Dallas lawyer Jason P. Steed wrote his dissertation on the social function of humor, a topic most people might not think would be an interesting one to study. Humor is humor, right? In an article on Vox.com, Steed warned that jokes about violence are not simply innocent and harmless. He specifically referenced one of Trump's most controversial comments: when he was recorded joking to a crowd that "Second Amendment people" (e.g. gun owners) might be able to stop Hilllary Clinton from winning the presidential action.

The threat implicit in this was that Trump supporters could defeat Clinton themselves by shooting her. Admirers of Trump defended him, saying that it was just a joke. He didn't say anything outright, and after all, it was recorded at one of his own rallies. On Twitter, though, Steed said that this statement was far more insidious than just a musing thought. The reality is that humor can make normally taboo ideas seem much more appealing. When we talk about those ideas, we have a responsibility for the effect our words might have.

A common complaint is that members of today's generation (mainly Millennials) are too easily offended by online content. "It's just people on the internet," people say. But as much as we can hide behind spam accounts and fake names, social media is created by real people. It's true that it's different from in-person situations — the harassers are usually faceless, so there's distance between the victim and them. But in some ways this can make the experience worse: dozens or hundreds of anonymous users around the world can say whatever they want about you. They can threaten death or torture, doxx you by sharing your personal info--all without leaving the comforts of their own home.

It happened to Leslie Jones when she did something as innocuous as starring in an all-female Ghostbusters movie. Hackers decried what they felt was the ruination of a classic movie. So in retaliation, they released Jones's driver's license and passport, compared her to an ape, and generally spammed her Twitter account with hateful messages. This barrage of insults was defended by those who cited the First Amendment, because we can say whatever we want, right? When harassment gets as bad as this, though, you should never tell someone to just brush it off. Just because you have a right doesn't mean you can't use it to hurt others.

Saying that jokes are just fun and games only serves to normalize the abuse. It's all too easy to dismiss victims by saying they can't take a joke or overreact at everything. Like it or not, though, anybody online can have their most violent and insulting thoughts literally heard around the world. A staggering amount of social media users graphically threatened women like Anita Sarkeesian, in what became the GamerGate controversy. Of course, the harassers would never say they were actually threatening her — they were just joking, relax! IRL this behavior is at the very least considered stalking--a punishable crime. Online, though, or in a political video, it's apparently something we should all just stop being offended by and stop complaining about.

This belief is something even Trump doesn't have a monopoly on. And it has larger consequences than just degrading the victims. Shock value jokes or "humorous" threats aren't bad only because they hurt feelings (although you should probably actually still care about that). They can also validate the feelings of everyone who hears them. Rape jokes, for example, contribute to the culture that portrays sexual assault as funny. They're why people joke about drugging others' drinks on purpose, or use the word to describe losing in a video game. On a larger scale, they're why rapists post pictures of themselves posing with passed-out victims online. They've been exposed to so much rhetoric that says you can use violence as a joke, that they think it's permissible to do these things.

What we should remember is that when others hear you make light of serious subjects, there's always the chance that someone will take that particular comment as a sign. That they internalize those ideas and may act on them. You can never tell what exactly can set someone on that path, but it's never without a cause. People believe what their parents, friends, teachers and TV shows talk about. If all they hear is "locker room talk", then they might genuinely not think of themselves as people who could seriously hurt someone. Brock Turner and his family certainly don't think he did any wrong by sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. They think he's just a kid that made a mistake. Nobody around them takes the subject seriously, so why would they?

There are a lot of people right now saying that the real world is harsh and that we all need to be adults and suck it up. But there's some behavior that nobody has to accept, adults or otherwise. It's not "just an opinion;" it's not just "messing around." Our words always have and always will have meaning. It doesn't mean that you can't say whatever you want; that's your right. Your freedom of speech should never be restricted. But it would be much more convenient if we all stopped pretending that a joke is just a joke.