On page 95 of “Studies in American Humor”, Rebecca Krefting asks “What are the risks we run in rendering laughable the very serious critiques or concerns (or the real anger and pain being expressed) raised in the deployment of satire?” ( Krefting, 95). This concept is so important to discuss because nobody ever knows where they should draw the line. For some, it is absolutely unacceptable to make satirical jokes about a societal issue, and for others, it doesn’t matter what the joke entails because it is a joke and should not be taken seriously. In addition, Krefting asks, “How does a comic’s sex, gender presentation, and race impact the reception of satire?” (Krefting, 95). I think the position from which somebody is saying something matters maybe more than anything. So, when it comes to concepts that are more serious like sex, gender, and race, I don’t want to hear it from somebody who has no experience dealing with it.
I had a professor last year in a politics-related course who was a white, cisgender man. His attempts at explaining “critical race theory” and patriarchal systems were enough to make a whole lecture hall cringe. He would either throw around terms and emotions like they were worth nothing, or he would be extremely uneducated on a given topic. It’s because of situations like these that back up my claim that it matters heavily who is doing the talking when discussing complex subjects. I think this professor relates to the first question a little bit too, though, because it is usually the people who have never had to deal with anything bad who make the insensitive jokes and expect you to not have any problems with it.
Krefting, R. Hannah Gadsby: On the Limits of Satire. Studies in American Horror. Penn State University Press. Vol. 5, No. 1, Special Issue: Satire Today (2019), pp. 93-102
I totally agree with your sentiment that the position from which someone is saying something really matters, especially in subjects about inter-sectional and gendered topics. I have had experiences with family members, where they will talk about something they have no experience with, like systemic racism or LGBTQ+ topics, and they'll just say things without any knowledge or education about it. It goes along that same line of hearing something cringey, there's just a lack of awareness that happens. What is interesting is the fact that these people get defensive or angry when someone points out that the thing that they've said is insensitive.
ReplyDeleteHi Alexander! I love how you said you don't want to hear anyone's opinions on minority's being self deprecating satirically because we feel like we have to, because some people have never even felt tempted to have to do that. I remember from our talk in class we talked a lot about how certain minority groups tend to use that as a way to relieve tension in situations where we feel less than. I know I've personally made comments making fun of my own height, and although being shorter really doesn't bother me, in situations where there's a certain power dynamic, I genuinely feel like there's some weird element of power represented when you're more physically dominating. Therefore sometimes I crack jokes at it which is my way of acknowledging my height, which allows me to almost get some of that power back.
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