Embedded Files
PUNCHING UP
PUNCHING UP
Black people can make jokes about white people, but it's not funny when white people make jokes about black people.
Straight people shouldn't use a stereotypically gay vocal affect, but gay people can.
Why? Punching up.
If you belong to the lesser-power group, punching up is using humor to make fun of the group in power. If you belong to the group in power and are cracking jokes about groups that have less power in social structure, you're punching down.
The concept of punching up is that disenfranchised minorities can use humor to criticize and dismantle power structures.
Interaction Institute for Social Change | Artist: Angus Maguire.
The concept behind this idea is equity, not equality.
With equality, we're all getting the same treatment/opportunities.
With equity, we're getting various levels of support so we can be more fair.
A super simplified example, if there's $100 bill at the top of the stairs. We all have a equal opportunity to reach it, but we don't have equity without say, providing elevator access as well.
FURTHER READING
FURTHER READING
"Punching Up" by Rebecca Krefting
"These are comics that are tackling the taboo—making provocative observations on race, sex, death, money, politics. But they’re doing it from the perspective of those who were usually the punchlines, not the comedians on stage. "
https://www.newamerica.org/weekly/edition-135/punching/
"Punching Up, Punching Down: Why Melissa Wolf is right and Matt Groening is wrong" by Paul Hartzer
"A lesson from the #MeToo movement is: People often take a long time to get up the nerve to complain when they’re being offended. The less power someone feels they have, the longer it will take them."
https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/punching-up-punching-down-phtz/
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