Last summer, famous comedian Daniel Tosh performed at a Los Angeles nightclub and reportedly began his stand-up set with a joke about rape. Tosh said, “Rape jokes are always funny. … How can a rape joke not be funny?” A female audience member yelled back, “Actually, rape jokes are never funny!” Tosh responded by saying that it would be funny if the woman “got raped by like, five guys right now.” The woman was shocked and quickly left the show with a friend. The friend later blogged about the incident. Tosh’s comments went viral. Some media outlets bashed Tosh, some comedians came to his defense and Tosh apologized. Then, everyone mostly forgot.
Though the controversy didn’t last, the Tosh incident illuminates the ill-defined limits of comedy. Comedy is an inherently boundary-pushing, communicative act, but we are constantly asking ourselves: When does a joke go “too far”?
The more important question is this: When do harmless words, meant to entertain, become tools of cultural oppression? I am particularly interested in how humor can reinforce dominant societal stereotypes and hierarchies and be harmful to underprivileged groups such as women and people of color, whether it’s Daniel Tosh telling a joke, or just the guy next door.
Tosh’s joke is a perfect example of poor execution resulting in the shaming of a historically oppressed group. First, Tosh began his joke with the crass, sexist statement that “all rape jokes are funny.” Tosh attempted to use shock comedy to get a cheap laugh at the expense of people, mainly women, who have experienced rape. His statements weren’t meant to further a discussion on sexual assault, but simply to say to the audience, “You may think joking about this is wrong but I’m joking about it to be edgy!” Indeed, Tosh used rape as a punchline and, in the process, disregarded the pain of sexual assault and the fact that someone in the audience may have been offended by the abrupt and insensitive joke.
The biggest mistake that Tosh made other than telling the joke in the first place was that he made it at the expense of a group that has considerably less privilege than he does and that did not consent to the joke. Perhaps Tosh is unaware of the politics of gender and sexual assault in America — that the grand majority of sexual assault is by men against women and that women often have a difficult time even telling anyone that they have been assaulted, let alone navigating a legal system that is further traumatizing — but he nonetheless used rape as fodder for cheap laughs. Although Tosh — or anyone who makes sexist and misogynistic jokes — isn’t to blame for the shameful state of American sexual politics, it is still up to people like him not to exacerbate and justify its existence.
To avoid Tosh’s mistake, anyone who chooses to joke about such topics should instead use humor to satirize an aspect of these sensitive issues, rather than using these topics to shock audiences.
Comedians like Stephen Colbert joke about difficult topics by using satire alongside shock value. Colbert makes himself the butt of the joke — he plays a character that makes overtly shocking comments, so that the punchline is his character’s ignorance. This technique does not offend non-consenting members of the audience. Colbert makes obviously shocking and silly comments on sensitive topics to show his character’s ignorance, therefore satirizing anyone who is as ignorant as his character. The joke is about an insensitive person who is ignorant of the experiences of others.
Though I am not suggesting a complete ban of any humor that is potentially offensive, I believe there is a difference between telling a good-natured joke and offending someone from an underprivileged minority. In the latter instance, the joker exerts his or her power at the expense of a non-consenting member of society who is often a minority. These “jokes” are actually thinly veiled shaming methods that mock oppressed minorities.
If you are the type of person who, like me, enjoys inserting humor into nearly every interaction, then I would suggest asking yourself the following questions before making a risque joke: Is the joke merely an attempt to use a taboo or sensitive topic to shock an audience into laughter? Will this joke be potentially damaging to someone who doesn’t deserve it? Is the joke about a group that has been historically oppressed? Does it use someone else’s experiences, culture or beliefs as a punchline?
If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then you should reconsider the joke and choose to add substance to what would otherwise be hollow and offensive shock value. As a comedian, your priority should be to make your audience laugh while not shaming an undeserving group of people.
David Romero ’14 loves talking about privilege and is open to any discussions about it. He can be reached at David_Romero@Brown.edu.
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