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Jan. 27th, 2012 11:51 pmSo, I sortof kindof have a horrible secret. Well, not really a secret, but this is not something I would just say, I don't think, in mixed company.
While I think that all rape jokes are offensive, I also think some of them are funny as shit. And I do not think that every joke with the word "rape" in it is actually a joke about rape (see: Raped to Sleep By Dickwolves).
Now...if jokes with the word rape in them are just universally offensive to you to the point you can't laugh at them, ever, that's fine. If I say such a joke around you and you say "I don't think that's funny, could you not do that around me?" that's fine. I have no desire to hurt anyone, and I won't make jokes with the word rape around you if I know they hurt you.
But I really, really hate getting into the same tired old argument that if I think any joke with "rape" in it is funny (let's be honest here, I even occasionally think jokes about rape are funny in certain contexts, my apologies to, I dunno, Satan), I must think it's funny when people get raped. This is patently false, and I can't really justify a reason for the discrepancy. I'm not sure it has anything to do with reason, frankly, and I can't turn it off, no matter how much I "educate" myself about how Incredibly Horribly Unspeakably Awful rape is.
Maybe I just haven't internalized it correctly, though. Maybe some form of education would actually change my mind. A lot of people who have been raped have told me that I wouldn't be singing the same tune if I were them. Maybe they're right. Maybe if I got raped more often, I would understand.
(See what I did there?)
While I think that all rape jokes are offensive, I also think some of them are funny as shit. And I do not think that every joke with the word "rape" in it is actually a joke about rape (see: Raped to Sleep By Dickwolves).
Now...if jokes with the word rape in them are just universally offensive to you to the point you can't laugh at them, ever, that's fine. If I say such a joke around you and you say "I don't think that's funny, could you not do that around me?" that's fine. I have no desire to hurt anyone, and I won't make jokes with the word rape around you if I know they hurt you.
But I really, really hate getting into the same tired old argument that if I think any joke with "rape" in it is funny (let's be honest here, I even occasionally think jokes about rape are funny in certain contexts, my apologies to, I dunno, Satan), I must think it's funny when people get raped. This is patently false, and I can't really justify a reason for the discrepancy. I'm not sure it has anything to do with reason, frankly, and I can't turn it off, no matter how much I "educate" myself about how Incredibly Horribly Unspeakably Awful rape is.
Maybe I just haven't internalized it correctly, though. Maybe some form of education would actually change my mind. A lot of people who have been raped have told me that I wouldn't be singing the same tune if I were them. Maybe they're right. Maybe if I got raped more often, I would understand.
(See what I did there?)
