Comments on: Who Can Make A Rape Joke?

By: recursiveparadox

recursiveparadox — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:38:36 +0000

How dare victims use humor to heal! We should only allow non victims and potential rapists to use humor about rape because they won’t hurt themselves with humor and it’s more funny because it doesn’t have that painful reminder of an actual human victim right there! Think of the children!

Too obvious? XD

By: Why Rape Jokes Aren’t Funny « Gallivant by POPPY GALLICO

Why Rape Jokes Aren’t Funny « Gallivant by POPPY GALLICO — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:08:17 +0000

[...] it hold less control over my life, lets me conquer my experience. So that begs the question, who can make a rape joke? And in what context? Should rape jokes NEVER be made, ever ever ever? Obviously this is not [...]

By: Date Rape Anthem: Whitest Kids You Know’s “We Gun Make Love” - The Sexist - Washington City Paper

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:04:53 +0000

[...] for us to establish that the Date Rape Anthem is rapey; we must also establish that it’s not funny. And this Date Rape Anthem is not funny. Here’s [...]

By: The Onion’s Best and Worst Rape Jokes - The Sexist - Washington City Paper

The Onion’s Best and Worst Rape Jokes - The Sexist - Washington City Paper — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:00:07 +0000

[...] written a lot recently on who can successfully tell a rape joke and what targets are fair game for the butts of those jokes. One perennial source of rape humor, [...]

By: Rapping about Rape « Editorializing the Editors

Rapping about Rape « Editorializing the Editors — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:55:14 +0000

[...] necklace bit, for example — while being rather terrifying at others. And as we learn from Amanda at The Sexist, rape jokes may be a no-comedian’s land, but “popular culture will accept rape jokes [...]

By: The 5 Sex Listicles That Have Gone Too Far - The Sexist - Washington City Paper

The 5 Sex Listicles That Have Gone Too Far - The Sexist - Washington City Paper — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:29:27 +0000

[...] meat is ruining your sex life, and also vegans? But when you reach all the way to the date rape jokes, maybe it’s time to abbreviate your Listicle at five: 3. Ambien. Because when you take it, [...]

By: Sexist Comments of the Week - The Sexist - Washington City Paper

Sexist Comments of the Week - The Sexist - Washington City Paper — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:00:09 +0000

[...] week, comments got heated on Who Can Make a Rape Joke?, inspiring a forthcoming piece, “Who Can Write An Article About Who Can Make A Rape [...]

By: Date Rape Anthem: Vakill’s “Worst Fears Confirmed” - The Sexist - Washington City Paper

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:38:26 +0000

[...] Donald Mason, is “known for his literate, witty, punch line-filled lyricism.” As far as date-rape jokes go, Vakill’s isn’t terribly offensive: He encourages listeners to rethink their idols by [...]

By: Art

Art — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:11:43 +0000

Amanda H., I still say you’re reaching. I will certainly admit that the T-Pain verse you quoted is disgusting and describes what I would consider date rape. No argument from me there. If you want to call T-Pain out for the verse…fine. If you want to call Foxx out for allowing the verse on his single…fine. BUT, I still say your assertion that Blame It has a “date-rape theme” is either either misguided or disingenuous. One verse does not a theme make. Further you wrote, “The song is, essentially, an attempted date rape by a movie star [Foxx] and a dude who sounds like a robot [Pain]“. The problem is there are no lyrics from Foxx that describe date-rape. In fact, other than the Pain verse you quoted, there are no others period.

By: Five Rape Jokes Not to Tell (If You Want A Future) - The Sexist - Washington City Paper

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:50:38 +0000

[...] placing a simple rape joke in a pop song won’t derail your music career, it could haunt you for decades and prevent you from becoming [...]

By: Amanda Hess

Amanda Hess — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:40:00 +0000

Joe & Ryan -

I would not describe A Tribe Called Quest as gangsta rap, and I’m sorry if that wasn’t made clear.

My point about Tribe is this:

When “The Infamous Date Rape” was released, reviewers called it “just plain misogynistic.” Since then, however—”fifteen years of gangsta rap later”—reviewers have been forced to parse the misogyny of many, many rap songs that are (unlike Tribe) straight-up, unapologetically misogynistic. So through the lens of gangsta rap’s mainstream popularity over the past 20 years, the song now looks pretty positive to women.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:33:22 +0000

I agree with Joe. A Tribe Called Quest is as close to gangsta rap as the Beastie Boys are. Actually, I think the Beastie Boys are a bit closer to gangsta rap than Tribe.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:19:45 +0000

There’s no chance that Tribe Called Quest would ever EVER be considered a gangsta rap group or a group capable of making a gangsta rap song. Do you personally know any black person’s middle name? Because if you did that would probably mean that you were comfortable with hip hop and could distinguish between the genres. You do an excellent job of identifying misogny in everyday life, you just happen to be dead wrong in this regard.

By: Amanda Hess

Amanda Hess — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:50:45 +0000

@Art: Can I entice you to change your mind with the following lyrical sample from Blame It (On the Alcohol) Remix?

T Pain:

Shawty didn’t you know? / it’s going down, we can go and kick it like judo / You know what I mean / Shawty got drunk, thought it all was a dream / So I made her say ahh, ah aaa

So, Shawty was so passed out she thought she was dreaming, so T Pain confirmed she could consent by forcing her to say “ahh.” AAHHHH! It must be real hard to get that noise out of a passed out drunk woman that T. Pain is fucking.

By: M@

M@ — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:29:21 +0000

Very interesting. I’ve made jokes about rape on Why I Hate D.C. for months and it’s caused some consternation w/ some readers. I’m actually filing a police report b/c of death (and rape) threats.

By: Last Week’s Most Popular Blog Posts - The Sexist - Washington City Paper

Last Week’s Most Popular Blog Posts - The Sexist - Washington City Paper — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:00:43 +0000

[...] Who Can Make A Rape Joke?, in which I inspire commenters to actually defend Asher Roth. 2. A Hierarchy of Date Rape Jams, in [...]

By: DJM

DJM — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:01:35 +0000

Your constant theme that for whatever reason “frat boys” find date rape, or rape in general, humorous, is false, irresponsible, and sinister. I don’t know what your point is by saying this. Do you know how many “frat boys” have sisters who have been raped, and many date-raped? Girlfriends? Even brothers? Are there people that think rape is funny? Sure, some people tell jokes. Your generalization about “frat boys” however is wrong and dangerous, and furthers a false stereotype. I’m speaking from personal experiences and knowledge.

By: emwizzle

emwizzle — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:43:27 +0000

http://www.flickr.com/photos/washingtoncitypaper/3573322182/

By: sock puppet

sock puppet — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:29:00 +0000

a three way with Ron Howard, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Samuel L. Jackson, I bet that’s heavy rotation!

By: Our Morning Roundup: Communism in Cleveland Park Edition - City Desk - Washington City Paper

Thu, 28 May 2009 13:03:19 +0000

[...] got even more on the eviction of celeb chef Spike Mendelsohn; Amanda Hess is wondering who can tell a rape joke; Ruth Samuelson finds a juicy condo conversion story peopled with phantom tenants; and Dave McKenna [...]

By: Art

Art — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:10:23 +0000

To say that Foxx’s Blame It has a “date rape theme” is a misinterpretation of the song at best and disingenuous at worst.

By: Dirigible

Dirigible — Thu, 28 May 2009 06:55:13 +0000

Thanks for this post. It seems to me that people are more willing to accept jokes of this nature from people not typically victims of rape because it’s easier for them to pretend it’s not real. Like they’re thinking, “Rape doesn’t really happen, this guy is just telling a silly joke!” When an actual survivor is the one speaking about rape, people get uncomfortable because they can’t deny the reality anymore. Then, if the situation is discussed in a humorous fashion, they get even more confused about how to react and that’s when the backlash begins.

Anyway, great points!

By: FilthyGrandeur

FilthyGrandeur — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:08:15 +0000

this is an excellent post. i’m glad someone broke down these rape joke origins. it seems like popular culture is all about being edgy, but what these jokes do is take the side of the rapist, not the victim. but then when jokes come from actual victims, everyone’s all uncomfortable and policing the victim for “proper” behavior. yet no one is uncomfortable when the joke takes the side of the rapist–i mean, it’s just silly right?

ugh.