14 July 2012

Rape is Hysterical

I know, I'm late to the Daniel Tosh hatefest, but I'm busy, so whatever.

I really dislike Daniel Tosh. I've found about two of his jokes ever to be funny. His show is America's Funniest Home Videos for Douchebags, and his standup routine is more inane than Dane Cook's, and that is saying something.

My sense of humour is twisted and eclectic. I like a LOT of comedy. I'm always happy when there's a comedian on the tube, because it's usually good for a few good laughs. I like black humour, dark humour, intellectual humour, political humour, nonsense, situational humour, storytellers, one-liners, you name it. I like it. I never go to music concerts (though my darling husband did hire my favourite band to come to the house to play for us for our anniversary), but I do go to see comedians when they're in town. I buy their downloads, and I often watch the specials.

Not much offends me. I don't mind racist or sexist jokes if they're not hateful. My line: rape jokes. I fucking hate rape jokes. HATE them. Because they trigger some intense memories, and because even if they don't, I know they do for someone else listening to them. This is why I don't watch The Family Guy. It's rape joke after rape joke, and they're not funny.

Anyway, so Tosh asks the audience what he should talk about next, and some frat boy type (I assume) says, "Rape!" Tosh goes on that yeah, rape is always funny. A woman pipes up that she doesn't find it funny at all, and he says that it would be hilarious if she were raped right now, by like 4 or 5 guys. She gets up and leaves, saying in her blog, "I knew I needed to get out of there".

To me, that's fear. I've been told it would be asinine to be afraid in that situation. Of course, this was a white male talking. He has no idea what it is to be a woman in a rape culture, and refused to even attempt to get past his privilege to examine why I might say such a thing. No, she mightn't have been in immediate danger, but what if, after the show, 4 or 5 guys thought it might be a riproarin' good time to toss a fuck into her? Is that an unreasonable thought? Hell no, it isn't.

Remember, Tosh is the same sonofabitch who had his viewers videotape themselves sneaking up on women and touching their belly fat. And told them that they should ignore women if they protest it. And guys did. In droves. It's all over YouTube. I will not link. That's power. And Tosh knew it.

Women have been silenced with rapes and threats of rape since the dawn of time. Don't give me this bullshit that it was a joke meant to show how ridiculous the idea was. This was no different from "Shut up, bitch, or we'll make you wish you had".

Mr. It's Asinine To Be Afraid is a Canadian comedian of some stature. That is, I know his name and could bring his face to mind with it. I tried to help him see by changing "woman" to "black man" and "rape" to "lynch". He still thought it was okay. He still didn't think there was anything to fear. Yes, he said it was offensive, but that offensive comedy is expected. He also told me I just don't understand comedy, and that he, in his 35 years as a professional comedian, should be taken at his word. He also said I'm uptight and could stand to get high. I suspect he wanted to say that I needed to be fucked. At least he was classy enough not to say that.