Man's joke
A man's joke (sometimes also an old man's joke ) describes a crude, frivolous joke that is usually told when men are among themselves. The term has been used since the beginning of the 20th century. He mostly addresses sexual issues such as affairs or venereal diseases and uses pictorial, obscene language. In terms of content, the man's joke can therefore be equated with the Zote . The term male joke also expresses the fact that it should be a form of “typically male” humor.
In a broader sense, the term gentleman's joke is sometimes used to describe suggestive remarks that are perceived as intrusive and made by men towards women. However, this is not a structured narrative with a concluding punchline, as characterizes the gentleman's joke in the narrower sense.
Men's jokes as a comedic genre
The crude frivolity of man's joke is used by some comedians as a deliberate break of taboos in order to achieve a comical effect. For example, the former WDR news anchor Charly Wagner presented so-called “classic men's jokes” on the Harald Schmidt Show . In doing so, Wagner used an emphatically distinguished manner of presentation, which was in contrast to the crude content of the jokes presented. The literary critic Hellmuth Karasek also tells on the audio book Is that a joke? including various jokes for men. Another well-known performer of the genre is Jürgen von der Lippe .
Sometimes the term “Herrenwitz” is also used to describe a form of humor that is felt to be particularly “flat”. For example, the journalist Silke Burmester wrote in an article in Spiegel entitled “Men's jokes replace humor” about show master Thomas Gottschalk : “A presenter who interprets a show as a man's joke is as tiring in the long run as a missionary marriage”.
Men's jokes as lewd remarks
The journalist Laura Himmelreich wrote an article in Stern in 2013 with the title “ Der Herrenwitz ” and triggered a debate about everyday sexism under the keyword #aufschrei . In it she reported on suggestive remarks by Rainer Brüderle , which, however, were not a joke in the strict sense of the word. As a result, the term male joke was used to draw attention to verbal attacks in flirting with women. Usually situations in which boundaries are crossed build up slowly.
According to Section 3 (4) of the General Equal Treatment Act , “comments of sexual content” can also constitute sexual harassment if it violates the dignity of the person concerned.
literature
- Hubert Miketta: The man's joke. Karl Lipp, Munich 1953.
- Friedemann Spicker : On the question of men and women, or men's jokes and the image of women. Female and male aphorism in the 20th century. In: Lichtenberg-Jahrbuch 2005, pp. 98–155. ( online as PDF)
- Charlotte Weigel: The misogynistic male joke. Text analysis and psychological considerations about its origin and effect. Kovač, Hamburg 2006. (also dissertation, Free University Berlin, 2006)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Herrenwitz , duden.de
- ^ Google Books Ngram Viewer "Herrenwitz". Retrieved June 1, 2019 .
- ↑ Jakob Schrenk: Three men meet ... In: sueddeutsche.de . 2016, ISSN 0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on November 21, 2018]).
- ↑ a b Gerhard Scheucher: Save the man's joke. Retrieved November 21, 2018 .
- ↑ Silke Burmester: “Wetten, dass ...?” With Carla Bruni: jokes replace humor. spiegel.de, October 5, 2008, accessed January 31, 2013.
- ↑ WORLD: Sexism Debate: Schwesig calls on men to fight against old man's jokes . In: The world . October 1, 2016 ( welt.de [accessed November 21, 2018]).
- ↑ Alice Schwarzer : Sexism Debate: In the Land of Herrenwitzes . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN 0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed November 21, 2018]).
- ↑ Tina Groll : Sexism: How to stand up against jokes from men with dignity. zeit.de, January 25, 2013, accessed on January 29, 2013.