It’s understandable what Gay is saying, but she is misguided. Gay writes that calling for people to have thick skin when it comes to jokes benefits “those who want to behave with impunity.” “If we all had the thickest of skins, no one would have to take responsibility for cruelties, big or small,” she writes, with “cruelties” apparently standing in for “jokes” in the context of the incident at the Oscars.
