How Come You Never Hear Father-in-law Jokes?

[garret]

We always hear mother- in -law jokes but none about fathers. Aren't fathers funny too?

[beaufort]

no one expects them to be smart, so it's not amusing when they're stupid?

[linley81]

LexWordsmith said: 2 no one expects them to be smart, so it's not amusing when they're stupid? 72 months ago

[pannoowau]

[Steven]

fathers-in-law are usually ignored in real life, not to mention jokes.

[Ayize]

Jokes like this depend on highly stylized views of a particular role in society.  A mother-in-law joke is funny because it depends on the stereotype of a mother remaining attached to her daughter after marriage(really, I suspect, a woman remaining attached to her mother). A bride's father doesn't have a highly stylized social role.  Fathers DO have a stylized role in this society with respect to their daughters, and that's to be highly protective of them(or rather, of their chastity).  So the parallel is the farmer's-daughter joke, in which the protagonist of the story is trying to put something over on the father to get to the daughter.  Once the daughter is married, he's done his job. There are stereotypes of the father-in-law to play with, usually as a henpecked man(really just an expansion of the domineering mother stereotype that makes the mother-in-law joke).  But they're less important, so you see fewer of those.

[Adalberto]

Predator said: 1 Because fathers-in-law will kill you. 72 months ago

[Aluino]

Because they're all farmer's-daughter jokes instead Jokes like this depend on highly stylized views of a particular role in society.  A mother-in-law joke is funny because it depends on the stereotype of a mother remaining attached to her daughter after marriage(really, I suspect, a woman remaining attached to her mother). A bride's father doesn't have a highly stylized social role.  Fathers DO have a stylized role in this society with respect to their daughters, and that's to be highly protective of them(or rather, of their chastity).  So the parallel is the farmer's-daughter joke, in which the protagonist of the story is trying to put something over on the father to get to the daughter.  Once the daughter is married, he's done his job. There are stereotypes of the father-in-law to play with, usually as a henpecked man(really just an expansion of the domineering mother stereotype that makes the mother-in-law joke).  But they're less important, so you see fewer of those. PamPerdue 72 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[Robbin]

Because fathers-in-law will kill you.

[matthieu2]

boxing said: 3 fathers-in-law are usually ignored in real life, not to mention jokes. 72 months ago