Feminism can be iconoclastic: When objecting against rape jokes becomes inappropriate

[sub_textual]

i⋅con⋅o⋅clas⋅t, noun.

1.       a breaker or destroyer of images, esp. those set up for religious veneration.
2.       a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.

I have left Somarium.

I have done so because of one reason: I am a feminist, and I refuse to be punished for what

Comments

[anonymous]

Uh, different anon here. Do not play in somarium, but know people who do, asked them about this. As I understand it ... there WAS never "hate speech" made in chat. Heck, the worst that they could ever recall hearing was a joke about Jigglypuff. That's IT. You're making it out to seem like they were all "OH MAN I BET WOMEN REALLY ENJOY BEING RAPED SECRETLY" or "OH HEY THEM YELLOW PEOPLE SHOULD GO BACK TO CHINA HURR HURR" in the way you present it. You're deliberately presenting a skewed argument here

[sub_textual]

Thank you for your comment. I am going to give you the respect of a respectful comment as I actually believe this comment deserves it.

In regards to the issue of hate speech: Rape jokes have been told in the chat besides Jigglypuff that have bothered others quite a lot, as clearly stated by the OP of the post which started this conversation to begin with. She also explained that when people objected to their use, their concerns were invalidated and disregarded and that she had an issue with this. As such, I focused on an angle that considered whether or not the chat is an appropriate environment for rape jokes, which I clearly have stated it was not. I also argued that if you are going to tell a rape joke, you must be aware what that rape joke itself does. I further argued that I had no intention of wanting to censor anyone or take away their ability to tell a rape joke or a racist joke, or a homophobic joke; rather, I felt it was important for people to be considerate of others when they do tell jokes like that and are aware of

[sub_textual]

Also if this comment is directly in response to my responses to the previous Anon, I should point out that Anon 1 tries to validate her argument by saying that she has a background in Women's Studies. The thing is this: if she truly was as informed as she tries to present herself to be, especially in regards to how rape jokes work, and how they are very harmful through the normalization of rape and the perpetuation of rape culture, then she would not have come at me in this manner and argue the things she did

[anonymous]

I was not referring to your response to the previous Anon, but rather your discussion on the OOC post that started all of it.

I feel that we will have to agree to disagree. I do not see what they were arguing as a safe place for hate speech, whereas you do. As a general rule of thumb, I have a hard time agreeing that for example, ethnic jokes count as hate speech. My family is from India, and my favorite comedian is an Indian man named Russel Peters who does much of his material about his family and culture. There are times when I watch his routine, and find myself cracking up if only because I recognize exactly how accurate and familiar his jokes are. If we can't laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at? Besides, they're funnyRape jokes, on the other hand, are different because they are not making fun of a section of humanity; they are making fun of a horrible event. This would be the difference, I feel, between telling a Jewish joke (and believe me, I have many Jewish friends who love to tell joke about their own culture) and

[sub_textual]

Thank you for your comment again. I appreciate that you are taking the time to have a polite conversation about this