Assignment task:
In disparagement humor, a specific group is denigrated, belittled, or insulted. The reason could be because of their race, sex, religion, ethnicity, or age. The joke is conveyed through the use of negative stereotypes and discrimination. You can probably name several comedians and radio talk-show hosts who have used this type of humor. Speculate on the effects of such humor. Do you think that this type of humor is a positive indication of how far we have come as a society that we are now able to make fun of the absurd stereotypical beliefs of the past, or do you see negative social consequences to this type of humor? Does the media legitimize these stereotypes? Does exposure to this sort of humor create a norm of tolerance that allows for the degradation of others and serves to perpetuate prejudice?
This is a tricky topic, I say it's tricky because it depends on your audience. Some people might view disparagement humor as a positive shift in society, some will view it as degrading and harmful to society because it highlights the same issues that have plagued society for generations.
"In disparagement humor, an individual or a category of people is typically portrayed in a ridiculous manner. Consider this joke deriding the category of engineers: "An engineer is on his first day at work. When he arrives, his boss gives him a broom and asks him to clean the floor. The guy protests, "But I am an engineer!" "Ah, you're right," the boss replies, "I'll show you how it works." In this joke, the category of engineers is targeted, and the perceiver must cope with two different and contrasting processes: the feeling of mirth derived from the comprehension of humor and the perception of offense. According to the Incongruity-Resolution Model (Suls, 1972) humor comprehension is critically dependent upon resolving incongruity between the punch line and expectations shaped by the storyline. According to this theory, there are two cognitive stages for humor comprehension: detection and resolution of incongruity. Incongruity is generated when the prediction that rose in the first part of a story is not confirmed in the final part, generating an incongruous statement. To comprehend humor, it is necessary to revisit the story and reconcile the incongruity by transforming the incongruous statement into a funny, congruent story." Need Assignment Help?
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