I am a feminist—I always have been. Every aspect of my life has lead me to standing up for the inequality that women face, and the justice we deserve. In today’s society, that justice seems near far away, due to the power our male counterpart exemplifies. I am never one to shove my opinions down someone else’s throat but sexist jokes need to STOP. For examples, a man joking around with his buddies at a bar with cheap beer states, “I like my violence like I like my beer: domestic.” or “What do you tell a women with two black eyes? Nothing, you already told her twice.” NO! What part of those sentences are ok? A man will usually defend himself with “it was just a joke,” but no, that’s not funny- I don’t see the punch-line. This impacts women’s lives and jokes like these are offensive to most people—key word: most.
Sexist jokes are not funny—they’re hostile. In my opinion, people who laugh at these types of jokes are just as a problem as the people telling them. According to a research study done by Western Carolina University, a psychology professor indicated that “exposure to sexist humor can lead to tolerance of hostile feelings and discrimination against women.” Yes, all those fancy words mean that people will think its ok to make jokes like this without the regards of another human’s feelings. That also means that people making the jokes will spread to other people, and then more people, and so forth. Sexist jokes not only allow men to berate women, but it also makes people think that sexist behavior is socially acceptable.
I don’t want to be told I belong in a kitchen, or to go “make you a sandwich.” I don’t want to be told that I am only good for making children and staying at home to care for the house. I want the full dollar opposed to the 77 cents I would make versus any male. I want women to feel empowered, and I want a movement to stop these sexist jokes and attitudes. Let’s try moving towards a society where we can live in harmony and make jokes that are funny without being offensive. What ever happened to “Knock, Knock? Who’s there? Apple.” or whatever the damn fruit was?
Work is needed to be done to actively make a change. That won’t happen without work. Women are not the stomping ground for some man to make jokes about domestic violence, or pay gaps, or sexual harassment. Last time I checked, these jokes are harassment and it needs to stop.
Actively LISTEN to the problems with these jokes is the first step. I believe in a world where one day offensive jokes will not exist—I’m just waiting to see it happen.
xxx-Meghan
Meghan Zimbler 