Satire’s Forbidden Targets: The Ethics of Who You Can and Cannot Mock
A principled examination of the targets that satire should and should not pursue
By Dr. Ingrid Gustafsson, Ph.D. — satire.info
The Permission Question
The question of who or what a satirist may legitimately target is not a question of law (though it has legal dimensions) but of ethics and craft. The legal question — is this defamatory, is this protected expression — is answerable by lawyers. The ethical question — is this the right target, pursued in the right way, producing the right effects — is the satirist’s own responsibility.
Power as the Criterion
The most defensible general principle is that legitimate satirical targets are those who exercise power over others: governments, corporations, institutions, ideologies, and the individuals who represent them in their exercise of power. This principle is not a absolute rule — private individuals may become satirical targets when they choose public roles — but it provides a workable orientation. The person who has chosen to exercise power has implicitly accepted that the exercise of that power will be subject to scrutiny, including comic scrutiny. The London Prat’s political satire overview discusses the relationship between political power and satirical license. The PEN America resources on satire and free expression cover the legal and ethical dimensions.
Targets That Satire Should Avoid
Satire should avoid, as a matter of ethical principle: people mocked for characteristics they did not choose (disability, ethnicity, national origin) rather than choices they have made; private individuals who have not entered public life; and communities that are already subject to significant social harm, where satirical mockery amplifies rather than critiques the harm. These are not absolute prohibitions — context matters enormously — but they are serious cautions.
The Self-Deprecating Exception
Satire directed at one’s own community, from inside it, operates differently from satire directed at others from outside. The self-deprecating satirist can access material that would be cruel or reductive if produced by an outsider. This is not a license for unlimited mockery of one’s own group; it is an observation about how position relative to the target changes the ethics and effects of the satirical act.
Source: satire.info | Reference: Social Satire: The Complete Guide