Blog Post 1

Humor and violence are on total opposite sides of the spectrum. So to use humor and violence together wouldn’t makes sense to most, but because of the country we live in and the continuously changing generation, this is challenged. A lot of factors change the perception of humor and violence (gender, social norm beliefs etc.), so does humor work together with violence and if it does when is it okay to use? Violence has been a part of humor throughout human history and violent or aggressive humor has recently become a common tactic used in jokes, social media, conversations with friends and/or family, and even in advertising. What is it that turns violent, aggressive, or tragic events into humor?

When I read Heer, Nussbaum, and Chief Elk-Young Bear and Kane, I realized that I too use violence and humor in the same context. When I’m talking to my friends I use it and also when I’m talking to family. A perfect example of this is when talking about black people with my friends. We constantly crack black jokes even when it isn't appropriate at the time. We either speak about how our mothers and fathers used to beat us, how white people aren't disciplined and need whoopings, and so many other jokes. We would crack these jokes in our rooms, over the phones, in class, in the hickey, literally ever. However, we know when it's time to shut our mouths. If we're walking to an academic building for example, and some white kid walks by we won't crack a joke about them until they walk away.

Some of my friends however, don't know when it's not okay to say something and they'll say it right in front of their face. this makes them feel uncomfortable. We can see it on their face. I believe that it's not okay to do this because it's just straight up rude. If it was the other way around and a white person said a joke about black people to our face, things would probably become verbally or physically violent. That's why it's important to know when it's okay to make a comment and when it's not okay. You wouldn't go up to a black person that you don't know and crack a black joke because you don't know how they would react. It's not funny when one person thinks something is a joke and the others feeling were hurt. Violent humor can only be said around people you know won't get offended and react negatively.