Cultural Anthropology
Joke Analysis Paper
Dry Humping: The Humor Behind the Humping
A joke commonly circulated throughout my group of friends involves a somewhat sexual activity referred to as "dry humping." Dry humping essentially is imitating the act of sexual intercourse while still clothed and with out penetration. Dry humping is often foreplay that partners use to arouse each other (specifically the female partner) before actually engaging in sexual intercourse. Although dry humping can be enjoyable, it is not considered to be the best or the favorite part of the sexual experience. I often joke around with my friends, saying that I love dry humping, and would prefer it to any other element of the sexual experience, or as we young adults like to call it, a "hook-up."
On specific example of this joke occurred a few weekends ago. It was a Saturday night and all of the festivities were beginning to wind down for the night. Some students were going to bed weary from a night of drinking and other debauchery. Others were desperately looking for willing members of the opposite sex to go home with and take their best shot at a hook-up. I walked back to my room, alone unfortunately, but still optimistic for a good ending to the night. I walked into my friends room and he was sitting at his desk on talking on the phone. I sat down and began to chuckle because I knew it was a girl he was talking to and that he was trying to persuade her to come over. I deducted from his mannerisms and by the way that the conversation was going that his efforts were not enjoying much success. He rolled his eyes at me and began to laugh and I could tell that he was giving up. I reached over and told him to give me the phone with a grin on my face. Although he was a relatively new friend of mine and had previously not been privy to my glory stories of dry humping, he new I was going to say something to the girl of a jovial nature. He nodding, smiling while he handed me the phone. From this, I could tell that my request for starting a joke had been granted. I began to give try to persuade the girl to come over by telling her that I not only loved to dry hump, but that I was a professional dry humper. The girl laughed, along with my friend in the background, so therefore I was granted permission to proceed. I continued my discussion, telling her that I was ranked by the magazine Dry Humping Weekly to be the third best dry humper in the world. She responded to me with facetious congratulations, and I continued, saying that I could give her the best dry humping experience she would ever have. The joke went on with me explaining the criteria by which Dry Humping Weekly evaluated my performances. Eventually we hung up and all parties enjoyed a good laugh.
Part of Mary Douglas' theory of the joke is that "Joking is a symbolic form in which one accepted pattern is confronted by something else that was hidden to begin with." This theory is supported in two different ways within this dry humping joke situation. The first has to do with the cultural established rule within a college campus of the "booty call." Within the college culture it is usually accepted, and sometimes expected, that on a weekend night when everyone has been drinking and partying a student can call on a member of the opposite sex for a late night visit. Although these calls are often not successful, it is still accepted. When making these calls however, there are usually certain parameters that one is expected to follow so as not to embarrass oneself. If a male calls a female on campus at two 'o clock in the morning after a night of drinking, it can be assumed that the male is lobbying for some late-night sexual satisfaction. Even though both parties are aware of the situation at hand, it is the accepted pattern to circumvent the truth and not mention the true motives. I believe that the reason for this avoidance of the truth in these types of situations is to lessen the emotional impact of a rejection. My joke confronted this accepted pattern because I let the girl on the other line know that it was indeed a "booty call" by directly suggesting something with a sexual connotation. The second way an accepted social pattern was challenged by this joking situation has to do with the fact that I was soliciting dry humping instead of any other part of a sexual encounter. If a hook-up were to occur, it is not generally expected that dry-humping would be the focal point of the experience. However, I conveyed to the girl that the only thing I wanted to do was to give her an unforgettable dry-humping. In this way also, my joke opposed the generally accepted pattern of the "booty call."
Douglas theory also requires that in order to make and understand a joke, one must have a high degree of understanding within the cultural context. In other words, in order to find my dry-humping jokes funny, one would have understand the situation in which dry humping would occur. Without any sexual experience, it would be difficult for an individual to completely understand the humor of the dry-humping jokes. The joke actually started because of a "hook-up" that I had one night that did not go the way I hoped it would. I was in bed with a girl that I had just met and was trying to initiate further sexual contact to no avail. We began to dry-hump and continued to do so until I was frustrated with the way things were going. She was obviously enjoying more then me, and with out further contact, dry-humping tends to be a "tease" for the male party. The fact that dry-humping is a fore-play activity leads the male to believe that more is to follow. The result is that the female ends up being more satisfied then the male. Without an understanding of this type of sexual experience, it is difficult to find the humor in joking about dry-humping. Males with this cultural competence find these jokes funny because they have experienced a frustrating dry-humping encounter similar to mine. Females with the same understanding find the jokes funny because they know that even though it is somewhat pleasurable for the male, it often leaves the male unsatisfied if it does not lead to further sexual activity that was expected by him or at least hoped for. Sometimes less experienced individuals take my jokes seriously and believe that I do in fact find dry-humping to be the most enjoyable part of a sexual encounter. When I starting telling the girl in my first story that I was a professional dry-humper, I assumed that she had sexual experience and understood the situations in which dry-humping would occur. She affirmed by telling me between laughs that she indeed had dry-humped before. This supports Douglas theory that the understanding of the joke requires a high degree of cultural competence.
That last part of Douglas theory is that "a joke is seen and allowed when it offers a symbolic pattern of a social pattern occurring at the same timeAll jokes are expressive of the social situations in which they occur." The social pattern occurring previous to the joking situation was a standard booty call. It was clear that my friend was not successful in his attempts to convince the girl to come visit him. My joke was a symbolic representation of his undertaking to hook-up with the girl. In this case the connection between my symbolic pattern and the social pattern is easy to see because my joke immediately followed his traditional "booty call." He started by following all the rules set by the social setting of a college weekend night. He tried to get the girl to come to his room, however, despite the fact that the girl knew exactly what he wanted, he did not directly reveal his motives. My joke was a symbolic representation of a "booty call" because I broke the rules associated with the situation. The joke was allowed only because it was clearly symbolic of an actual sincere "booty call."
In conclusion, Mary Douglas' theory about jokes is completely supported by this particular experience. The acceptance of this dry-humping joke is based on the fact that the symbolic pattern, the suggestion of dry humping, clashes with the standards for the "booty call" set by the social setting. Understanding of the joke is dependant on understanding of a dry humping situation, specifically understanding when and why it is or is not desired. Finally, my joke was allowed because it was expressive of the social situation which was occurring. It was only funny because it mimicked the form of the social pattern that occurred minutes before.