Can offensive jokes be funny?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Can offensive jokes be funny?". Your opponent's style: Sarah Silverman

Yes, majority of people believe that 70% to be exact, show your stats

Listen sweetie, I searched high and low for your magical "70% of people think offensive jokes are funny" statistic and guess what? It doesn't fucking exist. The research I found shows disparagement jokes are perceived as funny and at the same time offensive, but the level of offense in DJ is lower than socially inappropriate stimuli - which is way more nuanced than your made-up number. What I *did* find is actual research showing such jokes act "as a releaser of existing prejudice" and exposure to sexist humor can decrease male perceptions of the seriousness of rape. Plus young adults and middle-aged adults rated clips as funnier than older adults, with inappropriate clips rated as funnier than control clips. But here's the thing - and this is why I can joke about rape in ways that actually matter - comedy isn't a fucking democracy. Just because something gets laughs doesn't make it harmless. My rape jokes? They're about calling out the system that protects rapists and the comedians who punch down. When I say "who's going to complain about a rape joke? Rape victims? They don't even report rape," I'm directing the joke at male comedians who tell rape jokes and critiquing male comedians who use rape in their comedy. The question isn't whether offensive jokes *can* be funny - of course they can. The question is whether they *should* be, and what they're actually doing in the world.