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Straight people telling Gay jokes

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Devil Dave, Jan 29, 2020.

  1. Devil Dave

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    when you hear straight people telling gay jokes, how do you feel? Do you find it offensive? Do you find them funny? Or are you just not bothered?

    I don't exactly get offended when I hear straight people making jokes about gay people, I just don't find it funny. Even if it's a comedian I like and find amusing, once he starts making jokes about gay sex, I just think "ugh, stick to telling jokes about your wife."

    I think people are at their most funny when they're talking about their own life experiences, i.e. joking about their own family life or love life. If you're a straight man making jokes about gay sex, which is something you never do yourself, then you're not being funny.
     
  2. Poofter

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    you pretty much sum up how I feel. I also get somewhat annoyed by the witch hunts generated in media because of some things people joked about years ago.
     
  3. Devil Dave

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    Do you mean like when a celebrity is being accused of homophobia after somebody finds a comment they made years ago when they weren't as famous?
     
  4. Poofter

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    Yes, along those lines or someone who’s still famous who was famous back in the day who made jokes/comments eons ago. When it comes to light in media I’m like seriously people grow and change over time.
     
  5. Tritri

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    I'm of the opinion that no topic is off limit when it comes to jokes, although there are specific situations where telling jokes is unacceptable.
    As long as I'm sure the teller of the joke is just joking and not homophobic, I'm fine and I won't complain that it's offensive. But I usually don't find it funny, and I've never understood the pleasure people get by laughing at themselves.
     
  6. Joe2001

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    My dad has a habit of making comments about gays, sometimes seems to be having a joke. Words/phrases like "poofter", "bent", "shirt-lifter" and "light on loafers" seem to often feature in his vocabulary. Apparently he and his mates use that sort of language often.

    As for my thoughts, it initially annoyed me but I am desensitised to it at this point and don't really care.
     
  7. gravechild

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    It would have to depend on the person's intentions, relation to gay community, the joke itself...
     
  8. Canterpiece

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    Sometimes I find it funny depending on the joke itself. If it's been repeated too much then it loses humour. A few of my straight friends tell gay deadpan jokes. I usually go along with them. Here are some examples;

    *I get up from my seat*.

    Friend: Wait, you're forgetting something.

    Me: What?

    Friend: Your gay card.

    Me: Oh wow, sorry, I'm always forgetting that thing. I should really get a lanyard for it. How careless of me. *Grabs thin air and proceeds to catch up with them*

    ---

    Friend: How did you get here? Bus, train, walking, or convincing Dorothy to let you use flight by rainbow?

    Me: I was going to but you would not believe the queue for that line.

    :grin:
     
  9. Devil Dave

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    those are good jokes because they're giving you the opportunity to come up with a snappy response, and it's kind of like an interactive theatre joke.

    If it's a stand up comedian on stage going through a routine where the audience are expected to just sit and laugh, and he's talking about what homosexuals get up to, then that's boring. It's like listening to a virgin talk about sex that he's never experienced and only ever heard about. It's just sad.
     
  10. EleanorHunter

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    I feel like a big difference with a straight person telling gay jokes is whether it's at their expense or at the expense of gay people. I feel like the whole point of stand-up is that most of it should be at the expense of the person telling the joke.

    It might be a dumb example, but I saw something recently about the Spongebob episode where he was trying to be a stand up comedian, and how he only got popular when he started telling jokes about squirrels (meaning Sandy). While it seemed like fun and games, people started to get really hateful towards Sandy because of Spongebob's jokes. He basically normalized the hatred against Sandy and other squirrels.

    So if I feel like the joke is being made at the expense of a group you're not a part of, then I'm not a fan. It ends up leading to a normalization of terrible treatment.
     
  11. Chiroptera

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    I agree. And I also don't think the title "comedian" should be treated as a pass to freely offend other people and get away with it by saying "it's just a joke! I'm a comedian!".
     
  12. Devil Dave

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    I'm no comedian, but I've come up with much better material for gay jokes than most famous, professional comedians I've seen on TV.

    As someone who is gay and has explored gay culture, and found things about it that I like and dislike, I think I'm in a much better position to make light of how I feel about gay issues. I've had my work colleagues in stitches laughing at my stories about hookups and pride events, and how my attitude towards sex and the gay scene has evolved over the years as I went from being naive and innocent to someone who can be very sleazy and dirty minded when I want to be. A straight guy can not tell stories like that.

    So when I hear a professional comedian doing standard gay jokes, it just shows me a lack of awareness on his part. There are many facets to life as a gay man that his jokes aren't even touching on.

    Although, there are some straight comedians who are good at making fun of homophobia, and they've come up with ways of challenging homophobia that I could not have thought of.
     
  13. Chiroptera

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    Yup, that's it.
    That's also true. There are good comedians, who are thoughtful and smart about what to joke about and how, including, in many cases, social critiques that are interesting (besides funny, in this case).
     
  14. LaurenSkye

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    For me it depends on the joke. Is it clever or offensive?
     
  15. Devil Dave

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    Depends what you find clever or offensive.

    If a joke is original, something I've never heard before, then I might think it's clever and refreshing to hear. But if it's a joke I've heard hundreds of times before, just worded differently, then I don't think it's clever.

    I suppose a gay joke can be boring and unoriginal to the point it becomes offensive, because it tells me that the person telling the joke hasn't actually tried to get to know any gay people.
     
  16. LaurenSkye

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    Here's a joke from last night's episode of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine":

    Charles had started wearing a leather jacket thinking being a "bad boy" would make him more popular with the ladies. Then later gave it up when he realized what was making him more popular with the ladies was his confidence made him a new man. He then said "I guess I had another man inside of me this whole time." I found that very funny.
     
  17. Nightlight

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    If the person telling it is homophobic then of course yes.
     
  18. Shorthaul

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    I think people get too worked up over jokes. There are plenty of tasteless and offensive jokes about everything.

    I'm not going to be anymore upset about a straight person telling gay jokes than I will at a woman telling a dad joke. Its not worth the time.
     
  19. BiGemini87

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    Context is key. If I know the person is actually homophobic, then I'm probably going to find it irritating--but I'm also desensitized to a lot of shit at this point, so it won't really affect me beyond the moment. Otherwise, things kind of just...roll off my back? I can't be bothered to be vocally offended, because in a lot of cases, that's precisely what they're hoping for.

    For the rest, I figure most every topic is fair game. Part of equality is being on the same level, not being put on a pedestal. But that's just my two-cents.
     
  20. justme32

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    I'm not necessarily that offended unless I'm looking for a reason to be- and then I can find just about anything offensive, and that usually just means that I'm in a bad mood, not a rational state of mind. That being said, a good friend of mine who I sort of had a thing for at one point in life and was led to believe the feeling was sort of mutual but we just weren't talking about it, made a reference about being bothered when two women are together. That was hard to describe and even downright mind blowing because reflecting back on that point in my life and how our relationship was at that time was one of the things that really helped me connect the dots to my bisexuality. But I wasn't really offended by it. I was more curious as to what level of denial she was in and why she would think this was a cute thing to say in front of me? More like wondering wtf is wrong with her? Not being so offended or worried about myself. We worked it out and we're still friends but to be honest, I'm still confused, lol.