The Consequences of Disparagement Humor

 Shreeya S.

       The average child laughs 300 times a day, just proving that laughter is an essential part of people's lives. The main source of laughter is comedy, such as jokes. Jokes help people connect and grow their relationships, though at times these jokes can unintentionally hurt people’s feelings when they’re misunderstood or when they’re taken too far. Of course, some might ponder this claim, thinking of how a simple joke can hurt people’s feelings, as it is just a joke. Little do individuals know, jokes that target a social class, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and much more are known as “disparagement humor." Disparagement humor can lead to prejudices, insensitivity, and misinterpretations of jokes, leading to potential offensive remarks.

       Humor has evolved from being appropriately humorous and uplifting to the spirits to insulting and denigrating to specific social groups. According to Inari Sakki (University Professor-Social Psychology) and Jari Martikainen (University Professor-Social Psychology), “Humiliation is the central component of humor; in the process of getting fun from ridiculousness, our own sense of superiority receives an unexpected boost; humor acts as a sort of instrument that inflates our own ego and deflates that of others.” Individuals with societal power can create prejudice and fake stereotypes about someone’s identity. They are also able to get away scot-free even when they make a highly offensive remark regarding someone’s identity, causing the person the joke was about to appear vulnerable.

       Disparagement Humor also causes the person telling the joke to lack self-control and sympathy. According to Henri Bergson (Philosopher),"To laugh at someone, it is necessary not to be emotionally involved with the person subjected to offense. It is necessary to shut pietas and sympathies and to look at the situation as external spectators; to produce its effect, the comic needs a temporary anesthesia of the heart.” The only way a joke targeting someone can be funny to others is if the witnesses to the joke have apathy toward the person being targeted. Apathy makes it so that the joke, no matter how offensive, still seems like “just a joke," so when the person targeted tries to defend themselves, it seems like they take things “to heart” and get told, “It’s just a joke.”

       Though it seems easy to get away with disparaging humor if you are a societally respected person, when people use this sort of humor, they always make sure to assess the environment regardless. According to John F. Dovidio (Psychologist), “Prejudiced people conceal their true beliefs and attitudes because they fear others’ criticism. They express prejudice only when the norms in a given context clearly communicate approval to do so.” Furthermore, when a person feels that they are in the correct setting to express their bias and humor others, they let loose. If the individual sees that they are not in a setting where people support their biases and will get offended by their remarks, they say nothing. In a further study conducted by the APA, or American Psychological Association, data shows that men who have more of a sexist mindset towards women are likelier to agree with jokes about sexually harassing women, but only when exposed to sexist versus non-sexist humor. 

       It’s not just reading the room that delivers the message of whether the jokes told will be found humorous; it’s also knowing the social norms. Social norms work almost like a rubber band. According to Thomas E. Ford, regarding the Disparagement Humor study by the APA, “Everything on the inside of the rubber band is socially acceptable; everything on the outside is unacceptable. Sexist humor essentially stretched the rubber band; it expanded the bounds of acceptable behavior to include responses that would otherwise be considered wrong or inappropriate. So, in this context of expanded acceptability, sexist men felt free to express their antagonism without the risk of violating social norms and facing disapproval from others. Sexist humor signaled that it’s safe to express sexist attitudes.”

       To get a better overview of the societal problem of disparagement humor and its uses in an educational environment, a sample size of 90 students that attend Farnsworth Middle School, located within the Guilderland Central School District, participated in a survey in 2024. Out of the 90 students that participated in the survey, 60 agreed to having deliberately laughed at a joke aimed at someone, even though they truly thought it wasn't humorous. These results display how when people find themselves in an uncomfortable situation where the jokes being told are not humorous to them, if everyone else is laughing, they feel pressured to find some sort of humor in the joke and to laugh at it themselves. What they are unaware of is that other people themselves may feel the same way and are just following the rest. 

       In another question in the survey, when the respondents were asked what the main topic was of the jokes they encountered, more than half stated the joke regarding someone else’s appearance. These statistics show that the majority of the students that attend Farnsworth Middle experience jokes regarding someone else's appearance. Jokes that involve insulting another person are not only used outside of school; many of these jokes are used inside of school, showing how widespread the problem of the overuse of disparagement humor is. 

       Though jokes may seem funny deep down, they can really impact people’s lives and put them down. It is important to keep in mind that just because an individual laughs at all of the jokes that are targeted at them, it doesn’t mean that they are okay with such jokes. No one should have to go through the pain of bottling up their emotions and hiding their pain for the sake of not being seen as a pushover or oversensitive. Laughter is an essential part of people’s lives, but if it’s forced, it can ruin someone's day.

       When it comes to disparaging humor, thinking before saying is the key. There are ways to make everyone laugh without using denigrating humor. Through humor, you can empower yourself to bear with the challenges of the world. But if humor is used to hurt, it turns into yet another challenge for you to handle. Humor isn’t a weapon until you choose to make it one.