On rape jokes and metaphors

POS Industries · 08-14-2012, 07:39 PM

We've been discussing this in the back and have come to the (rather obvious) conclusion that, while certainly not impossible, humor involving rape as subject matter is absurdly difficult to pull off successfully--due to the sensitive nature of the crime involved--and almost never is. Considering that, it is extremely unlikely that any such jokes posted here are going to succeed or be welcome in any way.

In fact, they will undoubtedly be awful.

So we have decided to ask that everyone please refrain from posting them in the future. This isn't a "rule," per se, so much as it is a request to be enforced by glaring at you and asking you to keep from doing it in the future. It's just not going to be funny, even if it is delivered by a comedian of legendary status, and all it's going to do is make a lot of people uncomfortable and angry, and you will more or less deserve all of the scorn involved.

Similarly, rape as metaphor almost universally relies on a false equivalency of a horrible, monstrous violation of another person's body that leaves them scarred for life to someone's favorite childhood cartoon being rebooted in a way that is not exactly like it used to be when they were a kid or a one-sided victory in a video game. So we would also request that you not use "rape" as a descriptor of basically anything that isn't literally rape, even if the thing you're talking about really is objectively horrible, because it really does take the idea of such assaults too lightly.

This isn't a monumental problem here more than just an occasionally unpleasant one, which is why this request is being made as it is rather than a tightly enforced rule, and your willingness to comply would be greatly appreciated.

08-14-2012, 07:39 PM	#1
POS Industries Argus Agony Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Gotta go fishing! Posts: 10,483	On rape jokes and metaphors We've been discussing this in the back and have come to the (rather obvious) conclusion that, while certainly not impossible, humor involving rape as subject matter is absurdly difficult to pull off successfully--due to the sensitive nature of the crime involved--and almost never is. Considering that, it is extremely unlikely that any such jokes posted here are going to succeed or be welcome in any way. In fact, they will undoubtedly be awful. So we have decided to ask that everyone please refrain from posting them in the future. This isn't a "rule," per se, so much as it is a request to be enforced by glaring at you and asking you to keep from doing it in the future. It's just not going to be funny, even if it is delivered by a comedian of legendary status, and all it's going to do is make a lot of people uncomfortable and angry, and you will more or less deserve all of the scorn involved. Similarly, rape as metaphor almost universally relies on a false equivalency of a horrible, monstrous violation of another person's body that leaves them scarred for life to someone's favorite childhood cartoon being rebooted in a way that is not exactly like it used to be when they were a kid or a one-sided victory in a video game. So we would also request that you not use "rape" as a descriptor of basically anything that isn't literally rape, even if the thing you're talking about really is objectively horrible, because it really does take the idea of such assaults too lightly. This isn't a monumental problem here more than just an occasionally unpleasant one, which is why this request is being made as it is rather than a tightly enforced rule, and your willingness to comply would be greatly appreciated. __________________ Either you're dead or my watch has stopped.