I Get Letters

[Content Note: Rape culture.]

Once upon a time, two dudes who write a web comic called "Penny Arcade" posted a strip that included a rape joke. Some people objected to this. It got nasty from there, in the same infuriatingly predictable way these things always get nasty. And then it got nastier, and more awful, and uglier, and more horrible, and worser, oof just so horrendo like whoa.

(The whole history is detailed here.)

The only thing that was certain is the only thing that's ever certain, which is that feminist survivors of sexual violence who don't find rape jokes funny are stupid, hypersensitive, rage-seeking missiles who want to censor the world. [sic]

Anyway. That was more three years ago. Last night, this arrived in my inbox:

I know this is really old, but I only ran across the post recently.

When was there a "rape joke" in Penny Arcade? I only recall a joke about a guy in a video game having a horrible life that the player character didn't care about. In what way did that joke diminish or endorse rape? Rape didn't seem to be the punchline or object of mockery. In fact, the target of the joke seemed to be the player character's insensitivity. Isn't that the exact opposite of laughing at rape?

Ran across what post? Who knows. Obviously none of the posts in this space that detail the joke (and subsequent jokes deployed in a double-down defense strategy). But even though this guy doesn't know to which joke I objected, he is certain that I'm wrong. Perfect.

The fact that I am still getting emails about this shit three years later is pretty rich, considering that "get over it" is the go-to mantra of rape apologists.

See also: Fat Princess.