Rape As Comedy--Should it be allowed?

[Eloi]

I was flipping through the channels last night, and I found a stand-up act, watched the routine, and rape was the comedic subject. I thought it was horrible, and don't think rape should be used in comedy.

Do you think I'm overreacting, or should rape be off-limits in the realm of comedy?

 

[Dannichu]

I don't get rape-as-comedy humour. I can comprehend that someone could care so little about people who might have had traumatic rape-related life experiences to think that it's a perfectly acceptable topic for public jokes and such... but it's still not funny. Which, as I understand it, is somewhat of a requirement for something to be humourous.

 

[Pwnemon]

I wouldn't have As much of a problem with rape as comedy if I ever heard it as te subject of one decent routine.

 

[#1 bro]

Feel like you can't really say "oh, x isn't funny", if in fact x definitely IS funny.

You only need to spend a few minutes on 4chan to realize that, yes, rape is clearly pretty funny to a lot of people. After all, it would probably be hard to deny the humor value of "hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband cuz they rapin everybody out here", or of people making jokes along the "don't drop the soap" vein about prison rape, or pedobear, etc. One of my friends has a very surreal humor style which involves him making a bizarre non sequitor about rape approximately every fifteen minutes, and people love him for it.

You can't say something like "Um, i don't see what's so humorous about being forced to have sex against your will" or "No one should find this topic funny because it is serious", because they're both essentially saying "It is illogical to laugh at a joke about rape". But humor is like the most illogical thing ever! There is pretty much no reason for anything being funny ever, and rape is obviously not an exception. It just is funny to people. People find it funny. I won't lie, I find it funny. (under the right circumstances of course)

I don't think anything should be off-limits to joke about. People shouldn't have to censor their thoughts; thoughts should instead be put out into the open. We shouldn't have to go around saying "EVERYONE PRETEND RAPE ISN'T FUNNY, YOU HEAR ME, NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO THINK RAPE IS FUNNY", and force everyone to hide their laughter deep down inside. Instead, we should just accept that we think it's funny, and go from there. Laughter is a coping mechanism of sorts, after all. People just need to chill out and not suppress what they know to be true.

I apologize if I offended anyone with the above.

Also, for the record, I don't think I have made a joke about rape myself in quite some time, if at all.

 

[Eloi]

But 4chan doesn't find rape funny, it finds the lulz in people getting offended. Its about offending people, and that wouldn't work if rape was a funny subject for the majority of people. Thus, you proved my point more than you did yours.

 

[ultraviolet]

I don't personally find rape funny, and I find it to be in rather poor taste! But whether it should be 'allowed' is another question. Perhaps it's a bad idea to have it present in mainstream media because it's such a sensitive issue, but you can't really censor what people find funny or share with others. I don't know. People make jokes about genocide and paedophilia, so ?_?

 

[surskitty]

People make jokes about genocide and paedophilia, so ?_?

People tend to assume that people who commit genocide and paedophiles aren't good people.

People tend to defend rapists and accuse the rape victim of 'asking for it' or 'liking it' or 'looking for publicity'.

Rape jokes are not only in poor taste, they're downright irresponsible. The biggest problem with comparing jokes about rape to jokes about murder is that there is no issue of people defending murderers, while you could look at, say, the whole thing with Roman Polanski for a good example of people defending rapists. Rape jokes are incredibly offensive but more importantly they trivialise rape.

 

[Eloi]

People tend to assume that people who commit genocide and paedophiles aren't good people.

People tend to defend rapists and accuse the rape victim of 'asking for it' or 'liking it' or 'looking for publicity'.

Rape jokes are not only in poor taste, they're downright irresponsible. The biggest problem with comparing jokes about rape to jokes about murder is that there is no issue of people defending murderers, while you could look at, say, the whole thing with Roman Polanski for a good example of people defending rapists. Rape jokes are incredibly offensive but more importantly they trivialise rape.

Man, I wish I would have thought of all that, good points.

Good Points For Why Rape Jokes Are Bad-1
Good Points For Why Rape Jokes Aren't Bad-0

 

[shy ♡]

There's a difference between allowing jokes and finding them funny. For example, I don't find slapstick comedy funny; I don't find jokes about bullying funny; I don't find a lot of things to be funny, but they're still allowed, and I wouldn't want them not to be.

Why? Because it's freedom of speech. Seriously. Let's look at a tv show; if they have what they can write become limited, they lose desire to write at all. These are artists whose freedom is being watched and, if whoever says 'no, that's not acceptable', they can't do it. It's already being done for many things, but to a lesser extent.

Same goes for any sort of art, really; if you limit what I can draw, I'm going to hate you and not want to draw very much. (Or try to find roundabout ways of drawing it anyhow.)

So, yeah. I don't find rape jokes funny but I don't want to stop them, either.

 

[Eloi]

There's a difference between allowing jokes and finding them funny. For example, I don't find slapstick comedy funny; I don't find jokes about bullying funny; I don't find a lot of things to be funny, but they're still allowed, and I wouldn't want them not to be.

Why? Because it's freedom of speech. Seriously. Let's look at a tv show; if they have what they can write become limited, they lose desire to write at all. These are artists whose freedom is being watched and, if whoever says 'no, that's not acceptable', they can't do it. It's already being done for many things, but to a lesser extent.

Same goes for any sort of art, really; if you limit what I can draw, I'm going to hate you and not want to draw very much. (Or try to find roundabout ways of drawing it anyhow.)

So, yeah. I don't find rape jokes funny but I don't want to stop them, either.

You can use the exact same argument by replacing [rape jokes] with [jokes against black people] or [jokes against LGBTQQA people] or [jokes against the entire female gender]. Would you be fine with all of that? Because this isn't just about artistic freedom, it actually makes it harder for real people in real life due society's acceptance of the ignorant attitudes promoted in these jokes.

 

[ultraviolet]

what exactly is meant by whether or not they should 'be allowed'? allowed in public media? allowed to be mentioned at all? allowed on the internet? because I don't like rape jokes and I find them to be in very poor taste, but I'm not really sure what's being argued here; so far your general argument seems to be against making rape jokes at all ever, which is ridiculous. People can and do make jokes about everything, and suddenly saying 'no, you can't laugh at rape' is ... pointless.

Rape jokes are not only in poor taste, they're downright irresponsible. The biggest problem with comparing jokes about rape to jokes about murder is that there is no issue of people defending murderers, while you could look at, say, the whole thing with Roman Polanski for a good example of people defending rapists. Rape jokes are incredibly offensive but more importantly they trivialise rape.

that's very true and not something I'd thought about, actually.

 

[Eloi]

what exactly is meant by whether or not they should 'be allowed'? allowed in public media? allowed to be mentioned at all? allowed on the internet? because I don't like rape jokes and I find them to be in very poor taste, but I'm not really sure what's being argued here; so far your general argument seems to be against making rape jokes at all ever, which is ridiculous. People can and do make jokes about everything, and suddenly saying 'no, you can't laugh at rape' is ... pointless.

Debating whether rape jokes can be allowed in mainstream television under current regulations and audience acceptance. The current answer is, yes, yes they can, and I do wonder why and if that needs to be changed if we had the power to do so.

 

[shy ♡]

You can use the exact same argument by replacing [rape jokes] with [jokes against black people] or [jokes against LGBTQQA people] or [jokes against the entire female gender]. Would you be fine with all of that? Because this isn't just about artistic freedom, it actually makes it harder for real people in real life due society's acceptance of the ignorant attitudes promoted in these jokes.

I'm quite aware, and as I'm sure you're aware, such jokes are still allowed. However due to the fact that they're considered in poor taste it's hard to find such a joke. Meaning banning them outright is not the way to go - changing public outlook is.

 

[Eloi]

I'm quite aware, and as I'm sure you're aware, such jokes are still allowed. However due to the fact that they're considered in poor taste it's hard to find such a joke. Meaning banning them outright is not the way to go - changing public outlook is.

So are we agreed that the public outlook on these matters need changed? Is there anyone who thinks that the way the general public just accepts this kind of humor needs to be changed?

 

[shy ♡]

So are we agreed that the public outlook on these matters need changed? Is there anyone who thinks that the way the general public just accepts this kind of humor needs to be changed?

Well, honestly, I'm not sure most people would find rape amusing in the first place. Most of that is found on online places like 4chan or whatever, which are pretty remote communities.

Also I dislike generalizing people to that point; I don't know whether most people find this amusing or not without any statistics on the matter. I know the people I know wouldn't find it amusing, I know I haven't seen any jokes on those sorts of subjects on tv or movies, so I'm pretty comfortable saying public outlook doesn't really need changing.

 

[Eloi]

Well, honestly, I'm not sure most people would find rape amusing in the first place. Most of that is found on online places like 4chan or whatever, which are pretty remote communities.

Or most comedic western animation shown on primary stations.

Also I dislike generalizing people to that point; I don't know whether most people find this amusing or not without any statistics on the matter. I know the people I know wouldn't find it amusing, I know I haven't seen any jokes on those sorts of subjects on tv or movies, so I'm pretty comfortable saying public outlook doesn't really need changing.

I have, and I know this stuff has to get money in order to survive, thus there is people watching it.

 

[opaltiger]

It's not a question of whether or not they should be allowed. Of course they should. But that shouldn't matter; in a society which doesn't condone and trivialise rape, no one would make rape jokes. If they did, they'd be stared at. It wouldn't be an issue.

The problem is the fact that we live in a society which does condone and trivialise rape, and so long as people keep treating rape jokes as perfectly acceptable and inoffensive, that isn't going to change.

People tend to assume that people who commit genocide and paedophiles aren't good people.

People tend to defend rapists and accuse the rape victim of 'asking for it' or 'liking it' or 'looking for publicity'.

Rape jokes are not only in poor taste, they're downright irresponsible. The biggest problem with comparing jokes about rape to jokes about murder is that there is no issue of people defending murderers, while you could look at, say, the whole thing with Roman Polanski for a good example of people defending rapists. Rape jokes are incredibly offensive but more importantly they trivialise rape.

It's not even so much people directly defending rapists (horrifying as that is), but the fact that people simply don't seem to care. The conviction rate in the UK is in the single digits, yet it isn't really brought up.

 

[Butterfree]

I... don't find all rape jokes, in the sense of "something vaguely humorous that involves rape", that bad. There are rape jokes that make me physically uncomfortable - somebody going "This woman needs to get raped (no, just kidding)" definitely does, for instance. I don't feel the same kind of discomfort about "hide your wives, hide your children" or "don't drop the soap" or "surprise buttsex".

There is an Icelandic cartoonist who draws "humorous" stick figure comics about rape, incest, domestic abuse, bestiality, paedophilia, murder, genocide, racism, homophobia, bullying, etc. I don't think he is trivializing it because the comics are satirical; the whole point is very plainly to force the reader to realize just how horrifying it is that these things actually happen. Effectively it's raising awareness. I don't think that sort of "rape joke", if it can be called that, is bad.

Jokes like "hide your children", though not directly critical, still at least treat rape as a bad thing, and the joke isn't quite "rape" and more "meme that involves rape". Trivializing it is harmful, and actually trying to get cheap public laughs out of this kind of "neutral" rape joke is pretty distasteful, but individuals telling them to their friends when all parties are aware that actual rape is not funny or trivial, eh. I don't think it's that bad. They don't make you ask yourself (or at least not me) if the person telling the joke actually thinks rape is trivial or okay.

Meanwhile, another Icelandic guy who keeps up a "humourous" public persona loves to make "jokes" about how such-and-such public figure woman just needs to be stuffed like a turkey or other awful metaphors in that direction, and people jump up to defend him by going "oh, but don't you see he's joking?" And that is the kind of rape joke that makes me squirm: it treats rape as a good, acceptable thing. I don't care if it makes you laugh (that part is an unconscious reflex and it wouldn't be fair to judge anyone for it, though I don't personally understand what part of it is at all laughter-provoking), but you sure as hell shouldn't find it funny in any positive sense.

 

[opaltiger]

Trivializing it is harmful, and actually trying to get cheap public laughs out of this kind of "neutral" rape joke is pretty distasteful, but individuals telling them to their friends when all parties are aware that actual rape is not funny or trivial, eh. I don't think it's that bad.

But that's just the thing: lots of people do treat rape incredibly trivially. People actually say things like "rape is a compliment" and mean it. That's the sort of attitude rape jokes perpetuate.

 

[Butterfree]

But that's just the thing: lots of people do treat rape incredibly trivially. People actually say things like "rape is a compliment" and mean it. That's the sort of attitude rape jokes perpetuate.

I realize that, but that's why I said when all parties involved are aware. I like to think of this as a problem with individuals who think of rape in this way more than with the jokes, per se, hence why murder jokes are less distasteful not because the joke itself is that conceptually different but because the individuals hearing the joke will treat it the way it should be treated and continue to condemn murder absolutely regardless of how many murder jokes they hear.

That doesn't make it any better when rape jokes do trivialize it in people's minds, so again, I'm not defending that. I guess my main point is that in an ideal world, or when confined to actual ideal pockets of the world (in the sense that everyone hearing or telling the joke in said pocket does not and will not view rape as trivial no matter how many rape jokes they hear), I don't have a problem with that kind of rape joke, whereas jokes depicting rape as a good thing will be distasteful no matter what society's perceptions of rape are.