#SexIs - Are Rape Jokes Ever Funny?

Rape jokes are sick. Rape is one of the worst crimes against humanity and it completely destroys a person. How can you make that funny.

sexual jokes are not very funny.

I love Tosh, not many people could pull it off though

No there not funny, most of the time they get to the people that have been raped!

How is this even a question? People who apparently think it's funny - if you were raped and you had to bear the trauma of that, would you still think it was hilarious?

All I can is those don't do it for me...

No.

And his response was in poor taste.

It's very low and disgusting to make a joke like that.

I think ultimately it's a very difficult road to navigate in any arena. I've seen discussions about rape dog pile into exercises of finger-pointing and victim-blaming then go so far as to compare an ignorant human being to the likes of Adolf Hitler, who was anything but ignorant of the atrocities he committed.

There are extremes within every topic when it comes to debates; for instance you have Westboro Baptist Church who will picket anything in the name of "God Hates Gays".

I think the difference between Westboro's actions and Daniel Tosh's action is that Westboro actively plots their reactions to things they disagree with; Daniel Tosh was put on the spot and probably deserves a good spanking for saying what he did.

But, how many times have we seen celebrities miss the PC-mark and then have to profusely apologize the next day because the PR team is about ready to pull their hair out of their heads? Is the apology sincere? No. Will it change their way of thinking? No.

He was put on the spot and he chose a poor direction. I think we've all been there a time or two, ourselves. To me, it just means the guy is a human being and he made a mistake.

I don't think rape jokes are ever funny. I have cared for too many victims and see the long term effects. There are other areas that aren't funny either and I would rather not hear them but everyone has their right to say what they want to. I just don't have to listen to them!

I have never (thankfully) been raped. However, I did come thisclose when I was 19, and I was pulled off of a city street and into a cemetary. I screamed at the top of my lungs. The man pulled me so hard he tore buttons from my coat. He told me if I screamed again he would "knock me out". I knew i had NO OTHER CHANCE, and I screamed as LOUD AS I COULD right in his face. He was, I believe taken by surprise. He let go of me JUST. ENOUGH. I RAN MY AZZ OFF! I don't think that is funny. Today, I shudder to think what would have become of me (I think this man had more in mind than sexual assault-i saw something in his eyes I can only define as a lust for blood). I kid not. I believe I would be simply a statistic of Hartford, Connecticut's violence. I cannot think those types of jokes are funny. I ESCAPED; a luxury I know many, many women never have! Millions of women have to live with that sick feeling of violation EVERY DAY. I FIND ''Rape jokes" to be about as funny as most of America finds 9/11 jokes. 'Nuff said.

It disgusts me that anyone on this site could think rape jokes are funny. Totally lost some respect for Eden.

I don't find rape jokes funny. Especially because you have no idea who could have dealt/could be dealing with sexual assault. Many victims never speak up about their experience so for all you know your best friend could have been raped.
However if you're going to one of his shows then you should already know how over-the-top some of his humor is and you should be prepared for anything. Therefore, I don't think she should have heckled him on stage. He had every right to respond negatively for being heckled on stage, though his comment to her was ridiculously stupid and he probably should have just ignored her.

as a victim of rape, i find it extremely offensive. what if she had been raped?

i tell you right now, if anyone said that to me, i may be sitting on a bench in a jail cell. no joke.

Two things.

1) I believe some people are confusing the words offensive and triggering.

No one is attacking rape victims, but there is plenty of attacking going on in the media against Daniel Tosh. So, in that regard if this post is offensive, it should only be offensive to Daniel Tosh.

One could argue this post is triggering to victims of rape. For that, I will not argue.

I myself am a survivor, not a victim. Giving a voice to my pain took the power away from the event. I cannot hide from things that may bring up or instigate flashbacks to those events. I can however choose to not let them continue to shatter me each time I stumble across them.

2) Did any of you read Roland's article? Because it seems to me that what Roland was trying to relate to us is that what Daniel Tosh said is only a small part of the problem.

What about television shows like Oz? Prison rape was an established part of the plot line. If I recall correctly, there was one scene where a nemesis was requesting head as payment for some favor done for "the prison bitch" after a few brief moments of engagement, said prison bitch stabbed him in the perineum with a melted toothbrush turned shank. It was one of the highest rated episodes ever.

We joke that if Sandusky were to be released into gen. pop. that he'd be dead in a minute flat because for some reason, violent criminals draw the line at raping children. (Always seemed like an odd paradox, to me.)

We joke that priests have altar boys for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We have high profile comedians and even politicians making wise cracks and saying that the sanctions levied against Penn State were too harsh. No one bats an eye. Joke about raping a woman and all hell breaks loose. Does this not seem like a very selective picking of battles?

How about the phrase "thanks, but I like be kissed before I'm fucked" in reference to someone screwing you over on a deal? Or, the phrase "you're the kind of guy to buttfuck a guy without having the decency to give him a reach-around first"?

...

People like Daniel Tosh clearly lack perspective. If they were educated on issues like rape and sexual assault, I doubt they would be making jokes like that.

tosh is a sexist pig. he honestly disgusts me. even if you think rape jokes are funny you should keep it to yourself because you never know who around you could have been raped or be close to someone who was raped and you could seriously trigger and harm someone with your joking. rape is an extremely traumatic thing. you cannot tell just by looking at someone that they were raped and no one should have to advertise that something so horrible happened to them if they don't want to. so it'd be nice if people could just keep their disgusting jokes to themselves.

They're jokes, If you want to take offence to them just don't listen, or walk away. They're aren't physically hurting anyone.