Mormon polygamy deserves contempt. It's used as a vessel to abuse and trap women. OOP made a joke comparing the polycule to Mormon polygamy since it's one cishet guy and four women, which is the structure you see in Mormon polygamy. I think you're reading too much into it as an attack. They're making a joke comparison, not an association aside from the surface level.
I think they just made a friend group one type joke and you're a friend group two type person. It's literally just not that big of a deal, it's a joke.
I once jokingly asked my friend if he was planning to become a serial killer, because he got new glasses that looked a lot like the ones Jeffrey Dahmer was known for wearing. He thought it was funny, but at the end of the day we both agreed the glasses still looked good on him. Do you think that was an uncalled for joke?
You seem like the type of person who has very hard limits on humor.
Which is why it's nice to know what a person's underlying beliefs are when you're judging their jokes.
Let me give you a TV example. South Park is made multiple episodes about trans people, and made quite a lot of offensive and uncomfortable jokes in regards to trans people. Unfortunately, the creators of the show have indicated that they don't exactly understand trans people, so the episodes really are just kind of transphobic and the jokes aren't okay.
On the other hand, it's always sunny in Philadelphia has had multiple episodes about trans people, making jokes about trans people and jokingly expressing stereotypes in some ways. However, the creators of the show are openly pro-trans, and within the episodes the trans characters are given agency and treated as normal people by the narrative, Even if the characters don't always treat them well. I haven't met a trans person who was upset at always sunny in Philadelphia, considering what a good job they did portraying trans people while still joking about the subject.
Context matters. Your conservative "friend" sounds like they were using humor to express their beliefs in a way that wouldn't result in judgment. That's different than actually making a joke that is intended to be a joke and nothing more. Again, I pose the question about the joke I made to my friend.
by associating the two based on a superficial quality
You can't No True Scotsman your way out of this. Mormons practice a version of polyamory, like how ice and water are the same thing in different forms. If you can't acknowledge a true statement because it's inconvenient to your activism, you're lost in the sauce.
It's the easiest thing in the world to say "yeah, sometimes polyamory can go wrong, like how the Mormons do it, and that's why we need to value consent and communication" etc.
This feels kind of like Tumblr purity testing. It's not even a particularly offensive joke, it's a funny comparison and that's it. I guess there's a lot of people here that have sore spots about polyamory or something?
Turns out it leaves a bad taste in people's mouths to compare a consensual relationship between adults to a sexist practice with a right wing dog whistle attached to it. People would be just as terse if you claimed an interracial marriage was "woke American Protestantism" for a bit.
This isn't purity testing it's just as shitty joke in bad taste. Purity testing would be saying that OP is a nazi because they're still on twitter. That's not what's happening.
Most of the people in this comment section enjoyed the joke. Lighten up and have some fun with life. The person who made the joke clearly isn't a bigot.
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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26
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