cie_anthy
2012-07-11 04:50 am UTC (link)

If you're interested in hearing the woman's full side of the story, her friend put it on Tumblr here.

I particularly like where she said, "I did it because, even though being “disruptive” is against my nature, I felt that sitting there and saying nothing, or leaving quietly, would have been against my values as a person and as a woman. I don’t sit there while someone tells me how I should feel about something as profound and damaging as rape."

Good for her, even if she got a horrible, horrible response in return. That was really brave of her.

I just can't believe he thought it appropriate to say that. What a complete asshole.

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	varkias 2012-07-11 03:52 pm UTC (link)
	FYI on that link: Some of the comments on tumblr are pretty horrific too. And the ones I saw were from women. :/ (Reply to this)(Parent)

	rosehiptea 2012-07-11 06:02 am UTC (link)
	That is horrific. How could anyone think that was remotely funny? It's disgusting. (Reply to this)

	scifantasy 2012-07-11 02:56 pm UTC (link)
	What. The. Fuck. (Reply to this)

	sadisticferret 2012-07-11 07:10 pm UTC (link)
	Color me unsurprised. Disgusted, but not surprised. The guy's a complete asshat and always has been. (Reply to this)

staroverthebay
2012-07-11 10:53 pm UTC (link)

Tumblr appears to be exploding about this. (I'm not on Facebook or Twitter to report on them, but I imagine that they're even more active about it).

Apparently Tosh's colleagues are defending or siding with him. Someone posted a list here of comedians or colleagues of Tosh that are siding with him in one way or another, with evidence. The blog I follow has reblogged that list with additional suggestions on how we can impact this issue and send a message where it'll be heard that rape jokes are never appropriate and should not be tolerated.

(also, am I the only person who thinks that what Tosh did could be taken as a direct threat to the woman who "dared" to question his content? As in, she could file a harassment suit, because he basically threatened to have her raped...?)

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	staroverthebay 2012-07-12 07:00 am UTC (link)
	also, the second link sometimes times out. it happens on that blog. Not sure what it is (think it might be dodgy Tumblr code combined with a custom URL). keep refreshing and it will work itself out eventually. Sometimes it takes a dozen or more refreshes, but it will eventually resolve itself. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	amadi 2012-07-12 03:49 pm UTC (link)
	A few people, including an attorney, says that under California penal law, it qualifies as assault and perhaps felony terroristic threat. I don't know if anyone's suggested she call the cops, but a lawsuit would be mighty sweet. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	staroverthebay 2012-07-13 12:52 am UTC (link)
	and a lawsuit would also send a stern message -- especially if it settles in her favor and not with the comedian trying to buy her off with shut-up money -- that this kind of shit is not to be tolerated. At least, I would hope that it would send that kind of message. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	esclaramonde 2012-07-12 12:00 am UTC (link)
	I can't stand the way comedians respond to comments from women, whether heckling or not, when onstage. It always, always comes down to sex and how the comedian is the only one not having sex with her so he doesn't have to pay attention to what she says, or terrible shit like this. (Reply to this)

khym_chanur
2012-07-12 02:10 am UTC (link)

"the point i was making before i was heckled is there are awful things in the world but you can still make jokes about them."

Yeaaaaah, that doesn't jibe with saying "Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now?" right after being heckled.

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kookaburra
2012-07-12 04:20 am UTC (link)

Yeah. I will say - I have heard what I guess could be classified as "rape jokes" that were gutbusters...because they were speaking truth to power - the butt of the jokes were rapists, or highlighted the absurdities of rape culture and mocked those who bought into it, things like that. If the only thing a person who makes his living with his wit can think of in the moment to say is a rape threat, somehow I doubt his aim was to do something like that.

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	kattahj 2012-07-12 08:54 am UTC (link)
	Exactly. Sometimes joking about a horrible topic is the only way to bear it, or to get the point across, but that's not what he was doing. He threatened an unwilling member of the audience with gang rape. That's not humour, it's hostility. (One example of humour being used in a good way when it comes to rape is this poster.) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

kookaburra
2012-07-12 03:31 pm UTC (link)

I count Wanda Sykes' detachable pussy sketch as one long rape joke, since the subtext of it is, "Gee, it sure would be nice if we didn't have to worry about rape all the time, ladies."

I keep seeing people defending him with, "Well he was just shutting down a heckler, it wasn't SUPPOSED to be funny!" Ummm, doesn't a heckler that makes you lose your cool and stop being funny mean you've LOST? Or have comedy clubs really changed that much since I've stopped going to them?

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	amadi 2012-07-12 03:52 pm UTC (link)
	We probably need a new term, to distinguish between jokes that reify and bolster rape and rape culture, and jokes that subvert and critique rape and rape culture. But it'd probably all get shorthanded anyway. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	napalmnacey 2012-07-16 10:50 am UTC (link)
	I fucking love that sketch. "I'm sorry, I left my pussy at home!" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kookaburra 2012-07-16 03:39 pm UTC (link)
	I always lose it at the "It's in the shoebox on the top shelf." (Reply to this)(Parent)

	harrylovesron 2012-07-12 02:43 am UTC (link)
	"all the out of context misquotes aside, i'd like to sincerely apologize." Kinda hard to fucking misunderstand you calling the theoretical rape of an audience member funny, jackass. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	iamnotyourmuse 2012-07-12 04:26 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, you know what helps me believe an apology is sincere? When it's not prefaced by an attempt to claim there's no apology necessary. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	cyndra_falin 2012-07-12 07:09 pm UTC (link)
	Ah Daniel Tosh. The maggot filled boil on the anus of Humanity. Hes not funny, never has been. His humor is sexist, misogynist, racist shit that make me want to punch his face in. (Reply to this)

	elektra3 2012-07-12 08:42 pm UTC (link)
	"all the out of context misquotes aside, i'd like to sincerely apologize." Okay, I'll bite. What context, exactly, would cause a "joke" about someone being gang-raped to be anything other than completely fucking appalling? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	esorlehcar 2012-07-13 05:45 am UTC (link)
	According to Tosh, the context in which he'd just been talking about how hilarious it is when women get raped for the last ten minutes. If we only understood that, we couldn't possibly have any problem! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	full_metal_ox 2012-07-13 10:18 pm UTC (link)
	Dear Mr. Tosh: Wanna know what's even funnier than rape? Painful groin injuries; just ask the fanbase for America's Funniest Home Videos! (Reply to this)(Parent)

xturtle
2012-07-12 09:30 pm UTC (link)

I believe that there are some ways to tell jokes that are funny when rape is the subject. Maybe even outside the closed door of the black-humored rape crisis volunteer meetings I used to attend.

Daniel Tosh will never be the person to tell those jokes, because Daniel Tosh has never met a joke he couldn't make un-funny. I thought about signing the "end Tosh.0" petition just in case it kept me from ever accidentally catching part of his show again.

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	tehrin 2012-07-13 04:55 am UTC (link)
	He makes rape jokes all the time on the show. :( (Reply to this)(Thread)

	queencallipygos 2012-07-13 11:13 am UTC (link)
	Apparently one of the videos he featured on his web site actually shows a rape. And here's something from his Twitter feed yesterday... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	coffeebun 2012-07-13 03:55 pm UTC (link)
	... WHOA that video how is it even remotely funny in any way auuuuuuuuuugh щ(ﾟДﾟщ) TRIGGER WARNING ON THE DANIEL TOSH VIDEO I only watched it because trainwreck syndrome and oh god i wish i didn't ugh ugh ugh. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lilitu93 2012-07-14 03:02 pm UTC (link)
	Not defending him, but according to the twitter feed you linked to, it's a parody feed. Not that that makes that "joke" any funnier. (Reply to this)(Parent)

coffee_mug
2012-07-13 05:59 pm UTC (link)

I've been reading about rape culture this week due to looking into potential thesis topics for my post-grad and it's been pretty horrible (the culture of fear, the sexual harrassment on campuses etc) just reading about that stuff.

And now this is bringing out a lot of idiots being idiotic.

(And I personally don't think rape cannot be joked about; after all, humour can be a therapeutic thing for survivors, and some people can make jokes that laugh at the existence of rape culture, rather than the victims. But most comedians are lazy, like Tosh, and end up making these asshole reprehensible jokes.)

Also, that friend-of-a-friend on Facebook who phrased this as an issue of heckling? FUCK YOU SO HARD.

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	full_metal_ox 2012-07-16 09:14 pm UTC (link)
	Update: Here's a Yahoo Shine! article, "9 Funny Women Who DON'T Defend Comic", compiling tweets by women calling Tosh and his supporters out. Linked therein is Meghan O'Keefe's essay on rape jokes, distinguishing humor that serves as a release valve for the afflicted or critiques the attitudes that encourage bad stuff to happen from crass remarks like Tosh's. (Reply to this)(Parent)

miera_c
2012-07-14 12:53 am UTC (link)

A good comic could respond to a heckler without trying to incite immediate physical violence against hir, you fucking douchebag. (Tosh, not the honorh, obviously).

I'm so utterly sick of seeing people screaming about freedom of speech and censorship any time someone is critical of them. I'M NOT CENSORING YOU I'M USING MY OWN FREEDOM OF SPEECH TO TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE AN UTTER FUCKING DOUCHEBAG.

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gardnerhill
2012-07-14 04:16 pm UTC (link)

Funny how so so so many straight-white-d00dz shriek "Free Spcheeech!" and think it means "I get to be as racist / misogynist / homophobic / transphobic as I like and you can't stop me 'cuz I'm being edgy, nyaah!" - and immediately turn into shrieking, crotch-grabbing, howling, tantrum-throwing toddlers the second someone else exercises free speech...to contradict them.

And I think I'd have to say, sadly...that we still wouldn't have heard a thing about this incident if he'd done this verbal assault on a black woman. (An educated guess here - I don't know for a fact that the woman he abused was white - but Tosh didn't throw a racist line or two into his attack, and also the verbal assault is being taken seriously, and the woman's race would most definitely have come up as a topic on POC's Twitter & Tumblr accounts).

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	taktuk 2012-07-16 06:47 am UTC (link)
	What? Fuck, and I occasionally watched this wank stain! (Reply to this)

	napalmnacey 2012-07-16 10:54 am UTC (link)
	I hope he gets a tiny glass fibre in some sensitive part of his body, and it dogs him for days, and he can't fucking find it. And then a bus hits him. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	honorh 2012-07-16 08:31 pm UTC (link)
	Ooh, I hate those things! Especially when they get in my toes. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	full_metal_ox 2012-07-16 10:01 pm UTC (link)
	Right on top of the embedded glass fiber. (Reply to this)(Parent)

ikabod
2012-08-06 01:09 pm UTC (link)

"Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her? … ”

He seems to be suggesting that this would be funny because it would be ironic. It that vein, what would actually be really hilarious would be if 5 guys raped him right then. That would be ironic and therefore funny, right? No? It would be horrific? Geeze, I guess I just don't get the subtle art of rape jokes.

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