Only Joking...

Sometimes I defend 'snowflakes'. Other times I mock the manosphere. I watch Feminist Frequency and Sargon's response videos (although he does my fucking head in, especially when he starts shouting). I reluctantly engage in the battle between Social Justice Warriors and the manosphere because it originated in America, and I dislike applying the philosophy of the USA to the UK. However, it seems to be where the big public debate is at and, frankly, it enticed people onto my blog. They might even read one of my posts which isn't about social justice. I'd like people to read my thoughts on theatre, really.

Anyhow, on the echo chamber known as Facebook, there's another debate about whether a joke is sexist, or a joke, and what are the appropriate areas to discuss, and censorship and... 

Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, when I did relationships, I would often attempt to get out of an argument by saying that I had been joking. That never worked. I had actually been rude or insulting, but was trying to backtrack.

Jokes are serious things. Was Bill Hicks just telling a joke? Being witty is a great way to slip in big ideas, while holding attention. If you can't be witty, being obnoxious is not an alternative. 

Hell, I have an entire critical persona, Mad Cyril, who is a joke. He says the things I don't want to say, in the crudest language. He's a joke - he is not like me, he is a parody - but that doesn't mean I don't believe some of the things he says. Actually, his persona is a framework to give context and maybe irony to his statements.

Cyril was dramaturged by Elliot Roberts, and was invented as a response to the Hoffman's belief that social personality is performed. That is, we are all acting. Cyril is me, acting.

Facebook persona are performance. They are not our essential selves. To mistake our social media presence for our identity... shit. That might be the biggest mistake of the twenty-first century. 

I think my sense of self is a joke. Here comes the punchline...