Still on the subject of
racism: The editors of UWA's annual satirical "Prosh" newspaper are in hot water over their use of offensive racial stereotypes in this year's edition.
When I first read
this headline I expected that the offending article might have been trying to mock racism itself by representing it somehow and that perpetually outraged types -- oblivious to the tone -- mistakenly believed it was endorsing what it was ridiculing. But if you look at the piece in question you'll see that's
not the case at all.
There's no doubt that it does invoke racist stereotypes, and in a witless way. So the term racism has validity here. However, when it comes to other manifestations of that kind of prejudice (ethnic cleansing and the like) it's obviously pretty small beer.
Anyway, doesn't all satirical humour rely on stereotypes, many of them related to race and ethnicity? Also, much of it is cruel and offensive and asks the audience to laugh at those less fortunate than they are.
Take the welfare-dependant white Aussie bogans who live in places like Sydney's west. They are clearly a minority that suffers much discrimination. While not as disadvantaged as Aboriginal people, many have of them have miserable, violent, and short lives. Yet this group is routinely pilloried by comedians and none of the usual suspects arc up about it at all. Actually, they're often the ones laughing the loudest -- or even cracking the jokes.
It's that glaring double standard I find so bizarre. The politically correct hypocrisy gripping the arts world in general and the comedy scene in particular is pervasive and disturbing. Why should some groups be deemed off limits to satire, or only be mockable by members of the same group? (I'm sure that Indigenous comics makes jokes about petrol sniffing too. Why is there no outrage when that occurs? Hell, you could even argue that this kind of satire is even more destructive than that created by whitey because it's a form of self-loathing.)
Whenever such a furore occurs, ironies abound. Take the photo included in this report by
Perth Now. Given that the Prosh newspaper is so evil and racist, why are three Asian girls happy to sell it?
Hmm. They must be
"participating in their own oppression".
