Author Archives: Kellianne Abshier

Dumb Blonde Jokes

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Fullerton, CA
Performance Date: 4/23/11
Primary Language: English

“Why did the dumb blonde stare at the orange juice carton for hours? It said concentrate.”

“How do you kill a blonde? Put a scratch-n-sniff sticker at the bottom of a pool.”

“How do you drive a blonde crazy? Put them in a circular room and tell them to find a corner.”

Matthew is a high school student in Fullerton, California. Matthew learned these jokes from people in junior high. He especially found this joke because I have blonde hair, and so he found it fun to tell the joke while also poking fun at me. He said that he would share these jokes to people on his sports teams.  He also suggest the jokes are so funny because blondes are “usually stupid,” and thus the jokes share, for him, an element of truth. Matthew says that he likes to share jokes with his friends because it helps them bond and have fun together.

This series of jokes represents just three of a very long list of jokes based on the dumb blonde stereotype.  I think the jokes are funny, but I also think that the jokes can be switched out based on who the dumb stereotypes belongs to.  People who are blonde may have to face this stereotype in different settings including the academic setting.  When this series of jokes are shared and preformed, the jokes are usually not just shared by one person but many add their own jokes.

Because the jokes are so popular, the jokes show up in modern media and literature.  For instance, in the book Breaking Dawn from the Twilight series – popular in the adolescent generation – the following joke is shared, “You know how to drown a blonde… Glue a mirror to the bottom of a pool.” This joke is very similar to the formerly mentioned scratch and sniff sticker joke.  These jokes implying that blondes are so dumb that they would be too preoccupied with a scratch and sniff sticker or a mirror that they would not realize they are drowning.

Meyer, Stephenie. Breaking Dawn. New York: Little, Brown and, 2009. Print.

Mennonite Joke

Nationality: White
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 4/23/11
Primary Language: English

“Why do Mennonites not believe in pre-marital sex?

Because it could lead to dancing.”

The informant is a student living in San Diego, California.  He attended a Mennonite Middle School and now attends a Christian university. The informant learned this joke from another friend in his social group.  He finds it so funny because the Mennonites do not believe in dancing. The informant said the joke should be shared when you are with a bunch of Mennonites or other people who understand the culture and beliefs.

The humor in this joke is based on the backwards thought process it exemplifies.  According to the joke because Mennonites dislike dancing so much they, in turn, also do not believe in pre-marital sex; whereas in most Christian denominations dancing is appropriate behavior while pre-marital sex is sinful.  The expected answer for this joke is something like “it is sinful nature”, “it could lead to pregnancy”, or “it could lead to an STD”.  I think this joke is funny because the answer is unexpected yet very stereotypical of the Mennonite community.  I also like the fact that Mennonites can be self-deprecating and are able to poke fun at themselves.

Tombstone Chopsticks- Chinese Custom

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, CA
Performance Date: 4/14/11
Primary Language: English

“In general, a Chinese custom.  When your eating out of a bowl and you want to stop eating.  You can’t leave your chopsticks in a bowl. Its rude and bad luck because it looks like a tombstone.  So you have to rest them on the edges of the top of the bowl or in the chopstick holder.”

The informant heard this when she was studying abroad in Beijing, China.  She was with her Chinese language partner.  The custom is commonly known and people are brought up know this.  She says that she only would follow the custom to be polite and make the people feel comfortable but did not believe it to be true in any way.

Chinese culture has a lot of customs and superstitions regarding death.  I would never think it to be superstitious to leave my chopsticks in a bowl, but many Chinese would see that as a bad practice. The concept of death transcends into a majority of Chinese folkloric practices.  I find this to be very interesting because I feel like eating and chopsticks has nothing to do with tombstones and death.  But, this is a superstition passed down from generation to generation and people do not want bad luck.

Wounaan Creation Myth

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, Ca
Performance Date: 4/23/11
Primary Language: English

“So in the beginning of Wounaan culture, um, humanity begins with one man on a beach with nothing on it. After years of living alone on the beach, he decides that he is going to bring all the stick that are in the sand and stick them in the sand so like they stand up vertically. He places them in vertical lines of hundreds.  And he spends months sticking the sticks into the sand. The number of sticks was over thirty-thousand sticks.  After he had finished putting all the sticks on the beach, he fell asleep on the beach.

We he awoke the next morning, the sticks were no longer pieces of wood but bodies of man. However they weren’t alive. They were just bodies. He then had to go and blow a breath of life upon every one of them. Once they’ve all came alive.  They all spoke the same language, but they didn’t have a name for it.  Deciding that they needed a name, they choice the name of the language, “Our Language” which translates to Wounaan. After spending time alone on the beach, they decided that there has to be more than just life on the beach. So they wondered up the rivers into the jungle.  And they discovered life and vegetation beyond what they had ever seen before. And they chose to live to live on the riverbanks instead of the beach.  That how the Wounaan’s became known as the people of the river.”

The informant was doing mission work in the Panama in the Darien Jungle. He lived with the Wounaan tribe for six months.  He was sitting in a hut at night around a fire, and a few of the tribe leaders wanted to share with him their culture.  This is a story told to children when they ask where they come from.

The Wounaan believe the man to be the original Creator of humanity and a deity.  The tribe members also believe when you take a stick and place it into the ground, the dead stick can give birth to new life and hence the new human lives from the sticks.

The informant does not think it is a true story of creation.  But he thinks that it would be a reasonable story to tell a child.  The older, non-educated generation believes this story to be true.  The more indigenous Wounaans believe this myth to hold sacred truth to the creation of their culture.

This myth is the creation story of the Wounaan tribe.  The story of the tribe addresses how the Wounaan people came about – from one single creator – and how they ended up in the jungle.  This is a very interesting creation story.  I found the idea that the man must breathe life into the bodies very interesting as it parallels the creation story in the Bible, when God breathed life into Adam.  I also find it interesting that they define a common language before they move to higher ground.  The idea that a common language is a defining factor for a tribe is common throughout culture.

Jack of Diamonds

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego, Ca
Performance Date: 4/23/11
Primary Language: English

“My siblings, cousins, and I have been playing Hearts for years.  I’ve always played with the Jack of Diamonds.  It’s kind of a rule, I guess, that my family has passed down from generation to generation.  It’s like the opposite of the Queen of Spades.  Instead of getting thirteen points, if you get the Jack of Diamonds you get minus eleven points. Cause you know in Hearts you don’t want points. It makes playing the game for longer, funner.”

The informant said that he grew up in a very big family who loved to play card games.  He recounts playing Hearts with other people and being so excited to get the Jack of Diamonds.  Those he was with did not understand his excitement as they just viewed the Jack of Diamonds as another card.  This specific folk game is played with the informant’s family.  Outside this context would not make sense to the other participants.  The informant says they add the Jack of Diamonds to the game because “it’s a fun addition and a game changer”.  The card allows for a second chance.  He prefers to play Hearts with the Jack of Diamond rule.

The addition of the Jack of Diamonds to the game of Hearts provides the players with a card to keep them from being the “biggest loser” and provides a clear winner.  Often when the game is played more than one person can earn zero points while a few of the other people will have points based on if they have Hearts or the Queen of Spades.   American society is a winning-driven culture.  Without the Jack of Diamonds more than one winner is very possible, but with the card the players are able to control the game and most of the time there is a clear winner.