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Is it okay to make a bigoted joke about your own culture?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by ryanninjasheep, Mar 19, 2013.

  1. ryanninjasheep

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    ...Like if an african-american calls his friend the n word
    Just wanted to start conversation
     
  2. Owen

    In Loving Memory Full Member

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    Re: Is it okay to make a biggist joke about your own culture?

    Might you have been thinking of the word "bigoted" instead?
     
  3. ryanninjasheep

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    Re: Is it okay to make a biggist joke about your own culture?

    That would be it...
    How do you change the first post?
     
  4. Just Jess

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    Re: Is it okay to make a biggist joke about your own culture?

    Okay, like everyone ever is going to be cool with it? No.

    Okay, like you can probably get away with it sometimes or it won't be viewed as a big deal? Yes.

    Okay, like it's the right thing to do? Well there's two sides to this coin. One side is called "reclamation" and the other side is called "hypocrisy". The best advice I ever heard here is "use your best judgement".

    You're probably thinking about this though (NSFW thanks to language)
    N-Word Privileges - Television Tropes & Idioms
     
  5. Owen

    In Loving Memory Full Member

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    Re: Is it okay to make a biggist joke about your own culture?

    I've changed it for you. :slight_smile:
     
  6. Caudex

    Caudex Guest

    Sort of. There are two rules I follow.

    If your minority/culture/whatever is something you are born as, don't make a joke about it; if it isn't, feel free, and if it's a choice, feel free.
    Being Asian or Swahili isn't a choice. You're born like that, and no matter what, people will stereotype you.
    Being part of Hell's Angels is a choice, so I can pretty much say whatever I want about them, even if it violates rule two.
    Being gay isn't a choice, BUT you can choose to be part of that culture. I personally have no interest in drag shows and my wardrobe consists of seven pairs of jeans, seven t-shirts with stupid jokes on them, one set of workout clothes, one set of fancy clothes, and nothing else. So I don't really elect to fill the stereotypes. Basically, I could go on the street and have no one know I'm gay. I think it's OK to make jokes about that. (The joke, "a gay horse eats haaaaayyyyyy," is fine, because gay people don't have to indicate that they're part of a culture that is stereotypically known for doing that. The joke, "if i see a black guy riding a bicycle, I know one thing, it's my bicycle," is not, because black people can't not forecast their minority status (unless that person is Michael Jackson (this parenthesis is getting out of hand (also, I have four nested parentheses.))))

    After that complicated rule 1, here's rule two: If the joke implies inferiority, disregard rule one and just don't make it. Notice that the bicycle joke is not allowed under this rule either, because thieves are generally thought to be inferior. But the gay one is still allowed, because people who say haaaaayyy aren't inferior. But saying something like, "Gay people are poor because they're only hairdressers and hairdressers don't make money," (not a joke, I couldn't think of one), does imply inferiority (if you assume poverty=inferiority, which many people do), so that's not OK.

    To recap:
    Rule 1: If it's something you can't hide you didn't choose, it's not good for a joke. If you choose to be part of that group or you can hide it, it's fine.
    Rule 2: Disregard Rule 1 if it implies inferiority.
     
  7. Austin

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    I think it's fine.
     
  8. Bebop

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    It's as okay as someone using it in the same context and not of the culture.
     
  9. LoveMusicPoetry

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    Again, context and intent.
     
  10. Dublin Boy

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    I think a lot of jokes about a persons culture, are to do with looking down on people, the British look down on the Irish & make jokes about them being thick, the French look down on the Belgians, The American's look down on the Canadian's & therefore the jokes are about how dumb people from these cultures are, yet in reality if you take the British & the Irish, upon looking at census records for 1901, I found that everyone in the Irish households could Read & Write & in some cases were Bilingual, yet in the English, Welsh & Scottish records people could not even write there own name & had to put a X.

    So where the basis of these jokes come from I don't know?

    If the Joke puts someone in your culture down then No.
     
  11. Sayu

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    I think it's fine :slight_smile:
     
  12. Monocle

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    Context, context, context, and always err on the side of caution.
     
  13. kem

    kem
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    I like making gay jokes every once in a while. I also make jokes about vegans, foreigners, the Turkish, artists... If you can't stand a joke about your culture/identity, then you're taking things too seriously. That said, I think it's important to differentiate bigotry from silly remarks. I also understand that for those in the closet, gay jokes might be uncomfortable, but in that case the jokes aren't the real problem I think.
     
  14. gordilocks

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    if yr part of that culture say w/e you like about it
    but if you aren't & use 'but they do it!!!' as an excuse for saying bigoted stuff yr a horrible person
     
  15. Pret Allez

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    As far as queer culture goes, no, I don't think we should make jokes about ourselves that echo or empower the things that are said by people in the majority culture to try and hurt us.

    On the N-word, that's not my conversation to have:


    [YOUTUBE]2MnmmDiQSdA[/YOUTUBE]
     
  16. I make tons of jokes about being Chinese and Vietnamese (I'm chinese and vietnamese) almost all the time, and since most of my friends are Chinese and Vietnamese, they get it. I often make sure that the jokes don't go too far to the point where it sounds like I hate being Asian.
     
  17. worriedWardrobe

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    As several people have said "Context is key"

    Personally, I take no offense to this sort of thing, and I make jokes about myself all the time.
     
  18. castle walls

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    I don't really see the problem. A few issues could spring up but I doubt that they happen in the majority of cases
     
  19. UndercoverGypsy

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    Not just thick. Drunk too.