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perpetual_motionOn F!S today, there was a secret wishing the Penny Arcade guys would burn in hell. The comments to the secret said it revolved around this comic wherein a character tells another character they are "raped to sleep by Dickwolves." This led to the PA guys creating this comic after they got a lot of complaints that they shouldn't make a joke of rape.
One of the claims being made at F!S is that the PA guys had threatened to rape a female blogger for protesting the strip. I've asked for some sort of proof on this and have not yet heard back (I only asked a few minutes ago). There was also discussion about how the PA guys made a t-shirt with the Dickwolves on it or mentioning it (the shirt is no longer for sale) to shove it in the face of rape victims.
Rather than go ranty-mcpanty on you, let me link you to this response to the whole thing and share this quote:
Granted, your mileage may vary, and this is something that I have blogged about on my more serious blogs: Sexual Assault survivors are not a monolith. Some of us enjoy gallows humor, and definitely feel it serves it’s purpose in the grand scheme of healing. Some of us don’t. However, as a rape survivor I am fucking sick to death of people, some of whom are also survivors, but many who are not, decreeing that as a survivor I need to be treated as if I’m made of spun glass and merely seeing the word “rape” will shatter me into a bazillion pieces, or, conversely that because I’m NOT made of spun glass surrounding the topic, that I’m doing it wrong.
I'm with her. I think rape jokes--when properly executed--are funny. I also like fart jokes, murder jokes, and domestic violence jokes. I do not--DO NOT--like rape, murder, or domestic violence when they occur, but I do not think finding these things funny in a completely imaginary context somehow makes me less of a woman, a feminist, or a rape survivor.
And, as the blog post points out, the joke isn't rape. It's the definition of "hero" in video games. Just because the word "rape" shows up and because the action is talked about doesn't mean it's the focus.
Look, if you have proof that the PA guys actually threatened to rape someone, I will pay attention, but I'm seeing a lot of conjecture and hearsay, and I read the Dickwolves comic when it came out, and I laughed. And I found the way the guys responded to the controversy funny, too. And I probably would have bought a Dickwolves shirt. Because I find it funny. Because no one is in any danger.
And maybe it's not your thing. Well, yeah, I can understand why, but I don't think I should get considered some sort of apologist or enabler or anything like that just because I have a skewed sense of humor.
Finally, there was another comment made that a recent study said that men who find rape jokes funny are more likely to rape someone. Again, I've asked for corroboration, but it's only been a few minutes. Google isn't bringing up anything. If you know the study in question, please link me to it.
EDIT: I've been keeping up with the comment thread, and someone posted this perfect encapsulation of my point:
Yes, but rapedogs or whatever is no more about real rape victims than a cartoon character getting turned into an accordion by a 10,000 lb weight is about real assault.
One of the claims being made at F!S is that the PA guys had threatened to rape a female blogger for protesting the strip. I've asked for some sort of proof on this and have not yet heard back (I only asked a few minutes ago). There was also discussion about how the PA guys made a t-shirt with the Dickwolves on it or mentioning it (the shirt is no longer for sale) to shove it in the face of rape victims.
Rather than go ranty-mcpanty on you, let me link you to this response to the whole thing and share this quote:
Granted, your mileage may vary, and this is something that I have blogged about on my more serious blogs: Sexual Assault survivors are not a monolith. Some of us enjoy gallows humor, and definitely feel it serves it’s purpose in the grand scheme of healing. Some of us don’t. However, as a rape survivor I am fucking sick to death of people, some of whom are also survivors, but many who are not, decreeing that as a survivor I need to be treated as if I’m made of spun glass and merely seeing the word “rape” will shatter me into a bazillion pieces, or, conversely that because I’m NOT made of spun glass surrounding the topic, that I’m doing it wrong.
I'm with her. I think rape jokes--when properly executed--are funny. I also like fart jokes, murder jokes, and domestic violence jokes. I do not--DO NOT--like rape, murder, or domestic violence when they occur, but I do not think finding these things funny in a completely imaginary context somehow makes me less of a woman, a feminist, or a rape survivor.
And, as the blog post points out, the joke isn't rape. It's the definition of "hero" in video games. Just because the word "rape" shows up and because the action is talked about doesn't mean it's the focus.
Look, if you have proof that the PA guys actually threatened to rape someone, I will pay attention, but I'm seeing a lot of conjecture and hearsay, and I read the Dickwolves comic when it came out, and I laughed. And I found the way the guys responded to the controversy funny, too. And I probably would have bought a Dickwolves shirt. Because I find it funny. Because no one is in any danger.
And maybe it's not your thing. Well, yeah, I can understand why, but I don't think I should get considered some sort of apologist or enabler or anything like that just because I have a skewed sense of humor.
Finally, there was another comment made that a recent study said that men who find rape jokes funny are more likely to rape someone. Again, I've asked for corroboration, but it's only been a few minutes. Google isn't bringing up anything. If you know the study in question, please link me to it.
EDIT: I've been keeping up with the comment thread, and someone posted this perfect encapsulation of my point:
Yes, but rapedogs or whatever is no more about real rape victims than a cartoon character getting turned into an accordion by a 10,000 lb weight is about real assault.
