[TRIGGER WARNING for rape, sexual harassment]

Kurt Buckman: I can’t go to jail. Look at me, I’ll get raped like crazy.
Nick Hendricks: I’d get raped just as much as you would, Kurt.
Kurt Buckman: No, no—I know you would.

From the movie Horrible Bosses (2011) (source)

Stanley Goodspeed: You enjoying this?
John Mason: Well, it’s certainly more enjoyable than my average day… reading philosophy, avoiding gang rape in the washrooms… though, it’s less of a problem these days. Maybe I’m losing my sex appeal.

From the movie The Rock (1996) (source)

Several good things happened on Friday. As anyone reading this already knows (unless this is the first website you have ever seen, in which case “Welcome!”), a jury in Pennsylvania convicted former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky on 45 of 48 charges for sexual abuse of minors.

In another story that the Sandusky case may have overshadowed, a Philadelphia jury convicted Monsignor William Lynn on Friday of one count of child endangerment. Lynn is the highest-ranking Catholic official to be convicted in relation to a child sex abuse scandal.

Two thoughts on this. First, we are taking a long-overdue stand against abuses of power in areas we, as a culture, usually view as sacred (figuratively or literally): sports, especially football; and religion. Neither of these should give anyone, however talented or revered, license to flaunt not only the law, but some pretty elemental notions of humanity.

Second, within moments of the announcement of the Sandusky verdict, the jokes about prison rape started appearing. Refreshingly, quite a few admonitions to STFU about it also quickly appeared, based on a very simple premise that cannot be stressed enough:

Rape. Is. Not. Funny.

Ever.

If your initial reaction to the above statement begins with “Yeah, but…” please stand up from the computer and hit your head against the nearest door frame. Do it until I tell you to stop.

I call this “refreshing” because an issue that is usually the subject of bad jokes and perverse revenge fantasies is finally getting some serious attention. The issue of prison rape was already in the news, remarkably, because of new guidelines issued by the Justice Department, entitled “National Standards To Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape.” It is a common grievance among so-called men’s rights activists (MRA’s), who tend to whine a lot on internet forums but do very little actual activism. To see people, let alone the government, take it seriously is nothing short of dumbfounding. Continue reading →