Jokes, Circles and Being Offended

Jokes, a way to have fun, to make people laugh, almost all the time requires an element of surprise, something unexpected, something not normal. Jokes most of the time belong to the intersection of the good bad and the ugly part of societal norms. The more weight the joke has, the more it's trustworthy the audience needs to be. There aren't many jokes that are universally liked.

Circles, the group of people you surround yourself (like surrounding) with. The people you know you can trust, or the ones you know about what they like and what they don't, or the ones with whom you feel safe with. These people are an audience who will generally not get offended by your jokes, because of the fact that they know you and your intents and you know them and their intents.

Being Offended, the emotional response that occurs when someone feels hurt, insulted, or upset by something that has been said or done. Jokes are one of the many reasons for people to feel offended. Normally, down kicking offends people because it plays with social taboos, minorities and societal issues. There is no limit on who can be offended, but it is easier to offend a person you don't know than to offend your friend.

When a joke that involves down kicking reaches an audience whom it wasn't meant to be, or it is stripped out of context to only make it as an insult or a generalization, it becomes a problem. For example: If my friend says that Anything I talked can be boiled down to three things, "failed feminism, failed exams and failed breakup", I wouldn't be offended but if it came from someone I don't know, I will be very concerned that one of my friend is a bitch and I would be very offended about the statement. It will be considered as a statement, not a joke.

Jokes have the power to communicate the goods and bads of the society whilst making people laugh about it. It has the power to act as a protest. It has the power to say something and make people think about without being harsh. Political jokes and mockery has been with us from centuries. Jokes about sexism, racism, feminism, superstitions help spread the narrative of the subjects while making people think about if the mockery doesn't belong to them because they practice the things.

One, major problem with jokes is that it might trigger people, a mockery could be very hurtful if it has traumas from the past attached to it. I have been called gay It was known to be a thing to be made fun of, to be gay back then when I was in school, at least for my classmates. by the bullies when I was in college, and it was because I used to talkcommunicate to girls like they were my friends without thinking they were "girls" which other boys didn't do. It was very demeaning, It went to the point that almost everyone in my class knew me as gay and had to call me gay if they had to provoke me. Back then, if anyone called me gay, I would be very offended. Ofcourse I have grown up from it now.

So, if there is a trauma attached to the joke people can get offended, but in a circle, where people know and trust each other, the chances of jokes hurting someone is very minimal. This is to say that every word that comes out of someone's mouth isn't what they mean, it might just be a regular phrase in the circle, which for people outside the circle can feel offensive.

I know that my friends don't intent to hurt me and my feelings and only want to get a laugh from my "weaknesses" when they make a joke about me, and I do it too, because jokes helps us remember the mistakes we made, of times when things were bad, it makes us appreciate about who we are today and who we want to be from that moment.