Dead baby jokes

Dead baby jokes are a joke cycle reflecting black comedy. The joke is presented in riddle form, beginning with a what question and concluded with a grotesque punch line answer.[1]

History

A Modest Proposal may be considered an early example of a dead baby joke. The satire by Jonathan Swift describes cannibalizing babies as a solution to starvation in Ireland.

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. Consequently, "to fight the fear of pregnancy and ease the guilt of abortion, young people told dead-baby jokes. Babies, once dehumanized, could be laughingly destroyed."[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]

In the twenty-first century, the popularity of the joke cycle has led to the creation of a number of websites dedicated to dead baby jokes.[5]

Examples

What's the difference between a truckload of dead babies and a truckload of bowling balls?
With bowling balls you can't use pitchforks.[6] (In an alternative version, the punchline ends with: You can't unload bowling balls with a pitchfork)

What's more fun than nailing a baby to a post?
Ripping it off again.[5]

What's bright blue, pink, and sizzles?
A baby breastfeeding on an electrical outlet.[5]

How do you get 100 dead babies into a box?
With a blender![5] How do you get them out?
With a bag of chips.

What's better than a thousand dead babies stapled to a tree? 1 dead baby stapled to a thousand trees.

How many babies does it take to paint a house?
Depends on how hard you throw them[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Alan Dundes (July 1979). "The Dead Baby Joke Cycle". Western Folklore. 38 (3): 145–157. JSTOR 1499238. doi:10.2307/1499238.
  2. ↑ "Jokes are a serious, 'psychic' business". San Francisco Examiner. 1 September 1988.
  3. ↑ "That's Not Funny - That's Sick // Folklorist Alan Dundes looks at the serious side of sick jokes". St. Petersburg Times. 2 December 1987.
  4. ↑ Bronner, Simon J. (1988). American Children's Folklore. august house. p. 127. ISBN 9780874830682.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Warner, Andrew (2008). P.S. Dead Baby Jokes Aren't Funny: The Grotesque in Sick Humor (M.A.). Truman State University.
  6. ↑ McWhorter, Diane (Spring 1977). "An Ugly Joke: "Dead Babies" // Dead Babies by Martin Amis". The North American Review. University of Northern Iowa. 262 (1). JSTOR 25117878.
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