Definition of Rape Culture

"A rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.

In a rape culture both men and women assume that sexual violence is a fact of life, inevitable as death or taxes. This violence, however, is neither biologically nor divinely ordained. Much of what we accept as inevitable is in fact the expression of values and attitudes that can change."
-- Transforming a Rape Culture by Millie Buchwald, Martha Roth, and Pamela R. Fletcher

For the Sake of Comedy!

A lot of what tends to happen in rape culture is that rape is not treated seriously because usually there is comedic spin to it. Well I would like to hear your thoughts.

Now, are people that find rape jokes funny insensitive, pro-rape misogynists? Or are people who find rape jokes offensive, prudish, overly sensitive party-poopers?

Now remember, these two instances of rape culture are intended to be funny. But is rape something that should be consider funny? Or should rape be something that is off limits to comedians. And if it is, what are the consequences of it being off limit material?

Wanda Sykes had a very funny monologue about "detachable vaginas". In this part of her show, she introduces the joke and concept of "detachable pussies". She touches on subjects of the value of women's genitalia, the fear women have of rape, and the ability to be able to separate the entity of a woman from her genitalia.

In a way, Wanda Sykes is critiquing the very rape culture we live in! She is poking fun at the fear we have to face as women living in a rape culture. When Sykes jokes about the pussy being detachable when a woman wants to go on a jog at night, she is making a comedic critique on the fact that we live in a world that is not considered safe for women. Women are not safe BECAUSE THEY ARE WOMEN! That is rape culture!


But here is another example, which I didn't find very entertaining. The show South Park is all about the controversy; but I feel that they took this one too far. Or perhaps it is because there is an actual portrayal of rape, and it happens to be male on male rape.

I get it: George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are metaphorically raping the Indiana Jones franchise. But they are literally raping someone in the cartoon. It's too much, and distasteful. It's not funny to me. This is a show that is commonly watched by younger kids. And I just find it wrong that anyone would be able to laugh at an actual rape scene.



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