Penny Arcade says, "Rape culture is hilarious!"
Has anyone else been following the Penny Arcade Dickwolf Controversy (as I've taken to calling it)? The whole thing started with this comic, posted in August, which many readers took offense to due to an unfunny rape joke. The argument was revived with new fervor recently, and it's still ongoing. Personally, I'm finding it really difficult to enjoy the comic lately, because of the way this whole thing has been handled.

A better and more thorough write-up than I could ever hope to put together has been posted here.

Edit: Via seiberwing: An interesting protest movement has arisen on Tumblr.
Edit again: A couple of comments have indicated that the Tumblr linked in the above post has malware, so tread lightly.

Edit 3: Via lady7jane: This isn't the first time that Mike has exhibited douchebaggy behavior. "I don't know, Love Systems doesn't seem so bad to me."

Edit 4: Via airawyn and alexa: Jerry responds.

Edit 5: Via number13baby, Mike calls for the discussion to end.

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eleutheria
2011-02-02 10:29 am UTC (link)

And yet, IME, they're the ones who break your heart the hardest because you do expect them to listen when you talk to them, and so freaking often they won't. Look, I'm happy your family and friends aren't like that. But your experiences are everyone's, right? I see a trend-- when I look online, when I look in politics, when I try to have discussions online and IRL about this kind of thing. Compromise, doing the minimum, being deeply invested in colorblindness and equality and "look how far we've come". And the dismay at Keith Olbermann going off the air because he's the champion of the left! (Point out his bigotry and rape apologism, and you're "shrill" and, again, "oversensitive".) At the end of the day, liberal politicians will largely cave to the people you're talking about in an effort to look neutral and centrist and nice as the goalposts get shifted further and further to the right.

It's just that attitude that they run a charity and made their con a bit more inclusive than the rest, so why isn't that good enough? that gets me. I'm sure they think they're the good guys, and their fans think they're good guys (or Nice Guys) because they think rape is wrong. I'm just overall tired of banging my head against shallow and insincere "allies". (And hell, you're doing it too, that "but they're not as bad as these (really loudly and overtly bigoted) people over here!" thing.)

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ekaterinv
2011-02-02 09:27 pm UTC (link)

I basically agree with you. It's nearly always the people who are loudest/richest/most famous who are the biggest jerks, though. And no group of people, ever, has willingly given up privilege without being basically forced to do so.

I didn't mean to do the "they're not as bad" thing. Rather to say, it's not that they're liberals (if they are, I still have no idea what the PA guys would call themselves), it's rape culture. So some of us are learning now that we have a fuckload more work to do than we thought, considering even these people act like this. And in a way I like to think it's a good sign -- not so long ago our concerns would have been brushed off entirely. Now we're enough of a "threat" that they think they have to answer us. And they're pretty obviously terrified.

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