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From one of the author's linked tweets: i'm all about stifling the kind of free speech that makes people feel comfortable joking about rape. The aut

From one of the author's linked tweets: i'm all about stifling the kind of free speech that makes people feel comfortable joking about rape. The author appears to be one of the many contemporaries enamored with postmodern factions dedicated to a simplistic and reductionist theory of social justice. But that's not even my main concern, but rather his misunderstanding of the use of comedy. Laughter is not necessarily a positive emotion. It can also originate from discomfort, anxiety, sadness, etc. The purpose of comedy is not just to be ephemerally funny. It's often used as a tool, by those skilled enough to pull it off, to shed light on the darker aspects of human existence and present them in such a fashion that it elicits a humored response. It is a coping mechanism, a way to come to terms with troubling things. Indeed, this is the point of black comedy. We joke about death and torture all the time. There is no reason why rape couldn't be joked about. In the hands of an excellent comedian, comedy has no boundaries. It starts to border on philosophy, musings of the human condition. Anyone who objects to this either misunderstands comedy, or has very unfortunate beliefs that free expression must be hindered. Otherwise, I read this article not so much as a reliable telling of internal issues in GNU (though they no doubt exist, as with any community), but as one man's personal frustrations with the community somehow being inadequate to his expectations.

kvb 12y ago
Do you feel that rape jokes are appropriate in every forum? Even if rape could be a fruitful topic "in the hands of an excellent comedian", that's hardly the situation being discussed is it?
- vezzy-fnord 12y ago
  Well, the article is rather haphazardly written, but from what I gathered there was no rape joke. Rather, the statement was, quoting the author's context: One of the presentations after lunch is by a GNU hacker. He starts his talk by stating his hope that he won't be seen as "offensive or part of rape culture or something". Which he deemed to be a trivialization of rape culture, but it was certainly not a "rape joke" by any conventional means.
  - zorpner 12y ago
    Of course it's a rape joke (and even if it weren't, it wouldn't matter, because it's so obviously what the author intended to mean by "rape joke"). The intended humor is derived from the speaker trivializing the concern by implying that it's not valid (for example, if I had prefaced this post with "not to suppress free speech or anything, but..."). It's fairly obvious that the author of this post and the aforementioned tweet is not objecting to the tiny percentage of rape jokes implemented by talented comedians as a means of social commentary. He's referring to the vast majority of rape jokes and comments that diminish or trivialize the act and derive humor from the idea of rape as punishment (jailhouse rape, et cetera).
    - vezzy-fnord 12y ago
      The joke is not a rape joke, because rape or rape culture is not the forefront of it. Rather, it's used as a background term, since it's well known and relevant to the main point. No, the keyword here is "offensive". The humor derives from the fact that the speaker is expressing concern that their words might be misconstrued to bear sinister connotations, when in fact they meant none. In that context, "rape culture" might be just about any negative social trend.
      - zorpner 12y ago
        Geez man, the casual/background use of "rape" is almost the definition of rape culture. The use of rape rather than the use of a different negative social trend is the problem. I wish I understood your perspective on this a little better -- reading through your comment history, you obviously have a pretty nuanced view on a lot of things, but from my standpoint you frequently conflate the right to free speech with a right to consequence-free speech (note that even in the tweet you posted, where the author hyperbolically claims to want to "stifle free speech", he includes the caveat that he doesn't want people to be "comfortable" joking about rape. I think that's an entirely reasonable sentiment).
        marcus_holmes 12y ago
- the_solution 12y ago
  You're missing the point, since there was no rape joke.
- Spooky23 12y ago
  The problem with scratching out these laws in the sand is that people have different perspectives, and will draw lines in places that you don't want to go. Free speech is there to protect offensive speech. I personally find it repugnant to trivialize rape or a number of different things, but I don't have the right to prevent you from doing so outside of asking you to leave my home.

kvb 12y ago

Do you feel that rape jokes are appropriate in every forum? Even if rape could be a fruitful topic "in the hands of an excellent comedian", that's hardly the situation being discussed is it?

vezzy-fnord 12y ago
Well, the article is rather haphazardly written, but from what I gathered there was no rape joke. Rather, the statement was, quoting the author's context: One of the presentations after lunch is by a GNU hacker. He starts his talk by stating his hope that he won't be seen as "offensive or part of rape culture or something". Which he deemed to be a trivialization of rape culture, but it was certainly not a "rape joke" by any conventional means.
- zorpner 12y ago
  Of course it's a rape joke (and even if it weren't, it wouldn't matter, because it's so obviously what the author intended to mean by "rape joke"). The intended humor is derived from the speaker trivializing the concern by implying that it's not valid (for example, if I had prefaced this post with "not to suppress free speech or anything, but..."). It's fairly obvious that the author of this post and the aforementioned tweet is not objecting to the tiny percentage of rape jokes implemented by talented comedians as a means of social commentary. He's referring to the vast majority of rape jokes and comments that diminish or trivialize the act and derive humor from the idea of rape as punishment (jailhouse rape, et cetera).
  - vezzy-fnord 12y ago
    The joke is not a rape joke, because rape or rape culture is not the forefront of it. Rather, it's used as a background term, since it's well known and relevant to the main point. No, the keyword here is "offensive". The humor derives from the fact that the speaker is expressing concern that their words might be misconstrued to bear sinister connotations, when in fact they meant none. In that context, "rape culture" might be just about any negative social trend.
    - zorpner 12y ago
      Geez man, the casual/background use of "rape" is almost the definition of rape culture. The use of rape rather than the use of a different negative social trend is the problem. I wish I understood your perspective on this a little better -- reading through your comment history, you obviously have a pretty nuanced view on a lot of things, but from my standpoint you frequently conflate the right to free speech with a right to consequence-free speech (note that even in the tweet you posted, where the author hyperbolically claims to want to "stifle free speech", he includes the caveat that he doesn't want people to be "comfortable" joking about rape. I think that's an entirely reasonable sentiment).
      - marcus_holmes 12y ago
the_solution 12y ago
You're missing the point, since there was no rape joke.
Spooky23 12y ago
The problem with scratching out these laws in the sand is that people have different perspectives, and will draw lines in places that you don't want to go. Free speech is there to protect offensive speech. I personally find it repugnant to trivialize rape or a number of different things, but I don't have the right to prevent you from doing so outside of asking you to leave my home.