I don't know what to tell my guy friends when they make sexist jokes?

[Jenia]

We were in the car with two of us girls and two guys, and the guys started to tell these jokes. Eventually they started telling these sexist jokes that really offended me on the inside but i didn't want to say anything. They were saying things like "why do women have small feet? - because its a short walk from the kitchen to the bedroom" and "why did the woman cross the road? - better question why was she outside the kitchen"

I know these jokes are supposed to be funny, but for some reason they really hurt me as I pride myself on my intelligence and work ethic. This is the second time this has happened, and the other girl in the car didn't seem to get as offended as I was. I want to know if anyone has good ideas about what to say to these guys when they make these jokes. I want to stay friends with them because they're cool guys who're really smart and funny, but I want them to stop telling the jokes. How do I confront them?

 

[RowdyM]

Zingers. You need to give as good as you get. They will respect you more for it. Just don't go much beyond their sexism (i.e. - proportionate humor).

 

[IamtheSUNeWORSHIPMEt]

you DON'T confront them. They're testing you. They are "stepping on your corns" to see how you react.

You are handling it the wrong way, by the way. I live with women, they're my roommates and even as old as we are now, we still get into that childish the boys versus the girls scenario. But I just play along. What do I care? They're not being mean spirited. They're just opening themselves up a bit, letting you know that they're not whipped.

 

[McMurphy]

no they were not that funny. not from a anthropological standpoint at least.

ive found that when women are being serious men tend to interpret it as a joke. you really need to affirm your feelings about how you feel due to the joke, not about how you feel about being targeted. many sexist men mock or belittle women who express feelngs when insulted

Best o' luck

 

[bobs]

Jenia,

First of all, you should know that they were telling those jokes not in spite of you being there, but BECAUSE of you being there.

They were told for the same reason people still tell racist jokes, dead baby jokes, and basically any joke. To push the envelope. "Knock knock" just doesn't cut it as humor in these trying times.

If they joke about the size of your feet, just make a joke about the size of their peniss... penises... (Penii???). Trust me. If they're immature enough to make jokes against women, they're insecure enough to doubt the size of their equipment.

A woman that can't outwit a man is like a man that can't out-wrestle a woman. She hasn't been practicing enough.

Good luck.