Learn English – What type of humor would racist and sexist jokes be categorized into

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I did not major in literary studies so I do not readily recognize the nuances that are used to distinguish between the various concepts.

It doesn't seem to fit insult comedy since it is rarely told to members of the group it is insulting, nor heritage comedy since it generally refers to people of a different heritage. My first inclination is to lump it into the black comedy genre, however I'm not sure the intended purpose of such jokes meets this criteria listed on the Wikipedia page:

The purpose of black comedy is to make light of serious and often taboo subject matter; some comedians use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues, thus provoking discomfort and serious thought as well as amusement in their audience.

Best Answer

You could say those types of jokes are off-color humor:

Off-color Humor

  • Humor that deals with topics that may be considered to be in poor taste or overly vulgar. Most commonly labeled as "off-color" are acts concerned with sex, a particular ethnic group, or gender.

  • Other off-color topics include violence, particularly domestic abuse; excessive swearing or profanity; "toilet humor" / scatological humor; national superiority or inferiority, pedophilic content, and any topics generally considered impolite or indecent.

History

Off-color humor was used in Ancient Greek comedy, primarily by its most famous contributor and representative, Aristophanes. His work parodied some of the great tragedians of his time, especially Euripides, using sexual and excremental jokes that received great popularity among his contemporaries.

In the 1990's and modern era, comedians such as Bill Hicks, Doug Stanhope, and Dave Chappelle have used shocking content to draw attention to their criticism of social issues, especially censorship and the socioeconomic divide. Dave Attell and Louis C.K. are recognized as the modern masters of off-color humor that focuses on absurd topics. The cartoon Beavis and Butt-head was especially off-color in its early episodes, which included numerous depictions of animal cruelty. The highly praised television show South Park also popularized the use of offensive humor, for which the show has become infamous. The Aristocrats is perhaps the most famous dirty joke in the US and is certainly one of the best-known and most oft-repeated among comedians themselves. Tom Green has used shock humor in The Tom Green Show and the film Freddy Got Fingered, using outrageous stunts and jokes to draw an audience in.

[Wikipedia]

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