Are you prejudiced if you tell a sexist joke?

Most people have either told a joke or laughed at a joke that contains within its verse some kind of prejudice.

I have done it and every one of my friends have done it. Does this mean that my friends and I are prejudice?

if you utter the words “oh my god” or “OMG” does this statement infer that you believe in the existence of a deity?

As spurious as most sexist jokes are I am not willing to assume that a statement or joke made by an individual automatically credits that human being with the prejudice being voiced.

giving voice to a statement that implies a prejudice does not equate to complicity in action or behaviour. as one tweeter said to me recently “If you say a sexist joke you support the acceptability of sexist jokes in society. Simple. And wrong.”

It’s not a logical argument though, and ill explain why.

I am against wars. I think most people are. In 2003 more than 1.5 million people marched in protest at the proposals for this country to go to war. those people made it quite clear that war was bad and that they did not support the planned action of our state, and yet all those people paid for the war we eventually ended up going to. anyone who paid taxes in 2003 gave financial support to the war whether they agreed with it or not because that is the system we live under. whether you believe it to be fair or just is irrelevant, the state takes your money and spends it how they please. It just so happens that in 2003 they wanted to spend it on a war.

Does this mean that as taxpayers we all supported the war because our money was spent on it? of course not. im sure that if the choice were given to us that the war would never have happened because it would have been unaffordable.

If you think saying a sexist joke means you’re a sexist or you accept sexism within society, well you must condemn the entire taxpaying collective of the nation in 2003 for overseeing the deaths of thousands of people, by paying for the war.

Make that statement to someone who calls the teller of a sexist joke a sexist and watch the reaction.

there are many other examples of views or opinions that elicit a similar reaction but what you need to remember is the view or opinion does not always come with some predetermined prejudice.

Sometimes people just say and do stupid and irresponsible things. We have all done it.

Unless someone actually comes out and admits a prejudice they have then you can’t say that a person is prejudice. you can ostracize the view or opinion but not the person unless you know 100% that you are right in your condemnation and that is not always possible.

a good example would be the couple who were recently taken to court because they refused to let a gay couple stay in their hotel/B&B. We can call these people bigots because they have come out in the open and said they don’t believe in the lifestyle of gay people. Now in this case we can call these people for what they are because they have openly admitted it. there is no argument, they are anti-gay.

It really is that simple. this couple made it clear that they have a predetermined prejudice towards gay people and they are not going to hide that fact.

My examples have made me go off on a tangent so ill come back to explaining my opinion to the question i have asked.

A view or opinion that contains some form of prejudice on its own merit does not equate to a predetermined prejudice unless backed up with the facts to prove it. Without evidence, without proof all you have is an opinion that someone is prejudice. You have no way to know conclusively that they are.

I would say the answer to this question is both yes and no. It has to be both because not every person is willing to admit to owning prejudices. Sorry for all the crap before this final statement but it wouldnt be a blog with out it.

the opinions expressed above are my own. Other opinions are available.