Dead baby jokes
Dead baby jokes are a joke cycle reflecting dark comedy. The joke is presented in riddle form, beginning with a what question and concluded with a grotesque punch line answer.[1]
History
According to the folklorist scholar Alan Dundes, the dead baby joke cycle likely began in the early 1960s.[1] Dundes theorizes that the origin of the dead baby joke lies in the rise of second-wave feminism in the U.S. during that decade and its rejection of the traditional societal role for women, which included support for legalized abortion and contraceptives.[2][3] It has also been suggested that the jokes emerged in response to images of graphic violence, often involving infants, from the Vietnam War.[4]
References
- Alan Dundes (July 1979). "The Dead Baby Joke Cycle". Western Folklore. 38 (3): 145–157. doi:10.2307/1499238. JSTOR 1499238. PMID 11633558.
- "Jokes are a serious, 'psychic' business", San Francisco Examiner
- "That's Not Funny - That's Sick // Folklorist Alan Dundes looks at the serious side of sick jokes". St. Petersburg Times. 2 December 1987.
- Bronner, Simon J. (1988). American Children's Folklore. august house. pp. 127. ISBN 9780874830682.
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