Nothing makes me sadder than to have to defend Donald Trump. Nevertheless, a blogger’s work is never done, particularly when Stephen Colbert keeps making jokes that upset me.
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[Transcript of relevant bits: “Mr. Trump, I will write you a check for one million dollars from Colbert SuperPAC, you know I’ve got it, to the charity of your choice. Anything– Save The Children, Feed The Children, Put The Children On Child Apprentice, whatever. One million actual dollars if you will let me dip my balls in your mouth. But this dipping– and I hope you’re listening, Mr. Trump– this dipping has to be to my, and more importantly my balls’, satisfaction… Nothing would make me happier than to write this check, and nothing would make America happier than to have something going into your mouth instead of coming out of it.”]
Fun fact: it is not okay to make jokes that hinge on sex being the best possible way to humiliate someone and express your dominance over them. That is an integral part of rape culture and the motivation behind many rapists, who are often angry at their partners (for instance, for daring to reject them) and chose to express their dominance over their partner by raping them. It leads to rape survivors feeling humiliated, like someone has beaten them, when they think about their violation. Not to mention the integral role that idea plays in slut-shaming, misogyny, and really fucking awful sex.
The alleged joke also depends on gay sex and sex that one is paid for being shameful, which is incredibly homophobic and whorephobic. No sex act that one freely chooses to do with one’s own body is shameful, including selling sex and homosexuality. And there are these really nasty implications of sexual assault, which frankly make me feel creepy inside.
Second fun fact: it does not matter if you are a famous liberal comedian, and if your target is someone that everyone wishes would shut up and go away. It is still not okay to make whorephobic, homophobic, rape-culture-y jokes. The same standards apply to everyone. And frankly I am appalled to see this particular clip being passed around by feminists, by sex-positive people, by people whose politics and sense of empathy I respected.
Sex is not shameful, Stephen Colbert, but this joke is.
Photo– DonkeyHotey/Flickr. The donkey and elephant symbols of the US Democratic and Republican Parties.
I think the critique of the joke is wrong because what it hinges on is Trump having to do something that he wouldn’t want to do (and since all available evidence points to straight) as Stephan is showing how stupid and insulting it is for Trump to say a similar thing to the president.
Yeah I wouldn’t call this a rape joke but only barely. Colbert, unlike Tosh’s threat to the audience member or even Conan’s so called joke about the weightlifter, offered a choice rather than just say he was going to do it or that Trump needed to have it done to him. Here is how I’d see it differently to put it in another setting. 1. Someone in the office says something about getting a raise and their manager says, “You’ll get a raise, if you know what I mean.” OR 2. A gamer says that the person they just beat… Read more »
Yeah I have to agree with Danny. Not a rape joke. Just very problematic.
I have to agree with Ozy that in this case, sex is meant to be humiliating and degrading. It is meant as punishment. If you think the joke is funny, I posit it is because you consider Donald Trump an acceptable target, i.e. deserving of punishment in the form of humiliating sex. I usually cringe at the term ‘rape culture’, but this is about as clear a case of it as it gets. Imagine it was directed at someone else, someone ‘on your team’, someone you don’t hate. Imagine the “offer” was issued by someone you don’t think is funny.… Read more »
Imagine the “offer” was issued by someone you don’t think is funny. So, imagine it’s said as a non-joke by a non-comedian. In that case, I’d have to agree it wouldn’t be funny. In a similar vein, if Mitt Romney suggested eating children as a serious solution to overpopulation and chronic hunger in impoverished areas, I would be horrified. But when Jonathan Swift does it — still funny. Your Romney / M. Obama analogy almost swayed me a little, but I had to deduct some points. One, because he’s not a comedian, so it’s not apples to apples. Romney delivering… Read more »
You make good arguments, but you are missing my point. Let’s say a liberal figure was holding a donation to charity hostage in exchange for potentially scandalous documents being made public. Let’s also say a conservative comedian, jokingly, held another, larger donation hostage, its release being dependent on the liberal… i dunno, picketing (no harrassment, just picketing) an abortion clinic, while wearing a clown suit and riding a unicycle. Or working in a gun factory. Something absurd-ish that a liberal would hate to do, but doesn’t cause immediate harm to anyone. That would be kinda funny. Does Trump deserve to… Read more »
Rape culture is a concept of unknown origin and of uncertain definition; yet it has made its way into everyday vocabulary and is assumed to be commonly understood. The award-winning documentary film Rape Culture made by Margaret Lazarus in 1975 takes credit for first defining the concept. Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology My point is this: Sex, of all things, is used as a weapon here. Sex as a tool to humiliate, sex as a tool to degrade, sex as a tool to punish. Again, I think the term ‘rape culture’ is way, way overused, but this is a text book… Read more »
No, I haven’t. Is it available on BluRay?
Blue Ray? Don’t make me LOLOLOLOLOL – It was VHS only but recently It has become available on DVD (Link) There is a taster session – Rape Culture over on the Cambridge Documentary Films Website. It’s on You Tube too – here Further details on content and back ground can be found via the web. I would not normally recommend Wikipedia as a valid source, but since I am the person who has done the work and written the entry – and provided the links – you may find the wikipedia page on Rape Culture (film) of some value. What… Read more »
I thought Colbert’s teabagging bit was hilarious and had everything to do with mocking the absurdity of Trump’s offer by pretending he was serious (in his signature satirical style) and nothing to do with any subtext about shaming gays or sex workers. I seriously can’t believe that any victim of sexual violence would be “revictimized” by seeing this bit, but if they are, the reasonable way to address that is more therapy and perhaps avoiding comedians. It isn’t anywhere close to reasonable to expect comedians to avoid any jokes or innuendos involving sex on the off chance it may offend… Read more »
I one hundred percent agree with Joanna as well. I was winding up to rant something similar but i’m glad someone else got there before me and so eloquently stated the problem with this article.
Agree as well with Joanna’s take on the matter.
Tea bagging for money can be funny.
Are we sure that someone exchanging sex for money is considered a rape joke, Ozy? To me this is a joke about selling out, and the most exploitive aspect of this joke is in saying that sex workers sell out. But this isn’t about non-consensual sex. If Colbert offers 1 million dollars to dip his balls in Trump’s mouth, that’s a form of prostitution, not rape. The difference here is consent. If Trump accepts the million bucks for the sex, it’s consensual. Beyond that, the joke isn’t funny because we’re hoping to see Trump take balls to the mouth. The… Read more »
On this, we are in complete agreement. I couldn’t have said it better myself!
I agree, Joanna! Without caveats, even!
Thank you Joanna. This only goes to show how easy it is for someone to find their offense of choice in anything even tangentially related (sex joke = Rape culture).
That comment is certainly a different point of view, but we mustn’t let it overpower the fact that some rape sufferers may be extremely triggered by rape jokes. I don’t know about you but not making them seems like the safer and easier option when we might severely disturb someone by making them. The rape survivor in the comment is not going to be triggered by someone around them NOT making a rape joke. She certainly should not have been told she’s not a real woman or no better than her rapist. That is a very wrong and disgusting thing… Read more »
“and by standing up against them are not necessarily doing it to pat themselves on the back.” But what they are trying to do, when they claim rape jokes are unacceptable and should not ever be spoken, is to force their will onto everyone else around them. Don’t anyone else do what makes ME feel uncomfortable. I can understand someone not liking it. I can understand someone boycotting those who use it. But I can not accept them controlling others for their own personal comfort. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FsfLPohZ_c “Also, let’s not forget the normalizing and potentially damaging effects of turning rape into… Read more »
Actually, they are not “forcing” anyone to do anything, that is some weak-ass rhetoric.
Some rape victimes may be extremely triggered by the smell of a particular brand of aftershave or cologne, if their rapist was wearing it. That’s a good reason to avoid using it if you know the victim and are aware of the association. That’s compassion. It’s not a good reason to outlaw aftershaves and colognes, based on the false belief that it’s possible or desirable to eliminate things that some people enjoy, but which serve as triggers to people to have some traumatic association with them. How does an anti-rape joke – such as the Louie C.K. example cited by… Read more »
Also, for what it’s worth, the Colbert bit in question was not a rape joke, since there is never any hint that he would teabag Trump without his consent.
I have to wonder when the term “Triggered” became monopolised – and when other people were made less than someone who reports they have been raped? A hint to those who wish to monopolise upon PTSD and supposed triggers. The Triggers belong to the person who is triggered and as such they are the responsibility of the person to manage. I do wish that so many others would stop disenfranchising trigger owners in what is such a very abusive fashion. I work closely with people with PTSD – that is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Not Post Traumatic Disorder. I… Read more »
Also, let’s not forget the normalising and potentially damaging effects of turning rape into a subject of humour when around people you don’t know are rapists, or may become rapists in the future. Who knows what someone else is thinking when you tell that joke? Have you heard the one about The Hamburger, Tax Dodger and Rabbi that walking into a bar? I hear that joking about food causes people to suddenly become obese too! … and one should never mention taxes in polite company as it leads to conspiracy to commit and grand larceny! Oddest of all – it… Read more »
Ozy – I can’t actually tell if you are being Uber Ironic or Uber Touchy! In any case – the image of Donald O Trumpo being tea bagged for charity meant I had to clean two monitors, a key board and myself. Perrier and net Humour can be like that, and the Perrier can come out in more ways than one! … and as a Kinsey 6, Queer Advocate and Kick ass specialist when the phobe is around – I have squinted real hard at the joke, video and analysis, and I am unable to find any phobe that needs… Read more »