THROW THOSE LETHAL KNIVES AND SWORDS AWAY. AS PER NEW RESEARCH, HUMOUR IS CONSIDERED AN ACT OF AGGRESSION, SAYS SUMITA CHAKRABORTY



Mark Twain had  said, ‘The human race has only one effective weapon and that is laughter’. German researcher Helga Kotthoff of the Frieburg University of Education goes one step higher by stating: “humour is actually an act of aggression”. Surprised? Don’t be, for according to her, “The ability to make others laugh is mostly enjoyed by people who are basically ‘on top’. This gives a degree of control which dominant people exploit to show that they are in charge. Those ‘on top’ are freer to make others laugh. They are also freer to be more aggressive and a lot of what is funny is actually jokes made at someone else’s expense.”

She adds, “Comedy and satire are based on aggressiveness and not being nice. Displaying humour means taking control of the situation by those higher up in the hierarchy and this is risky for people of a lower status. In fact, women before the ‘60s were considered lower than men. So that meant women rarely made other people laugh — they couldn’t afford to.”

Furthermore, Helga goes on to say, “The difference between men and women’s ability to become comedians starts very young. Boys as young as four or five tell more jokes, frolic and clown about while girls tend to be the ones doing the laughing.  In fact, until the ‘60s, it was seen as unladylike to be funny.

Even now women prefer to tell jokes at their own expense, while men tend to prefer telling jokes at other people’s expense. Also, women often use humour to form social bonds with their friends, while men often use humour to vent frustration. But both sexes tend to use comedy as a means of controlling others.”

Axe To Grind?

A research study done by William Chandler, director of the USA-based Social Research and Statistics Group (USRSG) reiterates Helga’s claim. He has done a worldwide research on the same subject and has found that in humour, at least 65 percent of jokes are aggressive. 55 percent of men believe that humour can be used as a weapon while 35 percent women claimed that humour can help them get away from sticky situations. 57 percent believed that humour is mainly used to poke fun at people.


According to William, “While laughter can be the best medicine, it can also be an effective weapon. In fact, it has often been used as a tool of revenge. For instance, many men use sexual jokes as a way of verbally undressing a woman who rebuts advances.

Here, their humour is aggressive in essence. Again, you have all those jokes on the ‘boss’ doing the circles. If you notice, people who have an axe to grind with the boss, are the ones who churn out jokes, which are often cruel and warped. Humour can have a purpose too. For instance, sometimes, doctors use humour to comfort patients but also to silence them if, for example, the patient displays too much knowledge of a medical condition.

But here too, there is a hierarchy. Nurses and midwives tend to tell jokes about patients, but not when the doctor is present. And when someone initiates a joke, they tend to be ignored if they are in the presence of someone of a higher status.”

Laughter is the best weapon?

Mumbai-based psychologist Ferzeen Firodi adds, “In India itself, if you take a look at the comedy shows on television, what you’ll gauge is that most of the comediennes  are poking fun at someone else. So if someone slips on a banana peel, that becomes the brunt of comedy.


Physical abnormalities, sexual inadequacies or even mental disabilities are the butt of all jokes. Under the mask of humour, infinite aggressive acts are allowed. Jokesters encase their hidden hostility in their jokes. Often they cover up their hostility by proffering this as their social grace. I’ll give you an instance; at some of our past awards nights, you’ve seen celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan poking fun at their colleagues.

Though it evokes laughter and the stars themselves sport a smile to the point of grimacing, you can sense the awkwardness in the air. In fact, I remember one particular instance when Shah Rukh Khan poked fun at actress Vidya Balan’s dressing sense. You could clearly see that Vidya was hurt but this was in the guise of humour, so she too had to grin and bear it.”

Funny Bone Of Contention

The high priestess of comedy, Archana Puran Singh, who is a judge for many comedy shows, believes that she has cracked the humour code. According to her, “Humour is like a meethi chhuri. It is a weapon that can effectively be used to decimate your opponent. In fact, I can cut a debate with just a witty one liner which can figuratively take the pants off my opponent. Perhaps that’s why people know that if they take panga with me, they’ll end up laughing their heads off… and sorry!”

She continues, “I also agree with Helga. There is a warped kind of hierarchy in humour too. For instance, you have the pie-throwing or slipping on the banana peel kind of humour; and even though it is absolutely base, people still guffaw at it heartily. That’s because they feel superior to the person who slips on the banana or on whom the pie is thrown.

It’s like a fundamental formula. Laughter is evoked when the audience feels superior to the person who is bearing the brunt of the joke. For instance, after Shiney Ahuja allegedly raped his maid, there were lots of ‘Shiney’ and maid jokes. Obviously, the person concerned will not find it funny, but these jokes appeal to people’s psyche and since we feel that we are not in the concerned person’s shoes, we can afford to laugh at these jokes.

Sounds a little cruel but hey, that’s the way humour works! In the name of humour, you can  insult people. But the mantra is simple: If you dish it out, you must also learn to lap it up as the tables can turn too!”

Jokes Aside

Television actor Hiten Tejwani who enjoys the occasional joke  says, “Actually, humour has different facets to it. It can be aggressive, self-depreciating or just harmless. I believe in the third kind of humour. Yes, I do crack jokes or pull pranks on my wife and friends. But this is not meant in a bad way. It’s just an outlet for some light-hearted moments.

In fact, you pull the leg of the one you love the most and as for us, it’s time we all learn to laugh at ourselves. Of course, at times, jokes or humour can be extremely cruel. It then becomes like one-upmanship. This should be avoided as then humour becomes vitriolic and can be dangerous.”


Jest Only

On the flipside, MTV anchor and funny man Cyrus Sahukar begs to differ. According to him, “Helga’s research is the biggest sxxx I’ve ever heard of. Jokesters and comediennes challenge authority, so you find they make fun of people above them in the hierarchy like Michael Jackson, Fidel Castro, Osama etc. Even jokes about your boss are fine – it all depends on the personal equation you share with him or her.

 Humour always has an element of truth.  For instance, I keep joking around that let’s photoshop the pictures of our politicians in their ‘vote for us’ posters as they end up looking like murderers and rapists. But there is an essence of truth in it, isn’t there? And the truth is that if you can’t handle it, it is aggressive.  


But at the end of the day, it is an aggressive world we live in and a little humour, however aggressive it may be, does not kill anybody. So let’s just learn to laugh about things, without making too much hoo ha about it.”

Well said… after all, humour is undoubtedly the best medicine!

*Courtesy: Savvy