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How Many Feminists Does It Take To Make A Joke? Sexist Humor and What's Wrong With It

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2020

Memo Bergmann
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Abstract

In this paper I am concerned with two questions: What is sexist humor? and what is wrong with it? To answer the first question, I briefly develop a theory of humor and then characterize sexist humor as humor in which sexist beliefs (attitudes/norms) are presupposed and are necessary to the fun.

Concerning the second question, I criticize a common sort of argument that is supposed to explain why sexist humor is offensive: although the argument explains why sexist humor feels offensive, it does not place responsibility for the offense in the humorist or audience that enjoys sexist humor. I develop an alternate account of the offense in sexist humor that places responsibility for offense in precisely those quarters.

Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , Spring 1986 , pp. 63 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 by Hypatia, Inc.

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