Rape is funny (+30)

Sure, but before someone posts here they should read the entire thread.

Is this true? Men, in joking about rape, support it? I don't believe that you actually believe that.

I'm not saying that rape jokes can't be nasty and inappropriate around the wrong people (suffice to say that victims of rape should not be within earshot), but to say that because I've made a rape joke before, I support rape makes you seem quite silly.

Joking about rape is like joking about murder. It's a terrible crime, and one that will always be there (like theft). But you also mention joking about sexism in your linked message, saying that men who joke about sexism are "effectively saying, 'This stereotype is okay because it makes people laugh.'"

What hogwash. We're joking about sexism because sexism has loosened its grasp. If I were to walk up to a woman who is forced to wear a burka and joke about it, this would be awful. She's deep in the depths of oppression, and my joke would strike her open wounds. But if the woman were to spend years free from the burka, us feeling comfortable enough to joke about it would be a sign of the issue having been somewhat diffused, and that healing has occurred.

Of course there will always be people, such as yourself, who think that joking about something will cause it to come back, or grow, or whatever. They tell us to take it very seriously and never mention it unless in hushed tones and treat it with respect. But what they don't realize is that they're contributing to the problem just as much as the people who are still sexist. You're just like the people who made "nigger" such a horribly powerful word by telling everyone that it was a horribly powerful word.

They struck "nigger" from our vocabulary, commanding everyone not to say it and banning it from TV and print. It's a social no-no to say the word now, and thus it has more oomph than it could have ever gained on its own by being a generic racist term. In fact, by the dramatic individuals telling everybody that racist terms themselves are evil and cannot be said, the words have gained a new kind of power that they would not have had originally.

Just the kind of power that sexist jokes would have if you had your way. You don't realize that from a non-sexist's mouth, sexist jokes are a sign that things are getting better. You try to tell women that they should feel oppressed and hurt by these jokes. You tell people not to relay them, because they're bad. And you have no idea how backwards your tactics for taking on sexism are. It's not the jokes that are sexist, but the sexists themselves. Joking about it can mean that sexism has lost its fervor just as much as that the person is sexist.

So I recommend that you shut up, because you're doing more damage than good.