Laughter may be the best medicine, but have you ever considered that humor may not always be funny, and even worse, can be very hurtful?
Recently on the set of the latest Adam Sandler movie several Native American extras and actors quit, having had enough of his malodorous humor about putting your pee-pee in their tee-pee, Beaver Breath, and her named friends No-Bra and Sit’s-on-Face.
There is a real corrosive effect from sexist and racist humor, and a prejudicial attitude combined with disparaging humor can increase discrimination.
Psychologists from Western Carolina University have proposed the “Normative Window Theory of Prejudice.” This theory suggests that we rank social groups by how acceptable it is to discriminate and have prejudicial attitudes against them. For example, it is totally acceptable to hold prejudiced views against racists, or murderers because these behaviors are condemned in our society. However, it is not acceptable to hold prejudicial views or discriminate against doctors, although I think dentists, despite being doctors, haven’t been able to completely avoid this.
Then there are other social groups where it used to be all right to show discrimination, but over time many or us have evolved and changed our views and consider prejudice against them as wrong. Some examples are women, ethnic and religious minorities, and gays and lesbians. But some people are still prejudiced toward these groups. The problem, according to the theory, is that disparaging humor that targets these groups encourages discriminatory acts against them.
It seems to be the case that people who are exposed to disparaging humor are influenced by it and discriminate against the groups that are made fun of.
Groups in transition are especially hurt
This problem applies especially to groups for whom the prior prejudiced norm is now changing, such as Native Americans and homosexuals. In these cases there is still not a total societal consensus not to discriminate against them. What happens is that in individuals that still hold ingrained negative views against one of these groups, hearing disparaging and stereotypical jokes about them frees any inhibitions they might have had, and they feel discrimination against them is acceptable.
Studies on sexist humor against women showed the same. People who are sexist to begin with and enjoy hearing and telling these sexist jokes show a higher tolerance for harmful sexist events, tend to accept distorted views on rape, such as that the woman may have provoked it, and show a greater willingness to generally discriminate against women.
Humor really is not so benign after all. First, the reaction to presented humor depends largely on the context and the personality and the attitudes of the audience. Jokes are never neutral. Second, humor is not always positive and fun. We tend to think about humor as something that is innocuous, but humor also can also have a destructive side, and we need to know this and account for it, because humor can lead to negative and harmful outcomes against others.
I wish Lenny Bruce was right about extinguishing the pain of words with overuse, but I don’t think it will happen that way. I liked the early Adam Sandler movies, but I think now it’s time for the studios to stop supporting his ill-advised humor, or preferably, for him to take a higher road with his talents and use them for making the world a better place rather than bringing it down into the comedy gutter.
By Dr. J, a maxillofacial surgeon living in Florida. Dr. J has travelled to Haiti to treat indigent patients and has taught as an associate professor at a Florida dental college. In his spare time Dr. J is a dedicated runner as well as a pilot who flies his Piper Cherokee Arrow throughout Florida. He has a black belt in karate. Dr. J has written for CalorieLab since 2007.
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