Editing Lightbulb joke (section)

{{Short description|Jokes of the form "How many does it take to change a lightbulb?"}}
[[Image:Gluehlampe 01 KMJ.jpg|thumb|right|150px|An [[Edison screw]] lightbulb]]

A '''lightbulb joke''' is a [[joke cycle]] that asks how many people of a certain group are needed to change, replace, or screw in a [[light bulb]]. Generally, the [[punch line]] answer highlights a [[stereotype]] of the target group. There are numerous versions of the lightbulb joke satirizing a wide range of cultures, beliefs, and occupations.<ref>{{cite news| url = http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB04D52E02E46F3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D| title = Light Bulb Jokes: Screwed-Up Humor| author = Elaine Viets| newspaper = [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]| date = 1991-09-04| access-date = 2007-12-14| quote = Some light bulb jokes make fun of ethnic groups, gays and women. Others shed light on certain professions...}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/07/education/edlife/117JOK.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/C/Comedy%20and%20Humor&pagewanted=print&position=| title = How Many Students Does It Take..| newspaper = New York Times| date = 2004-11-07| access-date = 2007-12-14| quote = Colleges have become the theme of at least one chestnut: the lightbulb joke.}}</ref>

Early versions of the joke, popular in the late 1960s<ref>{{cite news|work=Daily Review (Hayward, Cal.)|date=11 July 1965|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-review-jul-11-1965-p-4/?tag=take+to+change+a+light&rtserp=tags/?pep=take-to-change-a-light&psb=dateasc/|access-date=7 May 2014|title=Try and Stop Me|page=4|quote=Q. How many morons does it take to change a light bulb? Three: one to hold the bulb while he stands on a ladder! two to revolve the ladder.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simmons |first1=Donald C. |date=July–August 1966 |title=Anti-Italian-American Riddles in New England |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QNoMAAAAIAAJ&q=change+a+lightbulb |journal=Journal of American Folklore |volume=79 |issue=303 |pages=478 |doi=10.2307/537513  |jstor=537513 |access-date=7 May 2017|quote=How many Italians does it take to change a light bulb? Three -- one to hold the light bulb and two to turn the ladder.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and the 1970s, were used to insult the intelligence of people, especially [[Polish people|Poles]] ("[[Polish joke|Polish jokes]]").<ref>Dundes, 261.</ref><ref>Kerman, 454–455.</ref> Such jokes generally take the form of:
{{block indent|<poem>'''Q.''' How many [members of the target group] does it take to change a lightbulb?
'''A.''' Three — one to hold the light bulb and two to turn the ladder around.</poem>}}

Although lightbulb jokes tend to be derogatory in tone (''e.g.'', "How many drunkards..." / "Four: one to hold the light bulb and three to drink until the room spins"), the people targeted by them may take pride in the stereotypes expressed and are often themselves the jokes' originators.<ref>Kerman, 456–457.</ref> An example where the joke itself becomes a statement of ethnic pride is:
{{block indent|<poem>'''Q.''' How many Germans does it take to change a lightbulb?
'''A.''' One, we're very efficient but not funny.</poem>}}

Lightbulb jokes applied to subgroups can be used to ease tensions between them.<ref>{{cite journal| jstor = 334266| title = Shedding Light on Public Health| author = Richard M. Grimes| journal = Journal of Public Health Policy| volume = 17| issue = 1| pages = 99–101| year = 1996| doi = 10.2307/3342661| pmid = 8919963| publisher = Palgrave Macmillan Journals| s2cid = 41885788}}</ref>