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Men don't generally spend their entire lives being told that they're less able to do a job, so jokes targeted at men are generally less offensive. Women in the
by mjg59 15y ago
Men don't generally spend their entire lives being told that they're less able to do a job, so jokes targeted at men are generally less offensive. Women in the technology industry have generally spent a significant part of their career being told that women are less good at it, and so perpetuating that perception (by implying that women are, in general, less capable of understanding technical subjects than men) is offensive.
Argument to symmetry is only effective if both groups are equal. That's clearly not the case here. If you want symmetry, ask male nurses whether they think they find jokes about them having somehow given up their masculinity for their career are amusing.
- yummyfajitas 15y agoIf you want symmetry, ask male nurses whether they think they find jokes about them having somehow given up their masculinity for their career are amusing. Two of my martial arts instructors (as well as a student) work as male nurses for their day job. They make such jokes themselves, so I assume they find them amusing. Of course, it's easier to laugh at such jokes when they obviously don't apply to you.
- mjg59 15y agoSelf-deprecating humour is in no way comparable to having the majority direct the same joke at you. You know you didn't mean it. Do you know they didn't?
- yummyfajitas 15y agoWell, at my company, everyone makes fun of the ethnicity of everyone else. Southerners made fun of the bling bling on northerners, people made fun of marathi's homely attitudes, etc. Once I showed up, americans also became a topic of humor [1]. At companies which have gujus, their mercantilist habits are a topic of humor. No one really cared since it was all in good fun and Indian's don't have the same culture of victimhood that we do in the US. [1] "Don't make fun of Chris, Americans will sue you if you tell a joke."
- mjg59 15y agoIt's always interesting when someone blames all of this on the "Culture of victimhood in the US", because I'm not from the US and I still don't think it's acceptable. Personally, I've never felt sufficiently slighted by another to complain. But when a coworker tells me that they're unenthusiastic about continuing to work in the field because of this kind of shit, I pay attention. If your specific social situation allows this kind of behaviour, then that's fine. I really don't have any complaints at all. But if there are people who are in your social situation who are unhappy about it, you don't get to just tell them that they're oversensitive. That's not actually something that makes things better.