Recently posters advertising an improv show, an athletic event and more have been circulating around campus with jokes evoking marginalized identities — specifically race, class and ability — and their corresponding stereotypes. These posters have been met with opposition from marginalized people, as they have revealed these organizations’ lack of attention to the minority experience at Middlebury. It is these incidents that have caused us to question humor at Middlebury — specifically, racist humor at Middlebury. It is through the examination of racist humor that we are able to start exploring classist, ableist and other marginalized humor.
So what is racist humor? In the article “Racist Humor,” Luvell Anderson distinguishes between racist and racially insensitive humor by defining racially insensitive humor as humor that “lacks an aim to subvert the associated stereotype or has a subverting aim but cannot reasonably expect audience uptake of that aim.” Racist humor “... wrongly harms the target in virtue of that person’s membership in a particular racial group or the speaker is motivated by a malevolent attitude or one of disregard.”
It is unclear whether these recent posters are racially insensitive or racist based on Anderson’s definitions. However, it is clear that these posters did not do an adequate job of subverting the stereotypes that they evoked. Furthermore, it is clear that these posters were racially offensive based on the organizations’ refusal to consider the impact that their posters might have on students of color. Specifically, Latino students. The poster that this Committee is focusing on is from an improv group and its evocation of Latino stereotypes.
The improv group’s poster featured a picture of a man with the words “Jane’s* First Kiss Was Her Doorman José” with José saying “Gross. Nope.” The fact that Jane is having her first kiss in this joke causes us to assume that Jane is young. Thus, the surface level joke of this poster is that Jane’s first kiss was with her doorman rather than someone who was her age — presumably. The surface level part of the joke is furthered when it realized that Jane did not have her first kiss with a boyfriend, girlfriend or someone who she was sexually interested in. The poster leads us to believe that her first kiss was most likely void of attraction — something that one would not hope for their first kiss to be.
However, when one looks deeper at the joke and considers that Jane’s first kiss was with someone who was working for her parents and someone who held the door open for her, this joke becomes more sinister. Could this poster be insinuating that it is also funny that Jane’s first kiss was with José because José is a doorman of a socio-economic class that is lower than Jane’s family? Is it funny that Jane’s first kiss was with José because José is Latino?
Additionally by saying “Gross. Nope.” José shows his reluctance to be kissed by Jane. But if José is reluctant to kiss Jane, why did he kiss her? We are inclined to wonder if despite not wanting to kiss Jane, José’s position of servitude to Jane’s family made him obligated to kiss her.
It does not matter if this improv group intended to evoke racial stereotypes in a malevolent manner. The stereotypes that this poster evoked were not subverted. That places this joke within the realm of racially insensitive humor. Additionally, this poster stereotyped a racial group. The Committee believes that this was due to the improv group’s disregard rather than malevolence. Regardless, this also places this poster within Anderson’s definition of racist humor.
It does not matter if the “Jane” that this poster is referring to actually had a doorman named José. It does not matter if he was her real first kiss. Although this joke might have a private context, it was put out into the public. Thus, it is subject to public criticism. Additionally, as a joke meant for public consumption, it has a responsibility to the public. This improv group should have thought about how this poster might be negatively received and how it might add to the marginalization that Latinos experience at Middlebury. All groups on campus should be aware of how their use of humor in advertisement might affect those who are most vulnerable. Although humor is often displaced from reality through its use of absurdity, it is important to remember that identity affects everything. Nothing is untouched by race, class and other identities. Humor is no different.
*Name has been changed to avoid the perception that this article is singling out one person.
Jasmine Ross '16 wrote this article on behalf of the Institutional Diversity Committee.
