist, but whatever, is a picture of 9 people with signs saying that they've gotten their bike stolen, and one black kid that's got a sign saying "I have 9 new bikes".

 

[The Warden]

Yeah, as long as people don't really think that.
I mean, think about how ridiculous are world would be if every stereotype ever was true.
That's funny.

 

[Dogstile]

Yeah, as long as people don't really think that.
I mean, think about how ridiculous are world would be if every stereotype ever was true.
That's funny.

One could argue that some stereotypes have basis in truth. (Purely for the sake of discussion though)

 

[crudus]

A funny joke is a funny joke. I enjoy making fun of stereotypes more though. People call me racist for telling them or laughing at them but I find (good) racist jokes against white people just as funny. I can laugh at myself which gives me the right to laugh at others.

 

[fuhier]

Most of them are pretty good but some of them plain out suck. I mean its comedy your susposed to laugh most comedy is at other peoples expenses thats why its funny

 

[AgentNein]

My stance on this is a bit ...complicated. If you tell racist jokes, or laugh at racist jokes, but at the same time you understand the absurdity of the joke, I don't believe you're necessarily a racist. I really don't believe in these labels, calling someone a racist just gets them on the defensive, it really doesn't help, while saying that someone may have made a racist action is quite different. I do believe that you may be unwittingly contributing to the oppressive racist institutions of the world.

It's easy to ignore this as a white male in the world, that's part of white male privilege. We get to ignore and/or make lite of racism and/or sexism. And being aware of this privilege isn't the same as being obligated to feel guilty about it. So I'm not telling anybody they're bad people for being white males. Just wanted to make that clear. But it's easy to make or laugh at racist and sexist jokes when we're rarely if ever actually negatively effected by institutionalized racism. It's just very good to take into account that others aren't in the same boat, and if you'd feel uncomfortable telling a joke in a certain crowd, then maybe there's a reason for that. Maybe there actually is a problem with the joke. Just something to think on.