I'm out of the kitchen, take that!

Since I began telling my friends that I am infact a feminist I have recieved a lot of comments about "get back into the kitchen woman" or "make me a sandwhich". I know some of them are just joking however it makes me wonder. Does making something as serious as women's rights into a joke help to inhibit or promote the cause? I would actually have to argue the later. While by no means am I condoning making jokes of serious and important issues, I don't think you can fully be comfortable with an issue until you are able to make some humor with the subject matter. What do you all think? Does the ability make lite of serious matter make you a better activist?