Normalization of Humor and Layered Vulnerability

LAUGHTER erupted from hundreds of attendees at an Islamic study event.

In a video that quickly circulated on social media, a prominent speaker cracked a crisp joke targeting an elderly woman in front of him.

For some, this scene seemed normal—merely a stage spice to keep the audience engaged.

However, for the more discerning public, there was a lingering discomfort.

We witnessed how the vulnerability of an elderly mother was stripped bare before the public eye for the sake of shared laughter.

This issue extends beyond mere bad taste in humor. Beneath the uproar of laughter lies a far more concerning cultural mechanism— the normalization of derogatory humor.

Renowned French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has long warned about the dangers of symbolic violence— a subtle form of oppression that operates without physical coercion, instead infiltrating social agreements and norms that are taken for granted.

In stage communication, belittlement and prejudice are often smuggled in through informal discourse plays.

The magical phrase "it’s just a joke" quickly becomes a potent linguistic shield, dulling moral sensibility and disqualifying criticisms.

When such jokes are repeatedly celebrated without a moment of reflection, the boundaries of cultural propriety gradually shift.

The public is led to accept that belittling others is perfectly fine, as long as it is wrapped in the silk of laughter.

Intersectionality Reality

Public jokes become even more problematic when we consider who is on the receiving end of that laughter.

The person being ridiculed is not a peer with equivalent social capital but rather an elderly woman from the lower class.

At this point, social analysis requires examining it through the lens of intersectionality, a theoretical framework articulated by critical legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw.

Crenshaw asserts that discrimination and oppression rarely affect someone in isolation.