It’s Not Funny

Posted on November 6, 2007 in Agnosticism Attitudes

How many radical Lesbian feminists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

One. And it’s not fun-ny.

A recent study conducted by male researcher finds that the joke is right. It’s not funny:

“Sexist humor is not simply benign amusement. It can affect men’s perceptions of their immediate social surroundings and allow them to feel comfortable with behavioral expressions of sexism without the fear of disapproval of their peers,” said Thomas E. Ford, a new faculty member in the psychology department at WCU. “Specifically, we propose that sexist humor acts as a ‘releaser’ of prejudice.”

In their research article*, Ford and the graduate student co-authors describe two research projects designed to test the theory that “disparagement humor” has negative social consequences and plays an important role in shaping social interaction.

“Our research demonstrates that exposure to sexist humor can create conditions that allow men – especially those who have antagonistic attitudes toward women – to express those attitudes in their behavior,” he said. “The acceptance of sexist humor leads men to believe that sexist behavior falls within the bounds of social acceptability.”

Undoubtably this behavior extends to other arenas such as this “inspirational posters” contest by Friendly Atheist. Ironically the people who say that religion breeds nothing but discord breed antagonism — the root of violent conflict — by these means. The same is true of Christians who make jokes about atheists and others. Etc. etc. etc.

It makes me think that I should have said something about the “towelheads” remark that I heard the other day. Except the guy was drunk and dangerous.

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On a related note, andrea the serial deviant outlines her voluntary simplicity movement for blogging.