Being Offended is Geographical but Satire is Universal

We’ve all been offended at some point in our lives, whether we’ve been called ‘fat’ or ‘ugly’, or if we’ve ever been treated differently because of our gender or race. I think being offended is healthy, however many aspects of our culture are being affected because of a desire to avoid controversy and offense. But how do we do that when every culture sees offense differently and what happens when we have people being offended by satire? In my opinion the world will collapse in on itself when people can’t tell the difference between satire and offense. Let’s examine the geographical nature of offense and how our only salvation is the acceptance of satire.

Offense around the World

Just to make a point, I’m going to quickly go over some things that are offensive in other cultures (not British or American) whether due to religion or long-standing social codes.

• Cow Eating – What could possibly be offensive about eating a nice bacon double cheeseburger? Well if you’re in India, a lot. Due to the Hindu religion, it is wrong to eat beef and any Muslims who happen to be in India might be offended about the bacon (although Muslim’s don’t usually care if other people eat pork, they just don’t eat it themselves).
• Good Luck – Crossing one’s fingers is usually a sign of wishing for something to happen, however in Vietnam it is the sign for a woman’s private parts and is considered extremely offensive.
• Thumbs Up – A friendly gesture of reassurance to some, an ‘up yours’ to an Australian … so be careful down under, so to speak.
• Come Hither – If someone is over the other side of the room and can’t hear you, how do you tell them to come over? You wave your hand in a beckoning motion, however if you do that in the Philippines you might be arrested.
• Swearing – In the UK, swearing is second nature, just watch Adele for more than 2 minutes. Of course, there are still little old ladies who might faint if you say the ‘F’ word; it’s generally considered pretty okay to whack out a good expletive. Most countries, however, it is still considered very offensive. Brits have just realized that it’s only words and they don’t really matter.

You get the point, I’m sure. Offense is purely geographic and whilst calling someone a ‘fat cow’ would probably annoy most people, offense seems to be area specific.

Universal Offense: The Dawn of the Internet

Offense used to be when one person performed an action in front of another person that the second person didn’t like; or if something offensive happened on TV, the channel would be changed and then forgotten about. The internet has changed offense for the worse. It is now all too easy for internet trolls to attack anyone they want through social media platforms. It has also led to everyone having a voice, which means that when one TV presenter kind of wears a short-ish piece of clothing, the internet can react and jump on a stupidly misogynistic hype train. It has led to over sensitivity where everyone feels they deserve heartfelt apologies for even the smallest slights which has led to a culture that is slowly destroying freedom of speech, even though it is helping to stamp out the tolerance for misogynistic, racist, and homophobic language, which is a very good thing. The problem is people are struggling to say anything at all now for fear of being dragged off to an Orwellian underground bunker and given a torturous media-training crash course.

Offended by Satire

The problem comes when people become offended by satire. Satire is almost always making fun of the people who cause offense, but by doing that they often offend the same people, because those people are stupid. There has been a massive downturn in serious satire and what we’re left with is satire that only deals with ‘safe’ subjects like the BBC or the Olympics. Political and hard-hitting social satire is hidden late at night on the BBC and ignored in the hope that Private Eye can do it all on its own. Satire keeps us sane and allows us to really see ourselves without all the pretense of our own ego, however this is being systematically destroyed by people being offended and ‘victimized’. Where is the stiff upper lip? Where is the world’s sense of humor gone?

The Choice of Being Offended

Finally, I just want to talk about how I believe offense is a choice that one makes. Let me share a story: I often frequent online gambling sites and enjoy the camaraderie of the chat rooms that usually accompany such sites. I was once berated by another player, however I took it how it was meant and laughed and bit back, which led to a witty exchange where we both tried to ‘one up’ the other like a rap battle between Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill. My friend had a similar experience, but decided to leave the chatroom and cry about it on Facebook. Whether the original comment was meant as an offense or not, it was my choice to be offended or to not let it affect me, as it was with my friend. I chose to take it in a positive light and so didn’t have to desperately stare at my Facebook notifications to see if I got any mock sympathy from my Facebook ‘friends’.