- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
I don't think it's humor about rape per se that bothers anybody, just humor regarding the rape of women. Jokes about male rape, homosexual rape, and prison rape bother almost no one. Why? Because our sexual humor is sexist. It's always easier to joke if the victim is male. This should surprise no one. Humor about the sexual abuse of women offends our piety. And now, thanks to the self-serving moralizing of feminists, such humor is politically incorrect. On the other hand, humor about the sexual abuse and humilation of men is standard. What could be funnier to the average American than the idea of some man losing his penis or getting his testicles cut off? What's more hilarious than watching some guy getting his balls kicked up into his throat? Never mind our perversity, we can always find excuses for such humor -- but our sense of propriety would always treat women better.
Sincerely,
Marti
