Twitter's Favorite Joke About Broken Legs and Public Speaking is a Problem
By Steven S. Vrooman
There's a joke about public speaking that gets retold and retweeted in waves the past two years. It shows up on tumblr and instagram, and likely on facebook, as well. Here's a snapshot of the most heavily RTed versions of this:
There's a joke about public speaking that gets retold and retweeted in waves the past two years. It shows up on tumblr and instagram, and likely on facebook, as well. Here's a snapshot of the most heavily RTed versions of this:
kids with broken legs dont have to do PE but kids with social anxiety still have to do public speaking, isnt there a problem there
— Awkward Comedy (@AwkwardComedy) May 22, 2014
Kids with broken legs don't have to do PE but kids with social anxiety still have to do public speaking. They're both different but serious.
— Against Suicide (@AgainstSuicide) April 16, 2014
kids with broken legs dont have to do PE but kids with social anxiety still have to do public speaking, isnt there a problem there
— Girl Code (@reIatabIe) February 9, 2014
if you have a broken leg, you're excused in PE
so why are people with anxiety disorders still forced to speak in front of people?
— sam (@nutcraicniall) September 30, 2013
"if someone has a broken leg, they don't have to do pe, but if someone has social anxiety, they still have to do speeches for grades."
— nicole white (@radicoley) September 23, 2013
School logic:
You have a broken leg? Ok, you don't have to participate in PE.
You have social anxiety? Too bad, now give the presentation.
— ☹ Becky ☹ (@Beccasauruz) September 16, 2013
If you're physically injured, you don't have to do gym. But if you have social anxiety, you still have to do oral reports? School is stupid.
— Ali :) (@youreperfect_) August 25, 2013
i dont understand schools
if u have a borken leg u dont have to do PE but if u have social anxiety ur forced to do public speaking
— iris (@zaynfxck) April 6, 2013
I can understand why all these nervous high school students want to share this joke. I know how nervous we get.But here's why this joke should go away:
1. Obviously, the joke oversimplifies issues of physical disability and anxiety disorder in unhelpful ways. You can see how these arguments play out on tumblr here & here & here & here & here & here. (<-- I know this looks like the last set of links you want to wade through, but it is an interesting discussion). I have taught and helped students with diagnosed social anxiety issues who were under a physician's care many times. There are a huge diversity of anxiety issues that we are pretending are just one THING, "Social Anxiety Disorder," that is as specific and unvarying as "broken legs." Anxiety comes in many different forms. Most people's speaking anxiety can be improved.
2. The joke creates this image of the world:
The real picture should look the complete opposite:
The reason for public speaking class is that most people are nervous. It's not a club of extroverts all smiling the way people only do at the end of pharmaceutical advertisements.
Jokes reveal things about the ways we are thinking. In this case, they reveal and contribute to our collective inability to deal with speaking anxiety in constructive ways. It's okay to always hate this stuff. But doesn't it feel just a little bit better knowing we're all hating it with you?