LGBT rights discussion

[theckhd]

I thought it was funny, but I assumed it was tongue-in-cheek. I guess it really depends on the context. I have a Jewish friend who I can imagine making exactly the same joke.

[Klaudandus]

I thought it was funny, but I assumed it was tongue-in-cheek. I guess it really depends on the context. I have a Jewish friend who I can imagine making exactly the same joke.

Yeah, I pretty much saw it the same way... but like I said, I'm highly cynical =P

Heck, one of the jokes I often make is about us having big noses because air is free...

[Sagara]

Heh. It's a bit like the n-word free pass.

A bit like Belgians like to poke fun at their own inept government and them being simpletons.

[Paxen]

Sure, if he was jewish. He's not, afaik.

Maybe he's as much jewish as I am, with my jewish great-great-something-grandfather.

[theckhd]

Eh, I've seen comedians that aren't Jewish make "Jew" jokes, white comedians make "Black" jokes, and all sorts of other stuff. It's all about context. You can make fun of the stereotype without actually being offensive if you do it right. Similar to the whole "rape joke" issue. There are ways to do it that are funny, even to victims. The problem is that it takes some skill and thought - you can't just make the most offensive joke you can think of and expect it to go over well. You have to do it in such a way that it doesn't denigrate the target, but empowers and supports them. It's the sort of thing that sets master comedians apart from amateurs.

There was a really good article on the topic right around the time of the "rape joke" fiasco a few months ago. I wish I remembered where I read it, because I'd link it, but it was really interesting.

[theckhd]

Firefox awesome-bar to the rescue! It was the only result when typing "rape" into the url bar (which is good, I guess?):
http://jezebel.com/5925186/how-to-make-a-rape-joke

I actually agree with Daniel Tosh's sentiment in his shitty back-pedaling tweet ("The point I was making before I was heckled is there are awful things in the world but you can still make jokes about them #deadbabies"). The world is full of terrible things, including rape, and it is okay to joke about them. But the best comics use their art to call bullshit on those terrible parts of life and make them better, not worse. The key—unless you want to be called a garbage-flavored dick on the internet by me and other humans with souls and brains—is to be a responsible person when you construct your jokes. Since the nuances of personal responsibility seem to escape so many people, let's go through it. Let's figure out rape jokes.

Wow, I forgot how much I like this author's prose:

This fetishization of not censoring yourself, of being an "equal-opportunity offender," is bizarre and bad for comedy. When did "not censoring yourself" become a good thing? We censor ourselves all the time, because we are not entitled, sociopathic fucks. Your girlfriend is censoring herself when she says she's okay with you playing Xbox all day. In a way, comedy is censoring yourself—comedy is picking the right words to say to make people laugh. A comic who doesn't censor himself is just a dude yelling. And being an "equal opportunity offender"—as in, "It's okay, because Daniel Tosh makes fun of ALL people: women, men, AIDS victims, dead babies, gay guys, blah blah blah"—falls apart when you remember (as so many of us are forced to all the time) that all people are not in equal positions of power. "Oh, don't worry—I punch everyone in the face! People, baby ducks, a lion, this Easter Island statue, the ocean…" Okay, well that baby duck is dead now. And you're a duck-murderer. It's really easy to believe that "nothing is sacred" when the sanctity of your body and your freedom are never legitimately threatened.

[Paxen]

Well, I got a reply. Paraphrased:

Holocaust jokes are fine. Jews are nice people, as long as they're not Israelis/zionists

I guess I'll keep him. I may have overreacted.

[Klaudandus]

[Passionario]

And today this pops up on my facebook feed: "Jews: The first biofuel."(

[Skye1013]

Part of what spawned this whole thread might be getting put to rest.

http://www.sdgln.com/news/2012/09/18/ch ... tment-gays

Hm... False alarm?

http://www.advocate.com/business/2012/0 ... as-changed

[lythac]

the 1 hour a week I-can't-remember-the-name class that covered all sorts. By age 13-14 it was pretty much entirely about STDs.

PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education)?

Wikipedia link

[KysenMurrin]

Aha. That's it.

[Skye1013]

Ann Coulter is an idiot.

Civil Rights Are Only 'For Blacks'

[Aubade]

......I couldn't believe what the FUCK was just coming out of her mouth.

I normally don't wish this on people, but someone needs to kill her. Like now.

[Aubade]

Actually no. she deserves worse. She needs to be locked up and forced to read facts and history for the rest of her life.