The Limitations and Dangers of Satire

 I found Gadsby's piece on satire to be a very interesting and currently relevant one. The author does a great gon expressing why satire works; it is always fun to make light of situations that might not ordinarily be viewed in that way. By laughing at things that usually are seen as serious, we are able to momentarily lift a weight off our shoulders. Many stand up comedians use their own lives as the center of their jokes. They might make fun of their own gender, sex lives, home lives, and a million other things that, in reality, are very personal to them. The issue arises when people make fun of others for those things without having experienced them. For example, when a woman makes jokes about harassment she has experienced, it may be funny because she has the right to it- after all, she's suffered at the hands of sexism, and she has the platform to bring this issue to an audience. "She has made people laugh hard and think harder." (Gadsby, pg 99). When a man makes light of the sexual harassment of women, although it is still regarded as funny to many, it gives off an obvious air of bad taste. 

It is difficult to find the balance between satire and humor. I think all too often we use humor and satire too extensively when speaking about things. I have been in countless situations in which I have felt uncomfortable and disrespected, but rather than saying that straight up I have used satire and humor to state it in a way that would avoid making others feel bad. Sometimes, the use of humor diminishes the importance of what is being said, and others might feel it gave them permission to make jokes at your expense or the expense of someone other than themselves.