Are Trans Jokes a Joking Matter?
I recently viewed a smug interview by Bill Maher with Andrew Yang and John McWhorter strongly defending Dave Chappelle. It is highly repugnant to me. They’re excusing mean-spirited transgender tropes being used in mainstream comedy — and their downstream effects.
Psychological scientists Peter McGraw (University of Colorado, Boulder) and Caleb Warren (University of Arizona) propose that negativity is an intrinsic part of humor — without violating a norm or rule of some kind, a joke just isn’t funny. But violations can’t stray too far; otherwise, they become unappealing or even disgusting and upsetting. Implicit in this definition is that humor is highly dependent on the social mores of the time. A bigoted joke might be funny in one era but may not be in the next because society might have moved forward.
That’s what really bothers me about this discussion about trans people — that it says it’s okay to question our authenticity, legitimacy, and striving for equal protections and rights — even in the face of abundant scientific, medical, and psychological studies validating our authenticity, legitimacy, et.al. Worse, I think they nonchalantly dismiss that such mean spirited mockery by high profile people — including seemingly innocuous comedians — can directly encourage hate and violence among the most predisposed of the populace.
Basically, they’re saying that because current society hasn’t progressed very far in its thinking on trans people, it’s perfectly valid to question, mock, and demean transgender people, both binary and non-binary.
To provide a comparison, think of cartoons from the 1930s and 1940s that depict black people using demeaning tropes — in image, speech, and demeanor. Today, these cartoons are seen for what they are — reinforcing harmful and mean-spirited stereotypes — and are largely banned in most mainstream media (can’t speak for Fox and the like).
This helps to explain why there is a shocked outcry by the trans community. We live in a seemingly more progressive era — yes, even despite all the Christian nationalism and reawakened racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, etc. — when we would hope for better, faster, sooner. Yet we are told yes there are contradictory opinions —even, as I previously mentioned, when those opinions are overwhelmingly discredited in the scientific, medical, and psychological community.
That’s what kills me and I guess others when I see talking heads, comedians like Bill Maher included, politicians, and others thinking this kind of spiteful mockery is offered up before large audiences in the guise of light-hearted humor — and they then defend the right to do so strongly.
Sadly, it could take a generation or more before such meanness is recognized easily for what it truly is by society at large. With rates of suicidal ideation among trans people as high as they are due to bullying at school, home and elsewhere, and with rates of discrimination, violence, and murder against us showing no signs of abating, such callous joke telling stands to take a serious toll on the trans community for a long time to come.
It’s often hard enough to come to terms with being trans in the first place without the rest of those external pressures.
Sadly, the trans community is being accused of being part of “cancel culture” in its criticism of high profile comedians telling trans jokes. There’s some truth to the accusation, but mostly I think it’s highly overstated. First, we as a community have virtually no power. Further, I think most people, trans people included, agree that the ability to muzzle free speech is a two-edged sword and can backfire terribly, serving as an instrument of tyranny and hate. Beyond that, I don’t think our criticisms of such jokes are unjustified. If you offer up such jokes in the public domain, you are subject to such criticisms, rightly so if they are legitimate.
That’s what sticks in my craw watching this interview. No recognition of the inappropriateness. No recognition of the meanness. No recognition of real downstream harm. Kind of a whitewash of sorts for a comedian whom I used to treasure but who is harming my community yet who purportedly merits a get-out-jail pass because talking heads believe our current social mores haven’t yet recognized just how nasty these jokes really are.
At the risk of being inappropriate, drop mike…
