British municipality slaps ban on mother-in-law jokes for being 'offensively sexist'
We read:
"Mother-in-law jokes, once the bedrock of British comedy, have been banned by the London Borough of Barnet because they are ‘offensively sexist’ and disrespectful to ‘family elders’.
In a council publication, staff are told not to indulge in the gags, which made the careers of classic comics Les Dawson and Bob Monkhouse.
The booklet, Cultural Awareness: General Problems, warns: ‘Humour can be incredibly culture-specific, and is very open to misinterpretation or even offense [sic] by other cultures. And don’t forget when you don’t know what people are laughing at, it is very easy to imagine that they are laughing at you.’
The guide, obtained by The Mail on Sunday through a Freedom of Information request, adds: ‘British mother-in-law jokes, as well as offensively sexist in their own right, can also be seen as offensive on the grounds that they disrespect elders or parents.’
The ban has been greeted with a mixture of anger and bemusement. Dom Joly, the comedian, broadcaster and author, described the advice as ‘completely insane’. He said: ‘All comedy is basically about taking the **** out of someone. You either ban it all and end up living in a place like North Korea or you leave well enough alone.’
Source
5 comments:
So the mindless, PC'ized cretins of the London Borough of Barnet find mother-in-law jokes to be sexist and offensive. Isn't the fact that they're only offended by mother-in-law jokes, and not father-in-law jokes, sexist and offensive?
Besides, what could possibly be more offensive than the Brits addiction to political correctness.
Anon 3:50
We brits are not additcted to political correctness - the human MRSA that makes up our public services are - I sueegest you go to the Daily Mail website and read the comments on this article instead
Good point Geoffrey,
You are however suffering from the same problem democracies all over the world run into namely that the people most often seeking power and the ones most often promoted by the bureaucracies are the people least suited to do the jobs.
Those people evince their insecurity in the regulations they create and promote.
I suppose it is still permissible to make jokes about Barnet councillors.
The British seem to have gone bonkers. With all the lawyers we have we must be careful or it will come here. All law schools should be closed down for 5 years or so the thin them out. Stormewaters
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