The Student Room Group

People treat me like a joke - any advice?

After spending a bit of time with me, people start to make jokes about me and think it's fine to do so. This happens in social groups and in classes with unrelated people and it happens all the times. It must be something about me giving off a certain impression which makes them think that it's fine to mock me, make fun of me and make jokes about me.

I think i make jokes and have a laugh just as much as everybody else, i don't seem to come across as an idiot and don't make jokes about myself and i just really have no idea what it is that makes people think it's fine.

Has anybody else experienced anything similar and have any tips on what i could do to stop this happening?

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(Bumped as this took a while to approve)
i dont really see what the problem is?
Reply 3
Make jokes about yourself and people will stop doing it for you
Just ignore it. Or make better jokes about yourself than your "friends" :wink:
Reply 5
WhySoLimey
i dont really see what the problem is?


Exactly. It's the same with me I take the piss out of my friends they take the piss out of me, it's all friendly banter! :gah:
Reply 6
Conrad?
Make disparaging remarks about their mothers weight problem.
Reply 8
I tried that once before but it just makes people do it more. Could it be because i'm genuinely ugly and people therefore think it's fine to make jokes about me because they think i wouldn't care? Or is it that i look really young for my age and people therefore feel that they should treat me like i'm immature, even when I'm not.

The reason it's a problem is because i'm not treated like everybody else is with 'friendly banter'. It always ends up with people ganging up on me and making jokes solely about me and people treating me as a joke myself. I could say the same comment as somebody else and people would think it was ok coming from that person but if i said it they would go on about it and make fun of me.i have no idea why this keeps happening.
Reply 9
I used to bunk loads of lessons and students/teachers used to poke fun at me and my attendence for 2 years (made lessons a bit uncomfortable when I did go), then when I did my exams and got A's and high B's and showed how smart I was despite my lack of attendence they were more respectful of me and didn't really make jokes about me and if they did, they'd do it in an ironic way, like "she has missed lessons again, but she wont fail...the bitch" lol.

What do the jokes refer to?

Friendly banter is expected but for some it isn't really nice to be the butt of people's jokes, especially if it is prolonged lol. Like people make jokes about how I like eating cakes (only because I cook deserts a lot for my family) they do not realise that it upsets me because of my body dysmorphia and my problems I have with my weight :frown:.
They may not mean to annoy/upset/anger you but you can still prefer not being poked fun at but it's the type of thing where you cannot be direct about your problem with it because itll make your friends feel they have to tiptoe around you which could cause some drifting apart, so just prove them wrong sometimes go against the general joke and it'll give them less of a reason to make one. Because it is lame if someone continues joking about something that really has no application to the person's life. Like poking fun at a gay guy's inability to get a girlfriend in high school or poking fun at a successful lawyer who flopped an Art exam in A-Level lool :rolleyes:.
Anonymous
I tried that once before but it just makes people do it more. Could it be because i'm genuinely ugly and people therefore think it's fine to make jokes about me because they think i wouldn't care? Or is it that i look really young for my age and people therefore feel that they should treat me like i'm immature, even when I'm not.

The reason it's a problem is because i'm not treated like everybody else is with 'friendly banter'. It always ends up with people ganging up on me and making jokes solely about me and people treating me as a joke myself. I could say the same comment as somebody else and people would think it was ok coming from that person but if i said it they would go on about it and make fun of me.i have no idea why this keeps happening.


We don't know you, so it's hard to say :iiam:
It's a problem because when people make fun of you a lot, it starts to get annoying.
Especially if it's not 'friendly banter'.

It happened to me when I was younger, simply because people could feel I would never get angry or tell them to STFU. They were just taking adavantage of it.

OP, when it's starts to annoy you maybe you should try and nicely tell the people you don't mind having a laugh but it's not funny anymore.
If they go on, get angry.

Hope it helps
"There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
Sort Your Body Language Out!!!1!
Get angry, like not just a little bit because some people take that as encouragement. But seriously show them how unacceptable it is. This happens to me because I don't stick up for myself. Don't reataliate either because this just elevates the problem. You have to show people when they have overstepped the line otherwise they will keep going untill they get retaliation, which is what they want.
Reply 15
I think if i got angry they'd just be like 'hahaha, don't freak out' and then would just laugh at that. In fact i think i could guarantee it.

My current plan is to just not make any joke at all for the next week or so. I started today but realised that i have made a few, but i have cut down a lot and it'll become easier. Then i'll see if i can do it for 2 weeks and after 2 weeks i'll see if people are starting to treat me differently or not.
uhmm I don't really see why not making any jokes would make them stop, but you can try :smile:
Reply 17
The idea there is that they might get the impression that i'm being more serious and as a result be more serious themselves.
Just keep a stern face and poke fun back. Show some self respect, and they'll stop poking fun at you.
it happens because you are a ****