HUMOUR

There can be no boundaries in humour. One of the most common occurrences I see on social media is people telling others that they cannot joke about a certain subject matter (see pic) These people will find that particular subject matter offensive, and then somehow deem that they are eligible to enforce their standards upon everyone else. Fuck off. My first issue is this: Nobody is qualified to play the role of God and set rules for us all. We all have different standards and boundaries. As if one person could determine these standards and boundaries for the other eight billion of us. Any attempt to do so is akin to religious extremism. "My God is the only one true God and you MUST believe in him and no other God" is no different to "My boundaries are the only acceptable boundaries and you must adhere to them", and we all know where religious extremism has led us. Fuck off. My second issue is this: If we were to give one person the position of an almighty deity to set boundaries in humour for us all, how would they go about it? You can't use "offensive" as a standard. Many of us think jokes about rape, paedophilia or dead babies are offensive, but some don't. Some can distance themselves from the emotion and simply enjoy the humour. "Yeah, but you might upset someone who has been raped if you joke about it" Protip: every single subject matter is potentially offensive to someone, not just the obvious like dead babies. I once partook in a facebook thread where people were telling funny stories about losing their virginity. Surely that was harmless and non offensive? It was to most, except the girl who lost her virginity to an abusive uncle at 5. EVERY SINGLE TOPIC CAN BE OFFENSIVE TO SOMEONE. Once you understand that everything is potentially offensive, and you don't want to offend anybody, the only way to ensure this is to ban all humour. Fuck off. Our world, more than ever, needs laughter. Banning all forms of humour is not an option. There is a much easier solution. It begins with tolerance and accepting that not everybody has the same standards as you. The second issue is not taking ownership of things which do not belong to you. If Jim Jeffries is on stage telling jokes about Bill Cosby, and you're a rape victim in the audience, Jim isn't making fun of you. He isn't pointing at you and saying, "Haha, do you know Bill?" You are taking ownership of something which does not belong to you. You are not entitled to do this. Despite the difficulties, you have to accept that it is not personal.

So, next time you read something on the internet you think is in poor taste, when the motivation is nothing more than humour, and you get offended by it... Fuck off.