Opinion- The Jokes Just Aren't Funny . . .

The Jokes Just Aren't Funny . . . The Use of Comedy and Language Today

Several pro-rape and rape joke Facebook pages were created in August 2011 and people were immediately offended. It became painfully obvious that Facebook would not be monitoring the content of these pages. People began protesting the pro-rape pages and Lizzy Davies of the Guardian published a news article on Facebook's refusal to remove the offensive content. Ms. Magazine encouraged a tweet campaign and change.org also got involved.

Bloggers noticed on November 6, 2011 that many of these pages have been removed. There was no official PR or news release from Facebook and the only evidence is in the absence of the pages. A success for sure, but an apology or official statement would have been even better.

How could this have happened and why was it considered funny to so many people? A little further investigation reveals that this is not the first pro-rape page that Facebook has allowed. An article by Hortense Smith on Jezebel.com from November 8, 2009 discusses a pro-rape Facebook page. TWO. YEARS. AGO. It just illustrates that we can not turn a blind eye to inappropriate and unjust behavior regardless of how few it seems to hurt.

Facebook is not the only place letting rape jokes slide. Several TV shows have aired rape jokes, including 30 Rock, and several comedians are using rape jokes in their routines. Some believe that comedy is actually a means to dealing with difficult topics. Psychological and sociological studies seem to vacillate back and forth on the actual effect of sexist jokes (Ford et al; Ford and Ferguson; Ryan and Kanjorski). Is there comedy that actually enlightens or brings new perception to the listeners? Many think that it can (particularly in politics) but a lot of this depends on the audience. A racist joke told to a racist person is unlikely to effect any change in perception and will likely reinforce existing prejudice. And there is plenty of existing prejudice against women.

I find it somewhat ironic that people have to explain why something isn't a joke. If it's not funny, it's not a joke. And hurting people just isn't funny.

I also have some concerns about how women describe and talk about themselves. Even feminists. A lot of websites and blogs from third wave feminists use derogatory terms in their titles or icons depicting sexy women (inadvertently suggesting that this is the normal way to look). This appears to be an attempt to reclaim these words and remove the negative connotation.

The "grrls" of the third wave have stepped onto the stage as strong and empowered, eschewing victimization and defining feminine beauty for themselves as subjects, not as objects of a sexist patriarchy. They have developed a rhetoric of mimicry, which reappropriates derogatory terms like "slut" and "bitch" in order subvert sexist culture and deprive it of verbal weapons. 

But I don't think it worked. At least not as well as intended. Does calling yourself a bitch change the meaning of the word? Is that how others take it, or do they suddenly think it's okay to treat you like a bitch because you refer to yourself as one? Or will some people think it's okay to joke about it? How do we change the meaning of words? I'm not sure, I'm still a little confused about the efficacy of reclaiming negative words.

For example, SlutWalks seem to be slightly contradictory. The protest against women being to blame for rape and sexual molestation because of the way they dress or act is an incredibly worthy cause. The blame for rape always rests on the perpetrator. But I'm not sure what calling ourselves sluts achieves when we could spend the effort getting rid of the word altogether. Calling someone a slut or treating someone like a slut is inappropriate and is part of abusive behavior. It also seems similar to rape jokes (i.e. Dave Chapelle's whore routine). Does normalizing or frequenting a word make it less harmful?

Where is feminism today? Can we be more effective? Can we apply techniques from the 60s and 70s with an understanding that feminists can enjoy their high heels and dresses? I certainly hope so! Can we reclaim the word "feminist"? Yes! But let's not compare it to the F word. Do we need to change the meaning of bitch or slut? How can we do so effectively?  How can we use an understanding of language and an understanding of our own history to continue to fight the many infringements on women's rights? How do we as a world, alter our language and adjust our values to no longer mock or belittle women?