A problem in today's society is that people like to make jokes about everything.
It doesn't matter if the topic of the joke is offensive or inappropriate; if it can make people laugh, then the joke will be said and done. However, there are certain topics that should not be joked about under any circumstance. I feel these topics are serious topics that include rape. I guess this could be the "feminist" in me, but rape is not a joke. It is a serious issue and making a joke about it makes it seem less serious than it actually is. Yes, I am aware that it is practically impossible for rape culture to go away. It will always be lingering in the shadows, invisible to those who are afraid of the dark, but that does not mean that we have to stop talking about it and realize that it is something that is happening.
Very recently, at South Carolina High School, four boys attended a football game for their school.
The theme for this football game was "touchdown for cancer" to raise awareness for breast cancer. At this football game, these four boys (who had already been painted with letters) rearranged themselves to spell out the word "rape" and proceeded to take pictures and posted them on Snapchat. Now, the word "rape" was directed at the quarterback of the team; however, that does not make this any less serious because rape happens to boys & men too. Not only was this not funny, but it was also very offensive due to the fact that this game was supposed to raise awareness for breast cancer. Now, it is merely known all over the internet as the game where four boys spelled out rape.
Two weeks ago, I was sitting in my Organic Chemistry class learning whatever we learn in that class and another "joke" of rape was brought up -- this time, by my professor. He drew an organic compound on the board and asked us to name it. When no-one answered, he told us that it was the "ladies' favorite drug," in which a lot of us girls said Midol, because duh. However that was wrong, and my professor proceeded to say that the compound he drew on the board was Rohypnol, which is commonly used as a "date-rape drug." I am sitting there, astounded that my professor told the entire class that this drug was "the ladies' favorite drug." I was honestly so speechless that someone,who was supposed to be a professional and teaches a class of 80 percent women, would even consider that to be a joke. Even when I raised my hand and told him that what he said was insulting, he proceeded to tell me "I needed a sense of humor."
Rape is not a joke!
There is no humor associated with it! People need to realize that it is a big problem in the world, and they must stop treating rape like it is something to laugh about.
Personally, I feel like many people think that rape is a joke because so many people get away with doing it. Out of 1,000 cases of rape/sexual assault, only 344 of them actually get reported -- out of that 344 cases reported, only 6 perpetrators will actually be incarcerated. This is a big issue! Maybe if our justice system did a better job at rightfully convicting those who did the crime, then rape might be taken as a serious issue. Until that happens, unfortunately, this society will always have people that will joke about rape -- honestly, that is pretty disgusting.
Rape is also glorified among many music artists, which causes another problem because music is so influential. Some of the artists include Robin Thicke, Sublime, Eminem, Lil Wayne, and many more. I could make a whole other article on how many artists glorify rape in their songs and get away with it. These songs only promote that rape is a good thing. Don't get me wrong I like some of the artists above, but I hate that they promote rape in some of their songs. I feel like music like this is also a reason why people do not take rape seriously because these artists and songs make sexual assault feel like the norm. But, it isn't.
You can help with this issue! You can change the way that people look at serious issues like rape. If we all addressed issues like these and made it known that serious issues are not something to joke about, then maybe the rape culture will decrease. Then maybe, people will realize that painting "rape" on your chests at a football game is definitely not okay. Most importantly, if we get our voices heard -- maybe people will realize that rape is not a joke.
