1. I wrote my PhD dissertation on the social function of humor (in literature & film) and here's the thing about "just joking."
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2. You're never "just joking." Nobody is ever "just joking." Humor is a social act that performs a social function (always).
3. To say humor is social act is to say it is always in social context; we don't joke alone. Humor is a way we relate/interact with others.
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4. Which is to say, humor is a way we construct identity - who we are in relation to others. We use humor to form groups...
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5. ...and to find our individual place in or out of those groups. In short, joking/humor is one tool by which we assimilate or alienate.
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6. IOW, we use humor to bring people into - or keep them out of - our social groups. This is what humor *does.* What it's for.
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7. Consequently, how we use humor is tied up with ethics - who do we embrace, who do we shun, and how/why?
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8. And the assimilating/alienating function of humor works not only only people but also on *ideas.* This is important.
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9. This is why, e.g., racist "jokes" are bad. Not just because they serve to alienate certain people, but also because...
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10. ...they serve to assimilate the idea of racism (the idea of alienating people based on their race). And so we come to Trump.
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11. A racist joke sends a message to the in-group that racism is acceptable. (If you don't find it acceptable, you're in the out-group.)
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12. The racist joke teller might say "just joking" - but this is a *defense* to the out-group. He doesn't have to say this to the in-group.
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13. This is why we're never "just joking." To the in-group, no defense of the joke is needed; the idea conveyed is accepted/acceptable.
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14. So, when Trump jokes about assassination or armed revolt, he's asking the in-group to assimilate/accept that idea. That's what jokes do.
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15. And when he says "just joking," that's a defense offered to the out-group who was never meant to assimilate the idea in the first place.
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16. Indeed, circling back to the start, the joke *itself* is a way to define in-group and out-group, through assimilation & alienation.
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17. If you're willing to accept "just joking" as defense, you're willing to enter in-group where idea conveyed by the joke is acceptable.
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18. IOW, if "just joking" excuses racist jokes, then in-group has accepted idea of racism as part of being in-group.
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19. Same goes for "jokes" about armed revolt or assassinating Hillary Clinton. They cannot be accepted as "just joking."
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20. Now, a big caveat: humor (like all language) is complicated and always a matter of interpretation. For example, we might have...
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21. ...racist humor that is, in fact, designed to alienate (rather than assimilate) the idea of racism. (Think satire or parody.)
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22. But I think it's pretty clear Trump was not engaging in some complex satirical form of humor. He was "just joking." In the worst sense.
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23. Bottom line: don't accept "just joking" as excuse for what Trump said today. The in-group for that joke should be tiny. Like his hands.
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Link to dissertation (for those asking):https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9ykaq0npesp3wf/Steed-Dissertation.pdf?dl=0 …
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P.S. Some people seem to think this thread supports legal restrictions on jokes. No! This is about ethics (see tweet #7). We don't want to restrict humor, because sometimes it's ethically *good* to use humor to alienate or ostracize certain people or ideas (like Nazis or racism).
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