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It's a 'rape' joke only insomuch as the word rape was used in the text. The comic doesn't encourage, make light of or invoke imagery of violence against women,

It's a 'rape' joke only insomuch as the word rape was used in the text. The comic doesn't encourage, make light of or invoke imagery of violence against women, so I humbly disagree that this is a reasonable example of sexism. If the word "sodomized" was used in place of the word "rape", the outrage would likely be non-existent. For the record, I do believe sexism is a serious problem in our society, particularly in tech, but I disagree that the comic and the defense of it by its authors is sexist.

drhayes9 13y ago
Again, almost none of the controversy stems from the comic itself. Most of it comes from PA's reaction to their critics' feedback.
- vectorpush 13y ago
  Yeah, I keep hearing that, but just because some people perceive sexism, doesn't mean that they deserve special treatment lest one be accused of sexism. Also, reports of threats from anonymous internet trolls is the common denominator of every internet controversy, I can't take that seriously unless PA was encouraging users to send out hateful messages.
  - drhayes9 13y ago
    I'm not sure how to engage with you on this because I'm not sure what you're saying. It sounds like you're saying, "PA shouldn't be blamed for the Internet trolls that are out there already all the time." Or maybe, "Threats against women are garden-variety Internet trolling and not motivated particularly by their gender." You seem to also be saying, "People only perceive sexism; it doesn't objectively exist." I'll start by responding to all three and please correct me if I've misunderstood your points. 1. I don't blame PA for hateful comments its community sent out to people asking them to apologize for a rape joke. I blame them for profiting off of it, for recognizing that this was happening and thinking that it might be a good idea to make money from it or make light of it by encapsulating the outrage as a shirt. While they weren't specifically saying, "Go out and threaten women with rape and death," they were saying, "We don't think enough of their complaints to treat it seriously." I don't think it's out of line to see the thought process there: "PA themselves were making light of it, so maybe this whole thing isn't that big a deal?" 2. Sex-based threats against women (rape, specifically) are of course different than similar threats against men. Just like the US judicial system makes distinctions between hate crimes and non-hate crimes, or distinguishes between pre-meditated murder and spur-of-the-moment murder, sex-based threats against women are treated specially. They are derived from circumstances of who they are and how they are perceived in culture, both things that an individual has no hope of changing. Of course any threatened class of people deserves special treatment for being threatened for being in that class of people. 3. Sexism well and truly exists. I'm not going to try proving that to anyone else with access to Google.
    - vectorpush 13y ago
      "Threats against women are garden-variety Internet trolling and not motivated particularly by their gender." I am not saying this. Of course sexist trolling is motivated by the gender of the victim, that's exactly how trolls operate, they deliberately attack pain points that are specific to their target and it is damaging whether they actually believe what they say or not. However, none of this is the fault of the comic authors. You seem to also be saying, "People only perceive sexism; it doesn't objectively exist." I am not saying this. You clearly didn't read my entire post. Sexism is a real problem as I clearly stated in my OP. Stated another way: if reasonable individuals can agree that the comic is not sexist, then it follows that the perception of the comic as sexist is merely a perception that the authors don't have an ethical obligation to recognize. I'm not sure what you're saying. I'm saying that PA authors shouldn't be held responsible for trolls harassing individuals they disagree with because there is a flavor of troll for every controversial topic and they will always spout the most disgusting hateful thing imaginable for the target audience. I blame them for profiting off of it Why? Do you blame the author of this post or any of other dozens of blogs that have profited off this controversy? If the comic wasn't sexist, I don't see the problem with selling merch based on the comic. Will some perceive "Dickwolf" merchandise as an attack on women? Yes, but that doesn't make it true. they were saying, "We don't think enough of their complaints to treat it seriously." I don't think they are wrong for this. As I stated in my OP, the comic does not invoke imagery of violence against women unless you believe that the literary use of the word 'rape' is inherently sexist. If you don't believe that use of the term rape is inherently sexist, it follows that you might not take accusations of sexism seriously. You can't evaluate these two components of the story in a vacuum. Your argument boils down to "well, there isn't anything actually sexist about the comic, but dismissing accusations of the comic as sexist is sexist". Sexism well and truly exists You're fighting against a straw-man.
      - drhayes9 13y ago
        Nope, totally read your post. And then deleted my rather angry response because you've got a couple of good points; sorry to straw man you there. All of your examples start from the comic. The rest of the discussion starts with PA's response to their critics. I agree that the comic isn't particularly sexist. I disagree that PA isn't responsible for their community here. Even Krahulik himself thinks so[1]. When he says, on the one hand, "We have worked very hard to make PAX a safe place," and then, on the other hand, says he regrets not selling rape joke t-shirts that specifically were released to antagonize his critics (the ones he was making the safe place for). What's up with that? I think the t-shirt was purposefully created to make fun of people who thought the original comic was a big deal. Do you disagree? It's not about whether the original comic was sexist (I never said that, nor did Wired). I also think there's a clear difference between PA selling the shirt and Wired writing a reaction piece. Wired didn't post a big picture of a dickwolf and put ads on it. They're not profiting from a rape joke directly... like you would if you sold a picture of a dickwolf on a shirt. We might be talking past each other? [1]: http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/09/04/some-clarification http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/09/04/some-clarification

drhayes9 13y ago

Again, almost none of the controversy stems from the comic itself. Most of it comes from PA's reaction to their critics' feedback.

vectorpush 13y ago
Yeah, I keep hearing that, but just because some people perceive sexism, doesn't mean that they deserve special treatment lest one be accused of sexism. Also, reports of threats from anonymous internet trolls is the common denominator of every internet controversy, I can't take that seriously unless PA was encouraging users to send out hateful messages.
- drhayes9 13y ago
  I'm not sure how to engage with you on this because I'm not sure what you're saying. It sounds like you're saying, "PA shouldn't be blamed for the Internet trolls that are out there already all the time." Or maybe, "Threats against women are garden-variety Internet trolling and not motivated particularly by their gender." You seem to also be saying, "People only perceive sexism; it doesn't objectively exist." I'll start by responding to all three and please correct me if I've misunderstood your points. 1. I don't blame PA for hateful comments its community sent out to people asking them to apologize for a rape joke. I blame them for profiting off of it, for recognizing that this was happening and thinking that it might be a good idea to make money from it or make light of it by encapsulating the outrage as a shirt. While they weren't specifically saying, "Go out and threaten women with rape and death," they were saying, "We don't think enough of their complaints to treat it seriously." I don't think it's out of line to see the thought process there: "PA themselves were making light of it, so maybe this whole thing isn't that big a deal?" 2. Sex-based threats against women (rape, specifically) are of course different than similar threats against men. Just like the US judicial system makes distinctions between hate crimes and non-hate crimes, or distinguishes between pre-meditated murder and spur-of-the-moment murder, sex-based threats against women are treated specially. They are derived from circumstances of who they are and how they are perceived in culture, both things that an individual has no hope of changing. Of course any threatened class of people deserves special treatment for being threatened for being in that class of people. 3. Sexism well and truly exists. I'm not going to try proving that to anyone else with access to Google.
  - vectorpush 13y ago
    "Threats against women are garden-variety Internet trolling and not motivated particularly by their gender." I am not saying this. Of course sexist trolling is motivated by the gender of the victim, that's exactly how trolls operate, they deliberately attack pain points that are specific to their target and it is damaging whether they actually believe what they say or not. However, none of this is the fault of the comic authors. You seem to also be saying, "People only perceive sexism; it doesn't objectively exist." I am not saying this. You clearly didn't read my entire post. Sexism is a real problem as I clearly stated in my OP. Stated another way: if reasonable individuals can agree that the comic is not sexist, then it follows that the perception of the comic as sexist is merely a perception that the authors don't have an ethical obligation to recognize. I'm not sure what you're saying. I'm saying that PA authors shouldn't be held responsible for trolls harassing individuals they disagree with because there is a flavor of troll for every controversial topic and they will always spout the most disgusting hateful thing imaginable for the target audience. I blame them for profiting off of it Why? Do you blame the author of this post or any of other dozens of blogs that have profited off this controversy? If the comic wasn't sexist, I don't see the problem with selling merch based on the comic. Will some perceive "Dickwolf" merchandise as an attack on women? Yes, but that doesn't make it true. they were saying, "We don't think enough of their complaints to treat it seriously." I don't think they are wrong for this. As I stated in my OP, the comic does not invoke imagery of violence against women unless you believe that the literary use of the word 'rape' is inherently sexist. If you don't believe that use of the term rape is inherently sexist, it follows that you might not take accusations of sexism seriously. You can't evaluate these two components of the story in a vacuum. Your argument boils down to "well, there isn't anything actually sexist about the comic, but dismissing accusations of the comic as sexist is sexist". Sexism well and truly exists You're fighting against a straw-man.
    - drhayes9 13y ago
      Nope, totally read your post. And then deleted my rather angry response because you've got a couple of good points; sorry to straw man you there. All of your examples start from the comic. The rest of the discussion starts with PA's response to their critics. I agree that the comic isn't particularly sexist. I disagree that PA isn't responsible for their community here. Even Krahulik himself thinks so[1]. When he says, on the one hand, "We have worked very hard to make PAX a safe place," and then, on the other hand, says he regrets not selling rape joke t-shirts that specifically were released to antagonize his critics (the ones he was making the safe place for). What's up with that? I think the t-shirt was purposefully created to make fun of people who thought the original comic was a big deal. Do you disagree? It's not about whether the original comic was sexist (I never said that, nor did Wired). I also think there's a clear difference between PA selling the shirt and Wired writing a reaction piece. Wired didn't post a big picture of a dickwolf and put ads on it. They're not profiting from a rape joke directly... like you would if you sold a picture of a dickwolf on a shirt. We might be talking past each other? [1]: http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/09/04/some-clarification http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/09/04/some-clarification