爆料王

Whenever someone is called out for using sexist language, as in the recent case involving Collingwood AFL president Eddie McGuire's comments about journalist Caroline Wilson, the first line of defence is always, 鈥渂ut it was just a joke鈥�.

Those who object to sexist jokes or other forms of offensive language are often accused of being wowsers, of trying to silence free speech 鈥� or, as Steve Price called fellow Q&A panellist Van Badham, of .

But what impact can such language have? Are the objections really a case of 鈥減olitical correctness gone mad鈥�? Or can such language have real consequences?

Just harmless fun?

Despite changing attitudes towards women and minority groups, sexist and offensive jokes remain common. In a 2012 report, the Human Rights Commission found sexist or offensive jokes were the in Australian workplaces.

However, many people do not see the harm in such jokes or other offensive language, thinking it is all just harmless fun. It is also often pointed out that those who use offensive language typically did not mean to offend. This is reflected in research results.

A study I completed with colleagues on found most teenagers perceive the use of words like 鈥渇airy鈥� and 鈥渇ag鈥� as being humorous or just a joke. Most teenagers in the survey did not link the use of such words to homophobia.

But even if the speaker did not intend offence, sexist jokes and offensive language can have subtle impacts we don鈥檛 even realise.

How it can impact

Sexist and offensive language can have an impact on those who hear it.

In with colleagues soon after Julia Gillard was removed as prime minister, we found being reminded of the sexist commentary that was directed at Gillard made most women reduce their interest in politics or leadership roles.

This change in attitude came not after women faced sexism themselves, but after being reminded of the sexism someone else faced. This highlights how sexist jokes and comments directed at prominent women can have the effect of making other women and girls fearful of speaking out, giving things a go, or putting themselves in the firing line.

Offensive language can also have an effect on those who use it. , differing impacts on attitudes towards gay people were examined based on whether they heard them described as 鈥済ay鈥� or as 鈥渇ags鈥�.

When hearing the word 鈥渇ag鈥�, heterosexual people went on to display greater negative attitudes towards gay people than when the word 鈥済ay鈥� was used. This highlights how using offensive language may have an important indirect impact on minority groups, as it may have an unintended effect of hardening majority group members' attitudes towards them.

Why are these comments even made?

Given so many people loudly object to offensive language, why do people persist in speaking this way?

In I undertook with a colleague, we asked men to select a joke from a series of pairs that included a clearly sexist joke (such as, 鈥淲hat is the difference between a battery and a woman? A battery has a positive side鈥�) and a joke that was not specifically offensive to women (such as, 鈥淲hy don鈥檛 oysters give to charity? Because they鈥檙e shellfish鈥�).

We then had male participants believe they were interacting over a computer with two other students, one male and one female. In reality, the students they were interacting with were computer-generated, and we altered the reactions these fake peers had to the sexist jokes to see if this influenced how many sexist jokes the participants would choose to send.

The male participants were not influenced by whether or not a woman objected to sexist jokes. They were, however, highly sensitive to how they thought another man would react to them, reducing their use of sexist jokes if they thought a man would be object.

What these results show is these jokes appear to have a 鈥渕ale bonding鈥� function 鈥� that, primarily, men make such jokes typically to impress other men. Other research has suggested a .

Most likely, making jokes about women or using homophobic slurs work to enhance (straight) male bonding because women and gay men represent the 鈥渙ther鈥�; they are what social psychologists refer to as 鈥渙ut-groups鈥� relative to a heterosexual male 鈥渋n-group鈥�.

Research derogation of lower-status out-group members can create greater in-group cohesion, particularly in times when the in-group feels under threat. Often this threat may be unacknowledged or implicit.

This theorising is particularly telling given recent findings suggesting men feel threatened by the thought of , or even former prime minister Tony Abbott鈥檚 confession that he personally finds .

Thus, male bonding through sexist jokes and homophobic language may be an unconscious attempt to deal with a perceived threat coming from the change in the relative status of women and gay men.

Taken together, these findings show two things:

• First, language does matter. Sexist jokes and other kinds of offensive language can have an impact, even if that was not the speaker鈥檚 intent.
• Second, the best way of stamping out such language is to work with high-profile men to send the message to their peers that it is not acceptable to talk in this way.

So, rather than calling those who point out offensive language 鈥渉ysterical鈥�, try to remember a little respect can go a long way.

This opinion piece by Dr , a clinical psychologist in the 爆料王鈥檚 School of Psychology, first appeared in The Conversation this month. 听