Are Racist and Sexist jokes ok if they are used purely in a joking manner?

[tzimize]

I'd like to paraphrase the late, great, George Carlin here for a moment.
words CANNOT hurt you. take the word "******" for example. it's JUST a word! what you SHOULD be worried about is the racist asshole USING the word.

I'll make jokes about people of all races, religions, and genders, but that doesn't mean I'm a racist/sexist asshole.

Cant put it better than this. Stick and stones etc.

 

[cozitmatchesyoureyes]

I make jokes about all races, religions, and genders. If someone hears it out loud and is offended, in my head I just feel they have to grow up and stop pigeon holing people into different classes and standards. This view may have come from my background, I don't know (I used to live in a small 100% white populated town and have just moved to a big city), but I feel if everything is not okay to joke about, then nothing is.

 

[goldendriger]

Of course its okay. I have a lot of female friends, all of them (Well okay most of them) i highly respect because they're cool upbeat and funny. But i dont see a problem with say my friend complaining she fell down the stairs and hurt her leg last week and i say "Wow thats weird, stairs in the kitchen?"

I think theres a difference between a noticable joke and an outright attack. If someone is truely sexist or racist it will clearly show, but if its a joke id say its all good, so long as you're willing to appologise if someone gets offended (Which they really shouldnt be if you play the joke well)

 

[vivster]

i'm all for freedom of speech so in my opinion even racial/sexist slurs in the most serious manner are ok
people who get offended by words victimize themselves

 

[Tharwen]

If the person you're talking to might be offended and you don't want that, don't say it.

It is entirely relevant to the people involved and how they will take it. You can have opinions on whether or not it should be OK in their eyes, but it's still subjective.

 

[bluepilot]

Sometimes it can be less about WHAT is said, and more about HOW it is said. I think that most sexist and racist jokes are funny unless there is some sort of malicious intent is present

However, humour and intent are purely subjective measures so it can be hard to know when to draw the line at times. As a consequence I think that such jokes are better when told face to face, rather than written down.

 

[Woodsey]

As long as no one gets offended

Something will always offend someone.

OT: Depends on how its said, who you're with, who you say it too, how extreme the content is, etc.

There's nothing wrong with what you said.

 

[Purple Shrimp]

tangentially related to the topic: is the following joke racist?

how many potatoes does it take to kill an irishman?
none

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Of course it's ok it's a joke after all, and not an attack.

Exactly! There's real racism and sexism, where people dont get jobs or money or HOUSES. Sexism and racism that quite literally RUINS LIVES. Then theres a freakin joke. People who get all wound up over the jokes are totally missing the bigger picture. This is NOT the same as that. The joke does NOT encourage the serious discrimination. Its a joke. Why dont these whiney people tackle these bigger issues instead of attacking jokes? Because they are lazy. And the bigger issues are hard and ingrained. Its easy to attack a joke because it has no firm ground to stand on... because its a joke. It isnt serious. It cant be defended seriously. And what they dont realise is it also cant be attacked seriously.

 

[Aabglov]

The rule is simple, you can make a racist or sexist joke, but you must belong to the party you are mocking. If you're a woman you can make jokes about women, if you're a man then you can make jokes about men. It doesn't matter what percentage you are, but you have to be part of the group. Having a "friend" of the group doesn't cut it if you don't belong to the party yourself.

 

[FallenRainbows]

As long as all present know you do it in jest and none are offended then yes, it's fine. Also do make sure you stress that it's a bad thing.

I have a very dark sense of humour, I'm also very liberal and pro-everything rights.

Sexist jokes ARE hilarious, even my girlfriend thinks so. Right dear?

 

[Drejer43]

In the name of comedy, its OK.

 

[DSK-]

I thinm it's fine as long as it is in jest and people know it is.

 

[Vrach]

Yep they are, but there are also such qualifiers as context and going too far with something.

 

[funguy2121]

Honestly?

That's why when people tell me Duke Nukem Forever is a satire of sexism, I don't buy that. Nothing about how the game was marketted suggests that they are criticising the idea of sexism or using women as sex objects, and the character Duke himself never becomes someone we are expected to dislike or pity. It certainly isn't critizing Duke, if anything it's celebrating all the sexist imagery.
Especially with that whole 'Capture the babe' thing. The game that makes a woman into a human equivilant of the 'flag' in a CTF gametype. One who you have to clam down by slapping her on the arse.
If this was meant to represent some kind of deep and important criticism of sexism, I'm not seeing it. And if this is some sort of joke, I, and a lot of women's rights groups, are not laughing.

Duke Nukem is a satirical caricature of Rambo-esque testosterone-fueled action films. They are not "criticizing the idea of sexism" so much as they're blowing it out of proportion to laughably ridiculous levels, and the way it's marketed plays it straight because frankly the genre Duke Nukem is satirizing does this despite its inherent ridiculousness. The satire is not the elements of Duke Nukem that people find offensive. Rather, the elements of Duke Nukem that people find offensive are satirizing a genre. Is it tasteful? That's entirely subjective. I, for one, think it's clever and amusing. I don't really play Duke Nukem games, but they have a right to be made, and I appreciate the humor.

Not trying to turn this into a "Is Duke Nukem sexist?" thread, but I feel like a lot of people just aren't getting the joke with Duke.

Yeah, but the "Movie Movie" people (in other words, all of the Wayans brothers besides Damon and Keenan Ivory, the only 2 talented ones) do satire too; they just do it poorly. If you want to see satire of over-the-top adolescent-pandering violence and hypersexuality (in addition to a great many other things), done with wit and intellect, may I recommend No More Heroes. Instead of a hulking hypermasculine figure, the hero is (in addition to a badass killer) a nerd. Who doesn't get laid. And has transformer figurines all over his apartment.

Frankly, I a) never said I wanted to see anything, b) never mentioned satire of "over-the-top adolescent-pandering violence and hypersexuality". My entire post was basically trying to point out that that is NOT what Duke Nukem is. If Duke Nukem wasn't a hulking hypermasculine figure, he wouldn't be something that poked fun at Rambo and James Bond and other hypermasculine dudes like those guys. He's supposed to be a classic stupid action movie turned up to 10,000. I honestly don't see how your post responds to mine in any way. Just because the "Movie Movie" people do satire badly has absolutely nothing to do with a discussion about Duke Nukem and adds nothing to your point, so I'm just confused about where you were going with that.

I don't know. Honestly, like I said, I don't really like Duke Nukem that much. I just get annoyed that people don't get the joke of it at all and try and actually take it seriously or think it's what you said it was.

That's what's commonly referred to as a figure of speech, frankly. And it sounds like you don't want to see anything other than your own point of view. Um, yes, you did say that Duke was satire of over-the top adolescent-pandering violence. If you like, I can provide youtube clips of Rambo movies. Sorry, I also added hypersexuality, since that's what Duke is, according to its creators (both the original franchise and this new manufactured nostalgia game). I humbly submit that you are not as clever as you think you are. There's nothing Bond-esque about Duke Nukem - except of course that he is a sexist. The comparison to the Wayans films was more than apt - 3D realms and Gearbox are shitty satirists, just as are the Wayans. The only real difference is that Duke began simply as a work that pandered to try to overcompensate for its own glaring flaws and later on its fans and creators made the claim that it was satire, whereas the Wayans movies were always just shitty collections of mini-parodies with tons of pandering.

Oh yeah, I get the joke (bra). It's a 10-year-old's joke. Not very clever.

...and that's why I think you should check out No More Heroes...

 

[Robert Ewing]

If it's in jest, it SHOULD be okay. But sadly some people take offence at the stupidest of things. So if you trust in the persons intelligence. Fire away.

I find it sad that we live in an age where it is literally very dangerous to tell a joke. Sigh.

 

[funguy2121]

jokes and jokes and jokes and jokes;
spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti!

i rest my case.

You gotta lose yourself spaghetti-oh! With some lobsters and some bagels!

Best. Joke. Ever.

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!

 

[Hamish Durie]

in my opinion yes, yes it is okay in context

 

[Daveman]

Frankie Boyle once made the joke about some people watching him saying "Is he joking?", his response being:

"Is he joking? Is that comedian joking? Is that comedian up on the comedy stage in the middle of a comedy festival joking? COURSE I'M FUCKIN' JOKING!"

If it makes me laugh then it isn't racist, because I don't find racism funny. I find how idiotic stereotyping can be funny. I find exploiting peoples preconceptions funny. I find catching people off guard funny. But hate towards someone because of skin colour? What kind of guy do you think I am? French?

 

[Twilight.falls]

I'm Asian, my friends are white, black, and hispanic. I'm a man, my friends are both male and female. I'm Buddhist, my friends are anywhere Athiests, Catholics, and Jewish.

We crack jokes poking fun at our races, sex, and faiths. It's all in good fun, none of us are out to harm each other.

It all depends on who you're with. I wouldn't say the things I say around friends among people I think I even have a CHANCE at offending.