this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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me_irl
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This is a joke but it ain't really a joke - if you're trying to figure somebody out you often can tell a lot from the jokes they chose to make and even how they tell the joke.
The most obvious and probably most familiar to most example is somebody who says something demeaning of somebody else present and then, when confronted with the insulting nature of what they just said, claims "it was just a joke".
Maybe (and this part is much more wild theory on my party) people feel they can get away with more in joke form and hence are more likely to share their true beliefs?!
That "it was just a joke bro" when it's obvious they meant to insult, is often a red flag for being a right winger, I feel. They then proceed to be the actual snowflakes they complain about, by whining.
It really depends if it's used offensively or as part of a broader pattern were somebody has more power than another person, and the one with the least power does such "jokes" - I don't think the "meek" using that technique to somehow get back at the dominant is correlated with rightwing tendencies.
For those who use it offensively (especially if they're dominant person and use it on the non-dominant as a way to insult them which can be walked back if 3rd parties take it badly), yeah I agree that it's commonly done by those with a kind of personality which is highly correlated with being a rightwinger.
That's true. Usually, it's used in a non-disparaging way though. Like when professional comedians raise political or social issues that are straight-up taboo or too uncomfortable for polite conversation. We laugh, we cry a little, but most importantly, we think and talk about it.