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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 21 of 21. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by bookgurl99 on February 1, 2003, at 9:57:33
I thought I'd hop into the fray -- you might need to know some lesbians to get this one.
Q: How many lesbians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to change it, and one to write a folk song about it.
RE: offensiveness. humor is relative. i think we can all tell if a joke is malicious or good-natured.
Posted by bluedog on February 1, 2003, at 11:03:25
In reply to Lesbian joke, posted by bookgurl99 on February 1, 2003, at 9:57:33
I like that Bookgurl. My best buddy at work is in a long term lesbian relationship and I know she would find this joke amusing because she has a fantastic sense of humour
Your joke reminds me of some social worker jokes I know
Q) How many social workers does it take to change a light bulb?
A) None......because they've all done courses on coping with darkness
Now the humour here really is relative because I've had some unpleasant experiences with some social workers....though most social workers I tell this joke to find it very funny (I deal with social workers on a daily basis in my job)
Heres another social worker joke...
Two social workers are walking down a dark alley one night when they come across a poor fellow lying in a pool of blood. He feebly lifts his head up and faintly cries out "help me Please"
Now these social workers don't listen to to his pleas, turn their backs on him and simply walk back out of the alley as one social worker remarks to the other "you know..the person who did this to that fellow REALLY needs our help"
Again most of the social workers I deal with find this joke very funny.
And another social worker joke.
Q) whats the difference between a rottweiler and a social worker?
A) with a rottweiler you'll eventually get your kids back.
Now all these situations are ludicrous to the extreme and I have friends who are social workers but I still happen to find these jokes funny. I'm sorry but I can't apologise for having the sense of humour that I have and I will find these jokes funny and also Bookgurls lesbian joke funny even if some people choose to be offended by them.
I don't think that there has ever been a group of people whether they be lower class, middle class, upper class, black, white, christian, jewish, muslim, Irish, Australian, American, part of a minority or even part of a majority group who have not been the target of good natured jokes. Where would the world be without humour.
I suffer from social anxiety and depression and I have seen skits on tv comedy shows about these illnesses (especially on depression) and I have always found these skits hilarious. Where would the world be without humour as long as it's not malicious. Most humour is simply an exaggeration of certain traits and behaviours of stereotypical (and I might add mythical persons) that allow us to laugh at ourselves. I think it is pretty obvious to most reasonable people when a joke oversteps a certain line and becomes malicious or personal...it also depends on the context in which a joke is told.
regards
bluedog
Posted by bookgurl99 on February 1, 2003, at 11:27:19
In reply to Re: Lesbian joke » bookgurl99, posted by bluedog on February 1, 2003, at 11:03:25
Posted by dreamerz on February 1, 2003, at 14:15:31
In reply to Lesbian joke, posted by bookgurl99 on February 1, 2003, at 9:57:33
I'm half lesbian ...so yes I get it : )
Posted by bluedog on February 1, 2003, at 20:39:02
In reply to Speaking of anxiety -- did you ask the girl out? (nm) » bluedog, posted by bookgurl99 on February 1, 2003, at 11:27:19
I'll see if I can actually talk to her first!!!
I'll keep you posted:)
warm regards
bluedog
Posted by shar on February 2, 2003, at 4:10:52
In reply to Lesbian joke, posted by bookgurl99 on February 1, 2003, at 9:57:33
I like these jokes because they often apply to many components of groups. I've been sent jokes about how many feminists, how many (methodists, lutherans, baptists, etc.), how many (capricorns, pisces, leos, etc.), how many (bipolars, OCDs, depressives, etc.).
Very often there is a grain of truth in them that is funny (to me). In fact, many jokes in general have a grain of truth in them that's funny. I'm italian (well, half of me is), and most funny italian jokes I've heard DO have some feature that is common in the culture.
Shar
Posted by Dinah on February 2, 2003, at 8:59:06
In reply to Light bulb jokes, posted by shar on February 2, 2003, at 4:10:52
Would they have been so funny back at a time when Italians were genuinely looked down on by a large percentage of the population? When there were signs on doors saying that Italians need not apply for jobs? When people really thought the stereotypes were true?
My Italian cousin used to always laugh at "wop" jokes that his mother did not find as funny. It's because he had the good fortune to live in a time where he could laugh at them, while she did not.
But I do understand why you feel the way you do, just as I understood the way my aunt felt, and the way my cousin felt.
Posted by coral on February 2, 2003, at 9:31:31
In reply to Re: Light bulb jokes » shar, posted by Dinah on February 2, 2003, at 8:59:06
My favorite joke:
What is purple and goes slam, slam, slam, slam?
A four-door grape.
Coral
Posted by NikkiT2 on February 2, 2003, at 9:54:54
In reply to Re: favorite joke, posted by coral on February 2, 2003, at 9:31:31
*lmao*
My fave is...
Whats white and wears check (plaid) trousers??
Rupert the Fridge
(Though I have an awful feeling none of you US'ers will ahve have heard of Rupert the Bear!!)
Another..
Whats white, wears check trousers and runs around the garden??
Rupert the Fence!!!
Ok, stupid stupid!!!
Nikki xx
Posted by shar on February 2, 2003, at 22:54:24
In reply to Re: Light bulb jokes » shar, posted by Dinah on February 2, 2003, at 8:59:06
> Would they have been so funny back at a time when Italians were genuinely looked down on by a large percentage of the population? When there were signs on doors saying that Italians need not apply for jobs? When people really thought the stereotypes were true?
.......Italians are STILL genuinely looked down on, people STILL really think the stereotypes are true, and a lot of them ARE true (if, perhaps, exaggerated). The old 'grain of truth' or 'where there's smoke' deal.
......About the signs on doors that Italians need not apply, I'm not familiar with that, my granddad was a cobbler with a one-room shop so I missed out on that part. However, the feds took care of that (at least as far as signs on doors go; it's no secret that discrimination in hiring is still rampant).
.........Even within my Italian family, there is eye-rolling at some of the hot-blooded displays, and you gotta watch out for the hands flying while people talk. Moreover, we're part Sicilian, and even the Italians look down on Sicilians! Family reunions are always quite an experience. I always feel sorry, at family reunions, for the Anglos who marry these women who look like Sophia Loren, and a few years later look like Pavoratti (sp).
.......Having and aunt and cousin within the same family who react so differently to 'wop' jokes is very characteristic of people--that within-group differences are at least as significant as between-group differences. It is the same in my family, I'm sure; I guess I just spent more time with the ones who weren't offended.
.........I suppose, as another poster said in a previous thread, intent matters a lot. If someone is looking to put someone else down in a mean and nasty sort of way, I don't laugh no matter how they do it. Because there are hundreds of ways to do it. And, there are topics I don't find humorous that a lot of people do find humor in.
.........As far as being sensitive, I think it's fine to be sensitive (and I am sensitive, some people say overly so, about a lot of issues). I'm also really serious about a lot of things many people do not think are serious issues. If people think I'm overly serious or overly sensitive, that's their problem, not mine.
Shar
Posted by bookgurl99 on February 2, 2003, at 23:04:27
In reply to Re: Light bulb jokes » Dinah, posted by shar on February 2, 2003, at 22:54:24
>I always feel sorry, at family reunions, for the Anglos who marry these women who look like Sophia Loren, and a few years later look like Pavoratti (sp).
>
Tee hee hee. Very funny. I also like your use of the word "Anglos" for non-Italian white people. I'm part Puerto Rican, and so I always think of the non-dramatic, non-emotional, calm ways as 'white people,' sometimes even 'uptight white people' ways. (Although, hey y'all, I know that not _all_ white people are repressed and non-confrontative.)Even though I look completely white, due to being raised in a different cultural/emotional environment, in a lot of ways I don't _feel_ white. Do you ever feel the same way?
Posted by Dinah on February 3, 2003, at 3:07:41
In reply to Re: Light bulb jokes » Dinah, posted by shar on February 2, 2003, at 22:54:24
>
> .......Italians are STILL genuinely looked down on, people STILL really think the stereotypes are true, and a lot of them ARE true (if, perhaps, exaggerated). The old 'grain of truth' or 'where there's smoke' deal.Hmmm. Not here they aren't. I guess I'm lucky in where I live.
> .........Even within my Italian family, there is eye-rolling at some of the hot-blooded displays, and you gotta watch out for the hands flying while people talk. Moreover, we're part Sicilian, and even the Italians look down on Sicilians! Family reunions are always quite an experience. I always feel sorry, at family reunions, for the Anglos who marry these women who look like Sophia Loren, and a few years later look like Pavoratti (sp).
>
Hmmm. Stereotypes are odd, aren't they. My aunt was also Sicilian. She was the coldest woman I've ever met. I never heard her raise her voice. Her house was always perfectly arranged and you didn't dare touch anything. Thin as a rail, although she could eat anything. Her mother was also tiny and did love to kiss greetings, but certainly wasn't hot blooded or argumentative, nor did her hands fly when she talked. She was a first generation immigrant too. My aunt looked down on my very Anglo (straight English in fact, can't get more Anglo than that) mother for her emotional displays. Vulgar and common was how she saw her. Such a shame my father married such a woman. My aunt's mother was a great cook, though. My aunt wasn't, I don't even think she cooked at all, but her mother was. Does that count sufficiently towards the stereotype?> .......Having and aunt and cousin within the same family who react so differently to 'wop' jokes is very characteristic of people--that within-group differences are at least as significant as between-group differences. It is the same in my family, I'm sure; I guess I just spent more time with the ones who weren't offended.
>
Hmmmmmm..... Perhaps so.>
> .........As far as being sensitive, I think it's fine to be sensitive (and I am sensitive, some people say overly so, about a lot of issues). I'm also really serious about a lot of things many people do not think are serious issues. If people think I'm overly serious or overly sensitive, that's their problem, not mine.
>
> SharThank you, Shar.
Oh, by the way, quite a few people in my entirely suburban middle class family have a working TV sitting on top of a non-working console. My parents used to keep a "record player" on top of a non working console stereo. They just liked the furniture. And I have a printer sitting atop some old CPU's. Guess it runs in the family.
Posted by syringachalet on February 3, 2003, at 9:05:19
In reply to Light bulb jokes, posted by shar on February 2, 2003, at 4:10:52
Heres a really old light blub joke.....
How many neurosurgeons does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Only one...because they think the whole world revolves around them.
HAHAHAHA
syringachalet
Posted by shar on February 3, 2003, at 17:05:30
In reply to Re: Ethnicity » shar, posted by Dinah on February 3, 2003, at 3:07:41
> >
> > .......Italians are STILL genuinely looked down on, people STILL really think the stereotypes are true, and a lot of them ARE true (if, perhaps, exaggerated). The old 'grain of truth' or 'where there's smoke' deal.
>
> Hmmm. Not here they aren't. I guess I'm lucky in where I live.--Or, you aren't hanging out with the folks who don't like non-whites, maybe.
>
>
> > .........Even within my Italian family, there is eye-rolling at some of the hot-blooded displays, and you gotta watch out for the hands flying while people talk. Moreover, we're part Sicilian, and even the Italians look down on Sicilians! Family reunions are always quite an experience. I always feel sorry, at family reunions, for the Anglos who marry these women who look like Sophia Loren, and a few years later look like Pavoratti (sp).
> >> Hmmm. Stereotypes are odd, aren't they.
--The thing about stereotypes is they are intrinsically refutable. There are ALWAYS exceptions to stereotypes. And, whatever behavior is the subject of the stereotype does NOT occur in only that one group! However, stereotypes do not develop in a vacuum; they develop because cultures are different, and people notice differences, and they talk about them. When we go to a different country, we notice differences in the cultures (at least I do).
I am of the opinion that differences are not bad. I am not a big fan of the melting-pot theory, where everybody tries to be the same (shallow white bread culture), in order to be treated the same (presumably). There are many parts of my Italian culture that I value, and of my Texan culture, too. And some parts of those cultures are silly, too, and some are funny. I don't want to give any of that up in the name of political correctness. Pretending there are no differences, or ignoring what differences exist, is as bad, IMHO, as using those differences against people. I think we've gone too far to the other side.
Being mean and nasty, as I said earlier, is something else. A racial slur or an epithet hurled is unacceptable. There just happens, IMHO, to be a lot of wiggle room between a joke and an epithet.
>>Oh, by the way, quite a few people in my entirely suburban middle class family have a working TV sitting on top of a non-working console.
--I'm sure quite a few hundred thousand non-Rednecks have working TVs sitting on top of non-working TVs. That's an example of the behavior occurring in groups other than the one being talked about (stereotypical behavior is just behavior).
Shar
Posted by Dinah on February 3, 2003, at 17:28:10
In reply to Re: Ethnicity » Dinah, posted by shar on February 3, 2003, at 17:05:30
Because I think that there is a term for why you see evidence in your life experiences to support your view of stereotypes, and I see evidence in my life experiences to support my view of stereotypes. I just can't think of the word offhand.
So shall we agree to differ? You see stereotypes as a celebration of the differences between cultures. I see stereotypes as a limitation to the individual.
Both reasonable and honorable views? Assuming the stereotyping is done with no ill intent?
Posted by syringachalet on February 3, 2003, at 23:11:42
In reply to I think we need a visit from BEARDEDLADY MA'AM, posted by Dinah on February 3, 2003, at 17:28:10
Dinah and ALL,
I took a class in high school that was simply called a Multi-Culture course.
In this class we studied how different cultures communicated through the centurys and the old and current customs.
To me then and some even now, some of those customs seemed very odd and some even barbaric.I did learn that when you decided to live in a culture different from your own, you go into it knowing that you will be expected to live to the rules of that culture or some kind of punishment will result.
Here in America we were 'blessed' back in the 1960s with a TV show called All in the Family where a WASP middle aged man shared his views and his lifestyle that was a benchmark of white bigotry and racism. Archie Bunker was a living, breathing example of what my teacher called ' cognitive descenance. This meant that he based all of his beliefs and his way of life (and how he treated other people) on his own personal experiences and was not open to listening or considering other peoples points of view.
(At least Archie was a equal-opportunity bigot.. he didnt like ANY minority group).He did however make Americans start to take a good long look at themselves and what kind of messages Americans were teaching their children that might shape their futures.
Each of us also brings our own life experiences to the table here at PSB. To expect all of us to try to guess what might upset or offend someone when our lifes expereinces tell us its Ok is probably not very realistic.
The ability to agree to disagree is the sign of good communication and mutual respect. We should expect nothing more and accept nothing less.
But first you have to try to be Ok with you.
If you have a lot of turmoil in your own life it can often project on to others here who are clueless to where you are coming from.We are all subject to a certain amount of cognitive descenance and hopefully we can have enough positive expereinces to widen that scope of cognition and tolerance and mutual respect can be a common goal.
syringachalet
Posted by Dinah on February 4, 2003, at 5:52:02
In reply to Re: I think we need a visit from BEARDEDLADY MA'AM, posted by syringachalet on February 3, 2003, at 23:11:42
> But first you have to try to be Ok with you.
> If you have a lot of turmoil in your own life it can often project on to others here who are clueless to where you are coming from.
>Ummm. Since this was directed to "Dinah and all" I have to assume this is directed towards me.
As I stated (quite a few times) I'm fine with me. Why do think that people who are sensitive have poor self esteem? I assure you, we don't. Why on earth should we?
The post you are replying to is a light hearted attempt to end this. I am saying that shar has explained her position well enough for me to understand. And I have explained my position often enough to feel that I've gotten my point across as best I can, whether others have gotten it or not. I've reached my capabilities of explaining.
So I was asking shar if we could just agree to respect that each other's position was an honorable one, even if we don't agree.
I'm not asking that you believe that stereotypes are limiting to the individual.
But I can't understand how that leads you to believe I have poor self esteem. Perhaps you could explain the link again? No need to of course, we could just let this drop.
But again, no need to feel sorry for me. And my self esteem is just fine, thank you. I'm ok with me, and since I keep trying to understand what other people are saying and what they mean by what they are saying, I don't think it's fair to accuse me of projection. Projection would be if I assumed I knew what others meant.
A very confused,
Dinah
Posted by shar on February 4, 2003, at 18:36:04
In reply to I think we need a visit from BEARDEDLADY MA'AM, posted by Dinah on February 3, 2003, at 17:28:10
> Because I think that there is a term for why you see evidence in your life experiences to support your view of stereotypes, and I see evidence in my life experiences to support my view of stereotypes. I just can't think of the word offhand.
........selective perception, maybe? I think we all do that.
>
> So shall we agree to differ? You see stereotypes as a celebration of the differences between cultures. I see stereotypes as a limitation to the individual............yes, indeedy, we can agree to differ! I respect and accept your feeling the way you feel.
>
> Both reasonable and honorable views? Assuming the stereotyping is done with no ill intent?........Yes, I couldn't have said it better myself! 'Specially the no ill intent part.
Shar
Posted by lostsailor on February 6, 2003, at 10:38:51
In reply to Re: I think we need a visit from BEARDEDLADY MA'AM » Dinah, posted by shar on February 4, 2003, at 18:36:04
Remember me, the 'other" jaded social worker?
What is the best consumer goal to write??...One that will is slightly unachievable so there is less work for you when you continue it with modifications for next billing cycle.
How many physiatrists to screw in a light bulb??/...it depends on if the first is really willing and in want of change.
What does a character of hawthorn share in common with the MI worker that discloses his/her illness???...a scarlet letter
All in fun....
~Tony
Posted by IsoM on February 6, 2003, at 13:22:08
In reply to Re: joke--blugdog, posted by lostsailor on February 6, 2003, at 10:38:51
I've known a few social workers & love your jokes. Any more? ^_^
Posted by paxvox on February 7, 2003, at 18:46:56
In reply to Re: Ethnicity » Dinah, posted by shar on February 3, 2003, at 17:05:30
What?
This is the end of the thread.
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