Topic: The Oatmeal and Amazing Internet Fuckups

[gpw11]

So, BIG INTERNEWS has been going down over the last few days.  You see, Matthew Inman, the dude behind The Oatmeal, released a comic with a rape joke in it.  Aparently, up until this point the internet was completely rape joke free because some people freaked the fuck out. And by "some people", I think we all know I mean "those people".  And by "those people" I mean "Militant feminists and white knights".



This was a single panel in a comic (And not necessarily a punch line, although it was the last panel) and, as you can see, uses the term "rape" in pretty much the most non-offensive way possibly.  Whatever, feminists and white knights need something to freak out about and if that means boycotting an online comic strip for using "rape" as a verb, so be it. I'm just glad that they're not doing more damage to society...you know, by spreading ideas and procreating.

Anyways, it was a pretty big non-issue in the "people gonna bitch" sort of way.  And then this journalism school dropout





 posted an article on "Buzzfeed".  I don't know what the fuck "Buzzfeed" is, but the name and the little buttons at the top make me hate it. So, I never read the article because who the fuck cares, but apparently it got a fair ammount of support from the feminists and the white knights.  It was all a big circle jerk of hating on an internet comic.  That is until Inman released this gem which is hillarious and basically tears apart the Buzzfeed article point by point. Like, to the extent that they weren't even talking about the right guy for half off it.

Who cares, right?  And I agree. Except it's pretty funny because a.) people cry about stuff and it's hillarious, b.) Many internet journalists suck, c.) I know think The Oatmeal is more funny than I did before, and finally d.)The Oatmeal guy may actually be a genius because he single handily took all the attention and bad "press" off of himself and splattered it all over his detractors.

Thanks internet!

[PyroMenace]

Dick wolves

[gpw11]

Ahahahaa.  I forgot about that.  The hilarious thing is that both incidents deal with pretty much the most absurd uses of the word "rape".  A keyboard and a dickwolf.  And yet, peeps be all up in arms.

The interesting thing is that hard core feminists (who I hold no more ill-will towards than hard core men's right activists...if anything, the opposite), argue that these types of incidents are still vile because they promote rape culture. I don't know, because apparently the fact that someone may use the word outside of a police report, especially in a ridiculous context, they're obviously down cool with chicks getting raped or something.  Some even use incidences such as these as examples of how our culture can be viewed as a rape culture (what the?).  The part I find interesting is that it's actually quite the opposite and there are social norms associated with rape there to protect the victim above and beyond that you would find with any other crime or situation. This isn't a bad thing (well, I imagine it could be), it's just an interesting thing.

It's really the only crime where you can't say "Brutal.  Why the fuck would she get in that car?" without people yelling at you. If your buddy gets stabbed in some sketchy back alley at three in the morning, sure, ask what the fuck he was thinking all you want.  If a chick gets raped, you can't ask the question without someone accusing you of victim blaming.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing or a good thing, I'm just saying it's a weird thing.  "Yeah, that's a bad street.  She shouldn't have been on that street at that time" is a pretty legitimate statement and completely different than "Well, what the fuck do you expect?  She was probably asking for it in that short ass skirt".   Yet, there's a high probability that someone is going to tell you that she had every right to be there without some dude coming up and shoving his dick in her.  True point, but the fact that people say shit like that leads me to believe that we live in pretty much the opposite of a rape-culture.

[Cobra951]

That totalitarian doctrine we label "political correctness" has swallowed us whole.  It defines the taboos of our age.  Other ages have had theirs, like witchcraft and heresy.  Now we have to deal with our own.  Our small minds are no better than they were back then, after all.  Now we're just better connected.

Don't even try to bring logic and sense into it.  The act is senseless violence (not sex) always, and the victim is completely blameless, always.  If you suggest alternatives, you get burned at the stake.

[shock]

I've tried to cut the word rape out of my vocabulary.  It's clear to me that when most people use it, they obviously don't intend to invoke the true act in all of its horror.  That said, I don't really see a reason why it needs to be used commonly.  There are other ways to express the same sentiment without having to conjure up horrible thoughts and memories for some people.  And there's an awful lot of people that have been sexually assaulted.  It's one of those "why bother?" questions.

The victim blaming debate is interesting.  At its core, I think, is a desire for sensitivity/acknowledgement that historically there has been a pervasive culture of victim blaming for rape.  And not like hundreds of years ago.  Like decades at most.  It's manifested itself in all aspects of our culture, from the portrayal of rapes in the media down to the laws that have been used to prosecute rapists.  There are still some really fucked up laws about rape.  That said, we are shifting away from that culture of victim blaming and it's not as apparent now, but the victim blaming does still exist.  So that's it's more acceptable to blame someone for getting murdered than it is for getting raped.  Is it ideal?  No.  But it's based on a historical reality.  So I don't really mind being a bit more sensitive about it.

At the end of the day, everyone who is raped deserves our sympathy and respect.  I think victim blaming and liberal use of the word rape cut away at both of these.

Does this make me a white knight?  I dunno.  I guess I've interacted with enough people that were abused/assaulted that I don't really want to see them go through any more unnecessary pain.

[sirean_syan]

Not to argue one way or another, but I just had a funny thought.

You know why its okay to use killed in a similar fashion to raped? Because there are no victims around to be offended. I guess means I can't say something like, "that exam nearly killed me."

[idolminds]

I could totally murder a cheeseburger right now.

Also,

[K-man]

[Raisa]

oatmeal and papayas come out really fast.

[PyroMenace]