Your Daily Dose of Joy

tylercoates:

Regarding the rape monologue at the Assscat show a few weeks ago, here are two good posts: one by Halle Kiefer who was in the audience, and one by Irin Carmon which wraps up the story pretty well.

So — and for obvious reasons I have some feelings about all of this — I think that maybe people should think about the way that we’re discussing this. It’s not about one dude who told a bad story. And one dude who just doesn’t get it. It’s about a fundamental disconnect men have about how pervasive rape is in our culture. And how so many people think that something that happens to at least half of American women is worthy of a joke.

I went on a date with a guy on Monday where we accidentally started talking about DSK and his push for dismissal. Throughout the conversation my date kept saying “rape” with air quotes. I tried to get away from a confrontation, as this was a first date and I really try to not bring up rape culture with strangers (aside from strangers on the Internet, obvs), but I just couldn’t avoid it any longer. He kept saying that the woman has a “sordid past” which didn’t make her believable. And he kept talking about how when a woman accuses a man of “rape” it can ruin his entire life and career.

My “date” (I can do air quotes too!) wasn’t a bad guy. In fact, I think he was a pretty normal guy. A guy who has an average view on the way things are. And his ignorance and comments are a clear example that people see rape and rape culture as the butt of a joke. Not for what it really is — a national epidemic.