Taking a Brave Stance Against Survivors of Rape

[Trigger warning for sexual violence.]

Background: So the Two Brave Men who write the comic strip Penny Arcade did this comic that many survivors of sexual violence (and their allies) thought was inappropriate, contemptible, triggering, whatever. The Two Brave Men then responded to that criticism with mendacious pithiness. Lots of their supporters then proved my point that this shit doesn't happen in a void. The Two Brave Men then created a t-shirt about the strip to show they weren't going to cave to the Radical Survivor Agenda.

Time passed. Once there was no chance that anyone would accuse these brave men of being sensitive to survivors of sexual trauma, they stopped selling the t-shirt. You know, after people had bought it and they'd made money off of it. A lady said she wasn't interested in attending a conference where people who bought those shirts might be wearing them. One of the Two Brave Men, after noting he will "never remove the strip or even apologize for the joke," explained that they wouldn't be selling the shirt at the conference:

When I heard from a few people that the shirt would make them uncomfortable at PAX, that gave me pause. Now whether I think that's a fair or warranted reaction doesn't really matter. These were not rants on blogs but personal mails to me from people being very reasonable. It's how they feel and according to them at least, removing the shirt would make them feel better about attending the show. For me that's an easy fix to the problem. I really don't want to have this fight and if not having it is as simple as not selling a shirt then I'll do it. Contrary to what they might think I'm not a complete asshole.

Sure, no one could think someone who dismisses triggered rape survivors as oversensitive hysterics and agrees not to make money off a t-shirt specifically designed to say "fuck you" to them only to avoid a fight is an asshole.

And, if we all agree—and I'm sure we do—that this Brave Man is not an asshole (because what reasonable person COULD read such an outrageous rant and respond in any other way than by linking jokes he's made about pedophilia and bestiality?), then I'm sure we can also agree that this is the epitome of his courageous stand against triggered survivors of sexual violence (aka the REAL assholes):


Bravo, sir. *slow clap*

[H/T to everyone in the multiverse. Previously: Rape Is Hilarious, Survivors Are So Sensitive, Quote of the Day, Troll Math and Teaspoons, T-Shirts and Teaspoons and Mythical Creatures.]