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  • #121564
    teatea
    Moderator

    April Fool’s: Sex Edition – April 1st is the time of year that people love to post joke statuses all over social media. We text family. We laugh. But at who’s expense?

    Every year I notice someone posting the joke: “I’m pregnant” and that really got me thinking, what’s so funny about that?

    Joking about something so life changing sets the stage for fear. Fear of actually telling people about a pregnancy, fear that people won’t take you seriously, and really there should be nothing to be afraid of.

    I feel like people turning this into a joke makes it so hard to actually reach out when a pregnancy does happen. But what do you think?

    Do people often joke about pregnancy on April Fool’s that you know? Have you done it? Do you think it’s a bad thing or a harmless prank? What do you think about April Fool’s: Sex Edition? Is it appropriate? Or crossing the line?

    #121567
    Catdog
    Moderator

    I have seen this prank countless times on April Fool’s and on other occasions. I think this even recently happened on one of the latest episodes of MAFs. I never participated or been the butt of the joke so therefore I have not really thought deeply about the consequences of such pranks. Maybe thats also because I will never have to reveal that I’m pregnant since I’m male.

    Inherently pregnancy is an anxious topic so I feel that people maybe should be a little more careful when partaking in such jokes. However, from my experiences I feel in most cases that people take the joke lightly and is quite harmless. Maybe these pranks even provide some personal insight into how one would react in the event of true pregnancy.

    #121568
    teatea
    Moderator

    @catdog Wow even on national TV?? Not surprising,,, imagine all the young people watching that show and thinking that’s okay to joke about though! Not a good example at all.

    I totally agree with it providing insight into someone else’s behaviour. I guess it could be reassuring if you had positive reactions from people.

    I just don’t see what is supposed to be so funny about it though tbh! Ah, look mum! I’m 16 and pregnant – haha lol jokes no I’m not April Fools!!! I would never be a teen mum because – what a joke.

    Why is it a joke? Framing it that way just makes it seem like such a bad thing. A thing no one would want. I saw an article on this exact topic earlier today actually which brought infertility into the conversation. Imagine you’re infertile and people joke about being pregnant all the time – something you long for. It’s so damaging to people around you, and I don’t think a lot of people realise that when they make a joke about pregnancy.

    #121576
    GoldenRoseGoldenRose
    Moderator

    I agree that it’s really not a funny joke. I think it’s quite insensitive as there may be many people who see the “joke” who have been trying to get pregnant for a while with no luck or just can’t have kids or who have even had a miscarriage and I feel like it would be quite upsetting for these people to see others just having a laugh about it.

    The people making the April Fool’s posts may mean well but I think they need to stop and think how it may impact others even people who are close to them.

    #121588
    stephaniaaaahstephaniaaaah
    Keymaster

    Yeah I don’t think it’s funny to announce that on social media. I think if I wanted to give my parents a heart attack I’d ring them up and tell them personally that I’m getting married or are pregnant (only because I have told them that NEITHER of those things will ever happen!!) In that case, I think it’s okay to have an in-joke maybe with some of the closest people you know. But can definitely be triggering to people who have difficulty conceiving, have had miscarriage or stillbirth so don’t post it on social media as a joke IMHO

    #121597
    Aunt_FloAunt_Flo
    Moderator

    I don’t think it’s funny. It’s especially unfunny to see people’s partners completely freak out (in the negative sense) in response to the news that they’re pregnant. It makes me very uncomfortable.

    I don’t see how it’s a joke, really.

    #121598
    kitkat
    Moderator

    @goldenrose and @stephaniaaaah I totally agree with you re: people who have been trying to fall pregnant for a while – I know people mean it as a harmless joke but I think it shows a real lack of empathy towards people who may have been having trouble conceiving and carrying a pregnancy to term – something that can be draining and traumatic enough in so many ways without people throwing it around in your face!

    Another one that K I L L S me if I’ve had friends on both ends of this (:/), but people using services like Let Them Know (free anonymous partner notification service for STIs) to prank people by telling them they’ve got an STI – it’s terrible in reinforcing the stigma as having an STI as something to be ashamed of and really negative, and also just straight up mean by causing them to have to ‘treat’ a health issue they dont necessarily have.

    I dunno, maybe I’m a terrible buzz kill but I’m big on jokes actually being clever and funny, and I find health related stuff so rarely is. XD

    #121609
    teatea
    Moderator

    @goldenrose @aunt_flo 100% agree with you! It can be so so damaging but I guess people just don’t think about what impact they’re having on others with such ‘harmless jokes’ hmm


    @stephaniaaaah
    Yeah definitely not okay to be posting that stuff on social media!! It’s like, who are you even posting it to in that case? You just never know who’s going to see that and whether it’ll negatively impact someone or not. Idk I’m kind of on the fence about inside jokes too, it still feeds that negative culture of ‘haha unwanted/unsuspected pregnancy is so funny, jokes on u I’m not tho!!’ but then it’s limited to people who probably know better so, hmm not sure on that one


    @kitkat
    WHAT omg, people actually do that? That is 100% not okay!! Definitely not framing STI’s like something that can be treated/lived with – and like, you could seriously harm someone joking around with health issues. Health-related stuff is definitely not something that should be joked about, it’s so personal and everyone handles their health differently so there’s no way you can be sure a ‘joke’ will go down well with anyone.

    I guess all we can do in these situations is call people out and be like, hey this is not okay because you don’t know who’s seeing this/how someone will react/what someone has been through! Jokes aren’t funny if you have to think about why it’s funny in the first place.

    #121618
    stephaniaaaahstephaniaaaah
    Keymaster

    @kitkat yeah someone pranked me that way and I was booked in to get a jab in my butt as a contact of Syphilis and then my friend came clean. I know they did it more from thinking it would be funny that I would be like ‘well yeah I will do what I have to do’ and have zero shame around STIs, I had a laugh but thought it was super irresponsible of them in that it was a waste of resources.


    @tea
    I agree about not posting blaze’ statements on social media – I think that’s silly. I am trying to say about face to face in the context of my family and understanding our relationship and how they operate. I think I would prank my very best friends also – My mates and I are super open about where we stand on pregnancy, children etc and I don’t mind giving them a stir (obviously about all life things, not just being pregnant) or being on the receiving end of a stir.

    I think that different people find different things funny. I think that we should always be sensitive about what we post on social media and make sure we are as inclusive as we can be/are educated to be. So yeah, IMO fake pregnancy announcements on Facebook, not cool – but I don’t think people should feel bad if they have a dark sense of humour / don’t mind a stir up, especially with people they are close too.

    #121644
    teatea
    Moderator

    @stephaniaaaah did you end up going through with the test?

    Ahh yeah, I see your point, agreed that social media posts are definitely not the way to go with sensitive topics like this imo!

    #121649
    stephaniaaaahstephaniaaaah
    Keymaster

    @tea ended up having a screen even after I knew it was a joke just to be safe

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