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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Sexist 'Jokes' in DM - my blood is literally boiling

33 replies

Cloudbase · 09/03/2011 11:16

I don't know if anyone else has seen this

Sexist 'Jokes'

Most of them are the same old tired sexist rubbish(and with a token 'jokes about men' bit so that they can't be accused of blatant sexism, but there is a Peter Kay joke about 6 men beating up his Mother-in-Law that literally has my blood boiling - I am so angry that they can publish this. I've been in two violent relationships myself, and to see violence towards women reduced to a cheap joke and sanctioned in a National newspaper makes me so beyond angry that I can't express it very well.

I've e-mailed them to complain and ask them to explain why they thought it was okay to publish it - will let you know what they say if they respond...

OP posts:
GregorSamsa · 09/03/2011 11:22

If your blood was 'literally boiling' you'd be dead.

[pedant]

jeee · 09/03/2011 11:23

GregorSamsa beat me to it.

germajesty · 09/03/2011 11:25

pointless article

AnnieLobeseder · 09/03/2011 11:26

I'm more concerned by the article which sparked the 'jokes'.

Really? Sexism is dead? Not even slightly. Sadly, it's just that we're so used to it that many women don't even recognise it any more.

Prolesworth · 09/03/2011 11:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Cloudbase · 09/03/2011 11:32

I find it very depressing that the DM have immediately used the research as an excuse to publish this sexist rubbish. And in any case, the article headline 'Sexism is Dead' is very misleading - if you look at the actual percentages, and the questions asked, I wouldn't have said that was an accurate representation at all.

OP posts:
Original poster
Cloudbase · 09/03/2011 11:32

X-posted Proles

OP posts:
David51 · 09/03/2011 11:45

I tried to contact the guy who said that sexism is dead but they told me he'd gone to a lapdancing club

higgle · 09/03/2011 15:06

"Russell Brand and other comedians have got nothing on these old comedians. Class and CLEAN jokes at its best

  • sue, chingford, 09/3/2011 12:44"

Most of the reader's comments are very positive - are we having a sense of humour failure here - there are jokes about men too

JaneS · 09/03/2011 15:19

A few of them are funny but most of them aren't, they're just nasty and lame.

Why did the DM imagine that writing a second load of crappy jokes about men would somehow make them look less sexist? Confused

im22 · 09/03/2011 23:18

"and with a token 'jokes about men' bit so that they can't be accused of blatant sexism"

There are 18 jokes about men and 15 about women. If you want to complain about the bias against women in this article at least make come up with an irrelevant comment that can'r so easily be refuted (refering to the token bit and the fact you automatically assume that because the comment involves sexism, it must be against women)

FlamingoBingo · 10/03/2011 07:15

It's not a complaint about the bias against women, but one about jokes that reinforce gender stereotypes, make people feel uncomfortable, and the fact that if a national newspaper were to publish a page of racist jokes, all hell would break loose. Why is racism unacceptable but sexism is not?

SardineQueen · 10/03/2011 09:46

I would be interested to see the actual survey, teh questions and the results. As what is reported doesn't tie in with the headline, and some of the rest doesn't make sense either

eg "Some 38 per cent of women said they had personally experienced ?sexist remarks or sexist behaviour?, including physical contact. The figure rose to 60 per cent among women under 30." But surely all of the women surveyed were under 30 at some point Confused

SardineQueen · 10/03/2011 09:49

Maybe I am biased but the jokes about women seem worse than the jokes about men. The ones about men seem to be "ha ha men think about sex all the time and don't do any housework" while many of the jokes about women talk about killing them.

ringoffire · 10/03/2011 11:37

Jeez. It's a joke, most jokes are taking the piss out of a set of people, old, irish, welsh, etc.

FlamingoBingo · 10/03/2011 11:38

Do you think jokes about black people, or disabled people are ok, ringoffire?

ringoffire · 10/03/2011 11:42

depends on the joke. Whats the difference to a joke about the welsh? (I am welsh btw) it's still racist.

SardineQueen · 10/03/2011 13:47

I don't like blonde jokes I have to say (I'm blonde).

I know my Irish friends don't like Irish jokes.

I know that the special needs community on here don't like jokes about disabled people.

And so on and so on.

Still also doesn't address the fact that lots of those jokes about women are about killing them, I'm not sure that jokes about killing other sections of society would be greeted with gales of laughter. Jokes about other sections play to stereotypes, joking about killing is sort of different and it seems to only be done in jokes about women.

SardineQueen · 10/03/2011 13:51

I suppose it's a matter of how oppressed the joked about group is?

So people tolerate jokes about welsh people and ginger people and blonde women as it's not perceived that they actually encounter much discrimination because of it.

Jokes about black people and disabled people are not tolerated as it is accepted that they are groups who have to face an awful lot of often outrageous discrimination.

I'm guessing that's where society draws the line.

On that basis is it OK to joke about men killing their partners when this is something that actually happens all the time?

SardineQueen · 10/03/2011 13:52

Well I mean it's OK, obviously, I don't think there are any laws about what jokes people can tell!

What I mean is, is it unreasonable of women to get offended by it, jokes about women being killed, when so many women actually are killed.

ringoffire · 10/03/2011 15:11

Sorry Sardine I think you are talking bollocks. Welsh don't get discriminated against? They do, generally thought of as thick sheep shaggers.

Ginger people also get a huge amount of discrimination.

I didn't see the joke about a woman being killed, I saw it about the mother in law, which has been a stereotype for generations.

BTW Why do female black widow spiders kill the male after mating?
To stop the snoring before it starts

A joke about killing the male - just for balance!

alemci · 10/03/2011 15:27

I thought they were okay as there was a balance of sexist male jokes too.

SardineQueen · 10/03/2011 15:35

The first two jokes on the page are about men killing their wives, not hard to miss.

On the other points, I'm not saying that welsh or ginger jokes are OK, I'm trying to see why they are considered more acceptable in our society that jokes about black people or disabled people. My theory is that they aren't perceived as encountering the same levels of discrimination. I genuinely don't believe that the average person would consider that a welsh person encounters as much discrimination as a black person.

Your joke about the female killing the male is about spiders, not people.

Omg20 · 10/03/2011 16:18

Tbh I don't find any of the men jokes offensive at all they are not personal jokes they are not about you. They are about making fun of stereotypes. You could say the same joke about the swimming pool or the grave about men and I would still laugh. You could probably say

vesuvia · 10/03/2011 16:50

ringoffire wrote - "Ginger people also get a huge amount of discrimination."

Really?

ringoffire wrote - "A joke about killing the male - just for balance!"

So you think your joke about spiders is supposed to balance the anti-woman aspects of this discussion?