An ethnic joke is a humorous remark relating to an ethnic, racial or cultural group, often referring to a stereotype An ethnic stereotype is a generalized representation of an ethnic group, composed of what are thought to be typical characteristics of members of the group of the group in question for its punchline.
Ethnic jokes have been around since people first noticed they were different from one another, and ethnocentrism and a sense of ethnic identity appeared. Jokes feed upon difference and distinctions (not only ethnic, of course) and if one of the functions of ethnic jokes is to ridicule and depreciate these in-out groups, another function is to maintain and strengthen a sense of one’s identity in some in-group.
It may be that ethnic humour helps us deal with hostility verbally instead of physically, but these slurs also reinforce our stereotypes and sometimes lead to calls for violence[1].
Ethnic jokes are often considered to be offensive and as a form of hate speech Hate speech is speech perceived to disparage a person or group of people based on their social or ethnic group, such as race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion or lack thereof, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance , mental capacity, and any other distinction.[citation needed] Perceived as such, they may sometimes be referred to as race jokes, or racist jokes
Ethnic jokes come and go with social change Social development redirects here. For the aspect of human biological development, see psychosocial development, particularly with waves of immigration Immigration is the arrival of new individuals into a habitat or population. It is a biological concept and is important in population ecology, differentiated from emigration and migration from one country to another; for example, Polish Poland /ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Rzeczpospolita Polska), is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of jokes, which are common in the United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the. Similarly, Irish jokes have become far less common in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing as the social status In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society of Irish people has risen with increased wealth Wealth is an abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem. An individual, community, region or country that has an abundance of such possessions or resources is called wealthy in Ireland, the consequent reduction in Irish itinerant labour, and the absorption of Irish people into the community. As public awareness of racism has increased, racial and ethnic jokes have become increasingly socially unacceptable in recent years, and have become socially taboo A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and forbidden based on moral judgement and sometimes even religious beliefs. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. The term comes from the Tongan language, and appears in many Polynesian cultures to tell in public in many regions. This can however, depend on who is telling the joke. For example, it may be deemed offensive for a white person to make a joke about Asians, whereas it would be more acceptable for an Asian to make a similar joke about their own culture. Many comedians from ethnic background do this on a regular basis.
It is sometimes held that such stereotypes A stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups, or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups, based on some prior assumptions must contain a grain of truth; research suggests that this is most often not the case.[1] However, it is claimed by some that ethnic jokes have a basis in fact,[2] and some ethnic jokes deliberately try to prove their point, for instance:
| “ | Q : How does every ethnic joke start? A : With a look over your shoulder. | ” |
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