Seriously?

Should humor, in general, and satire, in specific, be taken seriously? Which raises the question: How was the Journal of Polymorphous Perversity® perceived and received? From its inception, there were 17 members of the editorial board of the Journal of Polymorphous Perversity®, including the President of the American Psychological Association, as well as some other renowned psychologists. Apparently, they believed enough in the serious purpose of this humor magazine to lend their names to it. The foreword to Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality (the first of four books of JPP articles) was written by the President of the American Psychiatric Association. So, he clearly took humor seriously. There are three “APA”s: American Psychological Association (comprised of Psychologists), American Psychiatric Association (comprised of Psychiatrists), and American Psychoanalytic Association (largely comprised of Freudian psychoanalysts). Over the course of the 20 years that JPP was published, Wry-Bred Press, Inc. did some major marketing of the journal, including renting and staffing booths at the annual conventions of professional organizations. For most of the 20 years, JPP had a booth at the American Psychological Association annual convention, and for some years JPP had a booth at the American Psychiatric Association annual convention. One year, Wry-Bred Press, Inc. applied for and submitted payment for attendance at the American Psychoanalytic Association annual convention. However, shortly thereafter, the payment was returned by the American Psychoanalytic Association with a terse note that “Humor is inappropriate to our organization.” Clearly, one of the three APAs did not take humor seriously.