Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site nlm-mcs.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!zehntel!dual!amd70!fortune!hpda!hplabs!hao!seismo!brl-tgr!nlm-mcs!rene From: rene@nlm-mcs.ARPA (Rene Steiner) Newsgroups: net.jokes.d Subject: Re: Re: 'Offensive' jokes, minorities, r Message-ID: <2211@nlm-mcs.ARPA> Date: Tue, 5-Jun-84 20:30:08 EDT Article-I.D.: nlm-mcs.2211 Posted: Tue Jun 5 20:30:08 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 13-Jun-84 23:40:50 EDT References: <186@ism780.UUCP>, <273@ut-sally.UUCP> Organization: NLM/LHNCBC, Bethesda, Md. Lines: 22 I've been reading the comments about whether or not some potentially offensive jokes are to be enjoyed or banned. I can't seem to make up my mind; I appreciate the humor and yet I'm worried about the joke and the stereotypes that it uses. However, I thought about other types of jokes that I would NOT want to see posted, and indeed they rarely (if ever - I don't recall any) are. These are "jokes" about rape, child molestation, and similar topics. I doubt that reading a joke about rape is going to encourage rape (just as it was doubted that using stereotypes in jokes was going to cause racism), yet I think few people would appreciate such a joke. I have heard "jokes" about rape, and they were similar to the ethnic jokes discussed - reinforcing stereotypes about women. So why do I feel ambivilant about one and not the other? I also don't want to see a rash of holocost jokes. WASP jokes and Czechoslovakian jokes don't bother me at all, but jokes with women and black stereotypes do. Does anyone feel the same way? Any psychology aspirants care to do an analysis of why some jokes offend and others don't ( I know that's rather broad)? - thought I'd jump into the fray, - rene -- rene@nlm-mcs