It is said that there is a grain of truth in every lie. I would add that there is truth in every joke. Many people living in America lack a sense of humor, or at least one that is by any means expansive. Afraid of being "politically incorrect", they police each others' words and demand things like safe spaces.

To be very clear, I am NOT advocating the use of comedy to demean or belittle a specific person or group of persons. There is an increasingly fine line between a joke that is criticizing something that seems out of place or obnoxious and comedy that is thinly veiled bullying. Much of the difference is intent, which is hard to police; when you know a person and how they normally act though, you should be able to identify if they are pointing something out in a sarcastic or joking manner compared to when they are being rude, racist, sexist, or any other "-ist" in their comments.

Psychologists have studied humor and found it to be a healthy coping mechanism. Personally, comedy worked to make me more confident, to remind me of how ridiculous I sound, and ultimately keep me going when all I wanted to do was stop. Once I was able to joke about my weaknesses and infirmities, they bothered me less. When a loving family member teases me about my crazy "what if" scenarios, I see the enormity of my overreaction and the actual scale of the problem. Even just having the smirk to myself of "what a mess I've made" gets me to snap back into a positive attitude.

So go ahead, be stereotypical and tell me to get back in the kitchen; I'll just tell you to get back in the garage. Make a blonde joke, I'll play along while knowing I'm one of the highest scoring students around. I know I'm scary white and pasty, I've heard all the jokes before.

When we as a society can laugh together about the absurdities of the past, we will be able to make great progress towards the future we claim to hope for.