The title of Corinne’s article is “Should gay men make sexist jokes?”. Remove the ‘gay men’ from the article – the broader issue is really “what, if anything, should be ‘off limits’ in comedy?”. Many comedians deliberately aim to push the boundaries of what is offensive and what is acceptable. Wil Anderson has made the point – “You have a right to be offended; but you don’t have the right NOT to be offended.” That is, when a comedian makes a joke that offends someone, they can convey their offence, but the mere fact that someone is offended by something doesn’t mean the comedian must steer clear of that material.

Whilst true gratuitous misogyny and sexism is not something I respond to, I think it’s a big step to say that comedians shouldn’t push and prod the boundaries. Some of the best and most thought-provoking humour comes from causing offence, then making us question just why we find that offensive, and examine our own value systems in the process.

I think Corinne’s article falls into the common trap, so often repeated these days, of applying labels like “sexist”, “racist”, “misogynist” etc to comments that really do not meet the criteria. Given the serious nature of such accusations people really need to think a bit more about whether their accusation really meets the description.

In my opinion, none of the examples given by Corinne of allegedly misogynist/sexist jokes measures up to that label. For example: “Every time I even think the word ‘vagina’, I want to gag” is really a personal comment about oneself rather than on women in general. Even if the person was putting forward the dubious view that objectively, vaginas were disgusting, that does not equate to true misogyny (hatred of women). That’s like saying someone who does not like (say) train stations must hate all cities with train stations. It does not follow that if you don’t like one aspect of a class of things, even an integral aspect of a class of things, that you hate that whole class of things. One can consistently say, for instance, that “I really love Christmas even though I find wrapping presents a drag.”

An aspect of Corinne’s article that I do agree with is that generally, no group can stake a claim to being able to get away with behaviour that another group can’t. If it’s unacceptable for one class of people it should generally be unacceptable for all. Straight comedians shouldn’t be misogynist; gay comedians shouldn’t be misogynist. However, be very careful before throwing around false accusations of misogyny and sexism. Just because someone makes a joke that has something to do with women, doesn’t make it sexist or misogynist.

Well, I would call it homophobic. I hate the gay male attitude of “ewww vaginas” as much as I hate the straight male attitude of “ewww gay sex”. No one is suggesting they have to indulge in something they find unappealing, but when it’s used as the basis for humour, they are perpetuating the idea that it’s okay to hate on people for their body parts or their sexuality. So I think it’s important to question these things – rather than suggesting it’s okay for the haters to hate, as long as they are comedians making jokes about it.

Ultimately I am so pleased with the discussion.
And interestingly I have always preferred Tom to Corrinne.
Ooh! In a comedic sense of course!!