What are indecent jokes?

Humor may be used to de-stress, highlight important topics, and entertain people. However, it appears that humor is frequently exploited as a pretext to attack and make derogatory remarks. When humor reduces the suffering of those who have undergone something beyond their control, such as obscene jokes or rape jokes, the word "funny" does not spring to mind.

indecent jokes should not be normalized at all in society. Aside from the fact that this joke isn't humorous at all, it's also a "joke" that offends and has a negative influence on a variety of people. We must abolish this situation as quickly as possible so that it does not become a new standard in which people are acclimated to this deplorable behaviour.

Why it is such an offensive joke?

Why it is such an offensive joke? Let’s take example for rape jokes. First thing, rape is totally a horrible thing and when a rape joke is uttered, there is an extremely high and sad chance that a victim may hear it and be severely affected. Although most rape survivors endure a greater psychological impact in the immediate aftermath of their assault, many survivors may suffer long-term psychological impairment. Anxiety, self-blame, suicide, depression, Post-traumatic stress disorder and victim blaming are some of the psychological problems that rape victims may face. DiMauro J, Renshaw KD also said in his research that survivors of sexual assault have an increased likehood of developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). So, hearing this kind of jokes may traumatise some people and bring up recollections of horrible times in their lives.

The victims have been through a lot, both physically and psychologically. Mostly, when we hear of a murder, our initial instinct is usually to realise how horrible the crime was however, when we hear about rape in the news or learn about friends' sexual assault experiences, our immediate instinct is to doubt and condemn the victim which is totally wrong. It's critical to understand the context of our jokes. Because we live in a rape culture, making a joke about a rape victim contributes to the normalising of rape and victim blaming. This distinguishes it from, instance, a murder joke, which does not normalise murders or victim blame of homicide victims.

Not only may these jokes be incredibly upsetting to survivors of sexual assault, but they also minimise the seriousness of rape and sexual assault. By making a pleasant joke about sexual assault, it appears to be less severe than it is. Rape culture is so pervasive in our culture that making rape jokes is commonplace. You just "can't take a joke" if you don't laugh. Some of the most well-known comedians, who had a stand-up bit on male rape, have made a name for themselves by mocking other people's pain. This demonstrates how normalised and welcomed this conduct is. The Women’s aid organization stated that number of rape cases in Malaysia for 2017 is 1582 cases. Therefore, such a thing should not be transformed into a laugh matter, because rape is a serious crime.

where it usually happens?

Indecent jokes may be found on TV, in movies, on social media, in video games, and in a variety of other places. This is a major concern since television, social media, video games and the internet are highly toxic to youngsters. Next, when observing a television show, the comedians openly make jokes that have a double meaning and can be considered as indecent. The jokes continue to be laughed at, demonstrating that obscene-mixed humour have become commonplace in our thinking. When confronted, the comedians claimed that it was up to them to pick the positive or bad side of the jokes because they were subjective, and that such jokes were frequently followed by students whose brains were still pure. As a result, in addition to having easy access to pornographic material, school students believe that indecent jokes are normal since their brains have been normalised to the point where indecent jokes are no longer considered an offence but rather a culture to joke.

Furthermore, there have been situations where a rape victim has shared information about a rape assault on social media, only to be blamed for it. Users on social media were making jokes about the claims levelled on the victim. Victims were mocked in some of the jokes. Regardless, the jokes received a lot of likes, laughing emojis, and keyboard smashes in the comments section. People were making jokes about every woman and man who has ever been sexually attacked.

As a result, such jokes should not be made by anybody, including comedians, teachers, parents and so on. Let’s not normalize this kind of jokes anymore. This kind of jokes are definitely not funny, we can make a world better and safer place.

Nurul I’zaaz binti Mohd Zulkifli

Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment