# What were you THINKING?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 301

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**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/301 "2023-12-07T23:07:10Z")

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> [@hajario](#):
>
> > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#):
> >
> > We _have_ lost a lot of the sex-based threads that generated Board memes like “pan-fried semen”, “masturbating like a motherfucker”, and “cardboard paper towel tubes”
> 
> How is any of that awful crap a loss in particular the last one which was beyond disgusting at the time?

Well, alas, for some of us (and I refer to myself, of course), the sense of humor hasn’t progressed much past age fourteen. But in my own defense, the oldest recorded joke ever found is a fart joke, so if my sense of humor is puerile, it has at least the weight of history behind it.

> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> I haven’t read any of those, but based on the titles, none sound like they ought to be moderated. I mean, “pan fried semen” is the opposite of the “cat hair” comment. Talking about cooking semen takes a sexual topic and kind of weirdly desexualizes it. Whereas the other takes a boring, non sexual situation (cats shed fur) and turns out into an excuse to sexually fondle a woman

Yes, I take your point. What I meant was that with sex or scatology, being humorous without being offensive is difficult; it’s a fine line between “funny” and “creepy”, and some are better than others at dancing on it. Our recent focus on controlling misogyny has made the social cost of crossing that line higher, which I suspect discourages attempts at blue humor. It’s still possible, of course - witness @Master_Wang-Ka’s wonderful tale of a colonoscopy [that took an unexpected bent.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magical-mystery-tour-or-where-no-man-has-gone-before-colonoscopy/983131)

But in general, I think less-gifted Dopers are more wary of posting potentially-offensive comments. And as I said, if that makes female posters more comfortable here, that’s a fair trade.

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