I forgot to click on the link. Ah man, that's Corky, or the dude that played Corky. I like this series. I only watched the first one. Hilarious.
Nope, not him. Ponce is younger.
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Why do some find it funny to joke about mental retardation??
- Thread starter Stingray19
- Start date
Nope, not him. Ponce is younger.
Oh. My bad. Yeah, I guess that makes sense, because Life Goes On was a long time ago now that I think about it.
I grew up in a household pretty sensitive to this kind of thing, my mom is a special education teacher at a state assisted living facility for people with developmental disabilities. My dad was a living unit worker, educator, QMRP (qualified mental retardation professional) and administrator at this same institution over the course of his career.
So I've thought about these jokes and such from a very young age and come up with this philosophy:
All derogatory jokes are harmful in some way (even as they might be insightful in a positive way, through irony, etc). they reinforce negative stereotypes at the very least and directly insult someone at worst. But I try to be pragmatic in my political correctness: not only are we not going to ever abolish things like racial, gay, or MR jokes, (which, or course, on its own doesn't justify endorsing them) but I don't see a strong immediate need to do so. In fact, joking brings stereotypes and our own nasty assumptions and feelings to the surface where we are more likely to think about them and reflect a little bit.
The line for me is making fun of a specific individual because of disability, race, sexual orientation, etc. It directly affects that person in a negative way, directly shapes the way we think about a real life human being (rather than about the stereotypes or cultural biases themselves), and I don't think we need an explanation of why that's bad behavior.
Now, I'm not out there cracking the generic jokes like this; I just don't see the point in rallying a crusade against them. I will, however, always speak up when someone is being directly ridiculed for something like this.
South park does a pretty good episode about it, and about how some folk's over-sensitivity to developmental disabilities is actually rooted in them not being able to get over stigmas that diminish these individuals as real human beings:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
So I've thought about these jokes and such from a very young age and come up with this philosophy:
All derogatory jokes are harmful in some way (even as they might be insightful in a positive way, through irony, etc). they reinforce negative stereotypes at the very least and directly insult someone at worst. But I try to be pragmatic in my political correctness: not only are we not going to ever abolish things like racial, gay, or MR jokes, (which, or course, on its own doesn't justify endorsing them) but I don't see a strong immediate need to do so. In fact, joking brings stereotypes and our own nasty assumptions and feelings to the surface where we are more likely to think about them and reflect a little bit.
The line for me is making fun of a specific individual because of disability, race, sexual orientation, etc. It directly affects that person in a negative way, directly shapes the way we think about a real life human being (rather than about the stereotypes or cultural biases themselves), and I don't think we need an explanation of why that's bad behavior.
Now, I'm not out there cracking the generic jokes like this; I just don't see the point in rallying a crusade against them. I will, however, always speak up when someone is being directly ridiculed for something like this.
South park does a pretty good episode about it, and about how some folk's over-sensitivity to developmental disabilities is actually rooted in them not being able to get over stigmas that diminish these individuals as real human beings:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
As a person who isnt straight, I have to say I dont take much offense to this at all. I even use the term in those regards regularly. To take offense over it really makes it a bigger deal than it really is. I think our generation has come to terms with that, or maybe not, as I see ads about it more often these days.
There is a big difference between 'Oh man, thats so gay' and 'Haha, youre a fag' y'know.
How about if the individual did something incredibly stupid??
Tiger Woods may be going to therapy for sex addiction after the debacle which may very well have been the catalyst for the single most expensive Christmas for any individual on the face of the earth since the beginning of time, but I don't feel the any great need to apologize to him.........
That sounds about right. I dont think the OP's issue is with the term 'dufus' (but I could be wrong), I dont think he's talking about a PC type ordeal, but rather someone actually making fun of a person with a handicap. I agree thats messed up. Sure, call the goofy acting guy that does dumb things ********, but dont make fun of the guy with an actual learning disability, cuz thats just pathetic.
One of the few upsides to my daughter's autism is that she is unaware of the fact that other kids are making fun of her. I'm not sure how she would feel about it, actually -- it's probably too complex a concept for her to grasp.
I, OTOH, am acutely aware of other kids making fun of her. Much of it is harmless (to her) and comes from their ignorance and fear of someone who is different. Other times, it's just malicious.
I personally don't have any tolerance for it. But that's probably largely because it hits too close to home for me.
As for the word "dufus" as an epithet, my guess is it's largely due to people's shrinking vocabularies. I'm not terribly offended by it, but I think there are other word choices that might be better.
I, OTOH, am acutely aware of other kids making fun of her. Much of it is harmless (to her) and comes from their ignorance and fear of someone who is different. Other times, it's just malicious.
I personally don't have any tolerance for it. But that's probably largely because it hits too close to home for me.
As for the word "dufus" as an epithet, my guess is it's largely due to people's shrinking vocabularies. I'm not terribly offended by it, but I think there are other word choices that might be better.
I make fun of the stupid things people do all the time. If I thought my jokes were directed at Tiger as a real person rather than as a public entity, I wouldn't crack jokes about his sexual addiction if I believed it was a real, diagnosed, major psychological problem.
I once devoted a day in my composition class to talking with students about things like etymology and subtlety of synonyms--we also talked a lot about euphemism and "disphemism." We spent a fair amount of time talking about the word "dufus" in particular. It's strange to think that the word "dufus" used to basically be the PC term designed to replace "idiot," (think of the literal roots of both words) and now "dufus" is seen as a particularly derogatory word, while, in some circles, any terms with the words disability or handicap are becoming increasingly negative themselves. No assigned title to a group that is looked at by many in a negative light will stay neutral for very long. Some groups turn those labels into empowering ones, but most of the time the word just degrades into negativity.
I've never understood where people get the funny in this. I actually got into a fight one day at school ovr someone making jokes about the Down Syndrome kids downstairs....it infuriates me.
I came across this video, apparently its a series or something....anyway, I dont think people that do these types of things should be considered serious, good members of society.
I'm nine episodes deep in this stupid show and I gotta say that I love it.
This one is my favorite so far.
This one is my favorite so far.
With race...
it depends though. Some people would consider my friend Austin (who's 20) racist cause he makes black jokes and says "nigga" all the time. But just like some people say they were "born into the wrong sex", he was born into the wrong race. He isn't stupid or a drug dealer or something like a lot of people think black people are (now that's racist) or in this case "wiggas" are. He was born in the getto he made straight A's all through school, and he graduated in the top 10% in his last year in high school. He now is studying psychology in college.
But that almost deserves a whole nother thread.
In any walk in life you have to pick your battles,when people have said things i find offensive I let it roll off my back and realize most people mean no offense or they are ignorant. when i witness someone physically picking on or humiliating someone because they are "different"(and I have) I will gladly step in and take up the fight on their behalf,everytime!
I think it's everybody's duty too. I have a problem beating up someone if they are picking on me, but I know if anybody was made fun of because of their race/sexuality/mental disability I'd have no problem beating the **** outta them.
I dont necessarily mean beating somebody up,I mean not staying silent when you see it happening and taking whatever measure you have to.Having a handicapped son Ive had to deal with this issue here and there(not often),most people are understanding and great,we love when people inquire about him, ask questions and laugh at his silliness,no problem! but I have 0 tolerance for people who prey on the weak, we've dealt with that also,BIG problem!
Laughing at their silliness and laughing at their handicap are 2 different things. They love people like no others can, they are truly amazing people. They obviously see people/the world/situations in a whole different way than we do.
Agreed,The mentally ********(handicapped,challenged however you want to put it) are loving,trusting, innocent and waaay to easy of a target.people who cruelly make fun of these special people are truley pathetic. My son is absolutly facinated by my guitars and basses,he doesnt have the ability to play but he mimics me.when I start playing he will not let me stop,when i stop he grabs my hand and starts raking it across the strings,his way of telling me to continue.This forces me to practice....ALOT!
