For instance, in studies, men higher in
hostile sexism – antagonism against women – reported greater tolerance of gender harassment in the workplace upon
exposure to sexist versus neutral (nonsexist) jokes. Men higher in hostile sexism also recommended greater funding cuts to a women’s organization at their university
after watching sexist versus neutral comedy skits. Even more disturbing, other researchers found that men higher in hostile sexism
expressed greater willingness to rape a woman upon exposure to sexist versus nonsexist humor.
How did sexist humor make the sexist men in these studies feel freer to express their sexist attitudes? Imagine that the social norms about acceptable and unacceptable ways of treating women are represented by a rubber band. Everything on the inside of the rubber band is socially acceptable; everything on the outside is unacceptable.
Sexist humor essentially stretched the rubber band; it expanded the bounds of acceptable behavior to include responses that would otherwise be considered wrong or inappropriate. So, in this context of expanded acceptability, sexist men felt free to express their antagonism without the risk of violating social norms and facing disapproval from others. Sexist humor signaled that it’s safe to express sexist attitudes.