Stop Being so "PC": Daniel Tosh and Rape Jokes

Not so funny Tosh, I wish I could give him a scumbag hat too.

On Daniel Tosh's rape joke: It's not a matter of being politically correct or "PC" it's about addressing the dynamics of power that go into a situation where you have a male asserting his dominance by retorting, "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…” Some people have argued that it all depends of how Tosh intonated the previous statement- that if he said it in a jokingly manner and not in a hostile one that it would be okay and acceptable. But it's not in this case because the words themselves are so threatening in carrying the intent of sexual violence against a womyn, not only by one man, but by a group of men- a criminal reality that is all too well within the possibilities of material realities for women to this day. However, the next and perhaps more significant issue is how can a statement of gang rape or rape in general be funny? Could it be imagined that if indeed that female or any other female audience member was gang raped right there, right then, in the past, or in the future by one or as Tosh suggested, five men, that could somehow elicit some comedic reflex? That sexual violence against a woman or women or actually anyone in that matter could be funny? I don't have to imagine that the female individual had to be someone I personally know in order to find Tosh's statement's not only insulting, but also threatening. And I bring in the word threatening because that is where the power analysis comes into play- that Tosh as a white straight cis male celebrity has more much power in a male dominated environment in both the bar where the incident occurred, but also in society over a single womyn, not to mention if she was a womyn of color- the threat of rape and gang rape does seem all the more possible to the point where I am not surprised that the female individual left in fear for her safety. Rape isn't something that Tosh or his male audience members for the most part have any material fears about (or even me as a male identified individual)- and it's about time that they recognize that male privilege and the oppression they impose through that privilege as misogyny and sexism. And so I bring it back to the initial point of political correctness by really challenging people to ask what does being PC mean? What is PC? What isn't PC? How far does PC go? Personally, I think its term that is ultimately a very superficial excuse used by people shielding themselves from their own privileges and the oppression of others and by those would either willfully or ignorantly assume to live in a power static world. By being either PC or un-PC is to disavow the history of violence that shapes both the present realities and future possibilities of society. In conclusion then rape isn't funny because it isn't "PC", rape is not funny because violence against womyn in a heteropatriarchal society isn't a joke or statement without consequences but is a material reality that scars the bodies and psyches womyn all over the world as a result of institutional structures of power.

For the original tumblr post: Click Here 
To sign Change.org petition to pull Tosh off the air: Click Here