Context does matter, but jokes that are based on wrong sterotypes at certain group’s expense aren’t really funny to me, and they only serve to reinforce negative ideas.
The exec’s joke is based on the idea that women talk too much, men can’t find things because women supposedly put everything away. In truth, people of color die from melanoma at higher rates, because all shades of skin incur damage from the sun, but ads and popular culture reinforce the idea that only whites are at risk from sun damage.
https://www.aimatmelanoma.org/melanoma-risk-factors/melanoma-in-people-of-color/
I think it’s worth considering why the joke was inappropriate in a profressional setting and how it contributes to Uber’s difficulty with women overall, (it diminishes women and discourages them from speaking up, although contrary to the joke, women speak less often and for less time than men in work settings http://time.com/money/4450406/men-interrupt-talk-more/) and if it’s really that much better to make it in a personal setting.
Obviously you or any other person can make any joke you like. I don’t make jokes like that anymore, and I don’t “laugh” at them when others make them. But I still laugh a lot, and the laughter is genuine.
