Skip to main content

Humor & Oversensitivity

There are two theories about how to win an argument with a woman. Neither one works.
Now, what was your first reaction when you read that quote? You found it funny and a smile crossed your lips? Or did you frown, started screaming that its a stereotypical statement that is offensive to women? If you belong to the first group, cool! If you belong to the second group, cool down, here is a statement that might please you.
What is the difference between men and pigs? Pigs dont turn into men when they are drunk!

No no, this post was not to trigger a venus-mars supremacy fight. I was just thinking how difficult it is to be humorous without offending anyone. And the second quote might upset not just the oversensitive men, but also the oversensitive drinkers!

Just to give a few more examples. A conversation that happened at the lunch table.
"Did you meet the new manager, he is sick"
"He is sikh (sounding as sick)? I thought he was hindu" (we all laugh)
Do you seriously think that I was trying to be demeaning to other religions? Or can you accept the fact that I was too tempted to let go of an opportunity to make a pun?

If God exists, I hope he has a good excuse. - Woody Allen
If it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil. But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever. - Woody Allen
I adore these quotes. You call it blasphemy? Is it too sensitive that you are already praying to your God/Gods to punish/forgive me?

I simply love Peter Sellers with his exaggerated French accent in Pink Panther. Would that make me a racist?
Now, what will happen to all those "What did the ant say before making love to an elephant?" type PJs? Oh no, Maneka Gandhi may be offended!
Little Johnny jokes are a strict no-no as it shows children in bad light. Where does this end?

The point I am trying to make is that, if we become too oversensitive about religion, region, caste, gender, accents, age group etc. etc. it becomes virtually impossible to make a spontaneous joke without hurting someone (I dont think its reasonable to perform a feasibility study and impact analysis for every joke!). If a sardarji is constantly bombarded with Santa-Banta jokes, he has a valid reason to get offended. If someone is telling a specific category of jokes, with the sole intention of offending you, its okay if you react strongly to that. I dont claim to be super cool, not offended by anything, but I make a conscious effort not to read too much into it, unless its too repetitive and explicit. Otherwise, I think we need to just enjoy a joke without finding too many hidden meanings.

Hee Haa Hhaah!

Comments

Anonymous said…
A very nice post. Loved the two statements in the first stanza.

But then, didn't understand a bit of the two Woody Allen's quotes. May be i'm suggesting the topic for your next blog entry... :)
Bit Hawk said…
@anonymous
Good that you loved the quotes. Yeah, somebody is in the first group!
I happen to share (not copy) similar opinions on God as Woody. We wish there was something like God. We doubt if there is something like God. And we tend to make fun of God and his inadequacies. May be some time later, I will write on God. :)

And anonymous readers, please mention your names or at least the third letter of your names (if you dont want to reveal your identities) :))
Anonymous said…
'i' is the third letter of my name. Is that any different from being anonymous!!! :)
krupa said…
Which category do I fall into? ;)
rekha said…
ya ,there are people who cant understand,who take every joke seriously,take completely different meaning and that should not stop u
Bit Hawk said…
@anonymous
Dont tell me its Sh'i'lpa Shetty :))

@krupa
You are definitely the cool types, dont worry!

@rekha
Bingo! You are absolutely right!
mouna said…
that's so true. i guess one shouldn't take anything too seriously. if one does, the fun is lost.

i don't get these santa-banta jokes. they are silly, and we are supposed to laugh at them(most times).
Anonymous said…
It's Dr.Sh'i'lpa Shetty now, irrespective of whether she deservers it or not and irrespective of whether you like it or not :)
- 'i'

Popular posts from this blog

Limitations Of Human Imagination

I watched the movie "The Abyss" yesterday. Unadulterated hollywood alien-sci-fi garbage. Pseudo-emotions mixed with american-arrogance, so much crap that it would have given Karan Johar some serious inferiority complex. But, this made me think why so many alien stories are so similar. Lets come to the assumptions in the alien movies: 1) Aliens always love to make contact with the humans (If I were an alien, I would try to make contact with crocodiles - much more interesting, right?) 2) Aliens are generally much more intelligent than humans (Its hard to beat the dumbness of humans - probably aliens don't watch Big Boss! Also, since 'they' contact us by reaching 'our' planet, they must be better than us!) 3) Aliens by default understand or learn English (by intercepting the cerebral signals and interpreting with the aural waves and decoding to hexadecimal system - you will be given some such nonsense by the story writers) If you tell the aliens "howdy...

Tell me your mail id and I will tell who you are

You might have known people telling personality traits based on sun signs, moon signs, date of birth, year of birth (oh yes, its a chinese one). I have seen personality tests based on color preferences, answers to particular questions etc. I even had a DOS application which told about your qualities based on the way you built a house! But, I always wondered why people never analyzed based on people's mail ids. Here is an honest attempt at a never-done-before task. Disclaimer : This analysis is obviously prejudiced and has no scientific explanation. Any hurt, sadness or anger caused to anyone is purely accidental and simply unavoidable! If your primary mail is Yahoo... You love stability. You take calculated risks in life. You dont believe in sudden changes, and you think that hard work is the only way to success. You balance your personal life and career very well. The only regret you have is that people dont give enough credit for wha...

Ringtones

Why is it that most people don't keep their mobiles in silent mode, in general and particularly in meetings, movie halls, theaters and concerts? Why is it that people who hate silent mode, don't ever use "Increasing ring" feature? Why do such people use very loud ring tones? Why is it that most people use a very common ring tone and it takes them eternity to pick calls? (Yes, they don't even realize that its their mobile that is ringing!) Why is it that people with the most irritating ring tones are the ones who get calls very regularly? Why is it that most of the ring tones are monotonic? (Don't you think polyphonic ring tones are so less irritating on the ears?) Why is it that people so frequently use the default Nokia monotonic ring tone or a badly played version of Malgudi Days? Why have I never heard a nice polyphonic ring tone of Hotel California or Pulp Fiction theme or something? Why?