Rape jokes, not made of comedy gold. The San Diego Reader – attempting, rather ineptly, to channel The Onion – recently ran a bit of “almost factual news” about the recent Slutwalks. The title: “Slut Walk Devolves into Rape Run.”
Here’s the lede (as they say in the biz):
It was supposed to be a triumph for women eager to reclaim their sexuality from the threat of sexual violence. But sadly, Slut Walk San Diego went horribly awry as some 50 men, many of whom claimed to be unable to control their animal urges when presented with such a plenitude of hot female flesh, plunged into the crowd of over 2000 sluts in a quest for sexual gratification, consensual or otherwise. Dozens of arrests have been made, and police say it may be weeks before all the snatched panties have been returned to their rightful owners.
See, it’s funny because they were being raped!
Amazingly, the one comment that this lovely article managed to inspire was even less hilarious than the article itself. According to someone calling himself a86d:
Its bs like this that is further going drive culture to FURTHER feminize men and go back to that process of thinking that a man needs to be controlled because hes just a beast. BS we’re not animals, We’ve evolved and people need consequences….in this case …. BURN em. The Dilbert comic writer seems to think that all men need to be castrated because we can’t control our urges, because society forces us men to be a round peg in a square hole…..if you want to live a certain life style….you can find it. Own up, be mature, respectful and if you cross the line EXPECT TO BURN!
I’m not quite sure if all that BURNing is supposed to be directed at rapists or sluts. I’m guessing the latter, but in either case I don’t think I’ll be inviting a86d to my next barbecue.
Plymouth: I know some people who make knives from meteorites. I suppose one could get a sword.
I just found out a state senator pointed a loaded gun at a reporter here in town…a loaded pink .380 Ruger with a laser sight.
@ Pecunium:
“You don’t want to know (you can probably imagine) the number of “guns will solve all problems” discussions I’ve been in.”
I’d say the number is probably way more than either one of us has wanted to be in. Sometimes American gun culture seems irredeemably fucked to me, with much of it devoted to promoting reckless attitudes and lazy thinking with a side order of bigotry. But I know that there are other people like me who believe in use of reasonable force for self-defense and who don’t feel too confident about relying entirely on the protection of a law enforcement community that, by and large, sees us as worthless freaks who are ruining their country.
@PosterformerlyknownasElizabeth:
“Personally I would rather get a dog for protection then a gun-I am almost blind without my glasses and I cannot sleep with them on. Plus, I never heard of a gun that could wake a person up when someone breaks in.”
That’s very practical thinking there. If you’re sleeping and an intruder manages to break in without making enough noise to wake you, you’re probably not going to have enough time to retrieve and ready a firearm. I have what is for me the best of both worlds: our dog is a terrier-mix whose bark is loud enough in this place to wake me right out of a dead sleep and she’ll bark if anyone gets within ten feet of the front door, even if she was also in a dead sleep to start with. At the very least, sufficient warning to wake me up and let me clear the cobwebs so I can figure out what’s going on.
@PosterformerlyknownasElizabeth:
“I just found out a state senator pointed a loaded gun at a reporter here in town…a loaded pink .380 Ruger with a laser sight.”
At this moment, I would like to reiterate my previous statement, “Sometimes American gun culture seems irredeemably fucked to me”.
Yeah, not much of a fan of the gun culture. In fact it used to be that Americans were sensible about the gun thing and would do stuff like require a person to “check it at the sheriff’s office or the Grand Hotel” until you left town.
Of course now doing something like that causes the vapors. I need to get some more smelling salts.
Gosh, I like you people… <3
I, likewise, own guns but don't necessarily recommend their ownership. I am at times a target shooter and I've threatened vainly to get into action competitions — the fact that I like shooting and am somewhat good at it strikes me as an indication that me + a gun could be useful in certain circumstances. That isn't necessarily true for everyone, hence the cringe factor of the infamous "What gun do I get for my girlfriend who hates guns?" You have to take the matter on as a new hobby to become sufficiently proficient at it, and even at that I find the lifestyle changes involved in actually carrying to be prohibitive even as an intermittent hobbyist.
That said, at my concealed carry class I met a grandmother who did not go out to bars with friends or have a job that didn't allow guns on site but did go for walks with her grandbabies on the local river walk which was quite scenic but also isolated. She had some disconcerting experiences there (where it seemed like she was being measured for something), and given the balance of issues she decided that it was worth it to her to continue the river walks but also take up the aforementioned additional hobby that she might have something with which to definitively draw a line in the sand.
So I don't go in either for the "youz need prodection, get a gun" or the alternative "You can't really/it'll just be taken away and used against you" position. Regards that latter point, I have kind of a rule of comparing any prospective piece of advice against what is taught to people that we actually expect to survive dangerous situations. Not that your average civilian and non-peace-officer woman needs to be taught to raid houses, but it is instructive to note for instance that the army does not teach recruits to piss themselves and the police do not teach their trainees never to go out after dark.
Rather, I think it's better to say "here are the realities" — that yes, you can pull back the slide on a semi-auto and yes, many people before you have learned how to perform adequately to exceptionally in stressful situations, but also yes, you are going to have to find a place to put a chunk of metally thing that can never come out of your control and must be protected against loose objects yet also must be readily accessible and yes you'll have to not go on the bus or go to bars or go to many businesses including maybe the one you work at et cetera, and then point people in the direction of implementing whatever they might choose to do.
@firebee:
“So I don’t go in either for the “youz need prodection, get a gun” or the alternative “You can’t really/it’ll just be taken away and used against you” position.”
Same here. It’s an option, one of many, not the only one and not the best one for everybody and every situation.
Starting to wonder if maybe we need a firearm owner thread in the “Whatever” section of the board, seems to be more than a few of us here.
Being Canadian I don’t understand the gun culture at all, not sure of the stats behind a gun saving someone from a home invasion but I would think they would be slim unless you have your firearms cocked and ready at all times and don’t sleep.
Americans (the U.S type) I believe have no real idea of true threat. True threat? I have a very close friend who is the son of one of the wealthiest families in Trinidad (not always wealthy, in fact he grew up quite poor but his father built a construction business from the ground up).
They have been near victims of a few kidnapping attempts. My friend would love to move back but the threat to his children is too great.
His dad does not keep a shotgun under his bed. They do however have seven estate dogs, and employ around the clock security who are actually awake, armed, and at attention. Their reality is, is even though they create multitudes of jobs there is still dire poverty and those people can be desperate and do desperate things, not to mention organized crime.
We love Central America and vacation there often, for the same reasons even though we stay in modest housing armed guards come with the package. This is a reality that people who have not traveled to second and third world countries cannot grasp.
I was home invaded a couple of years ago. he had me pinned on the bed before i could get my arms out from under the doona.