CEO, Comedy Central: Take Daniel Tosh off the air

[Ian David]

6. Daniel Tosh and rape jokes: Still not funny

Daniel Tosh and rape jokes: Still not funny
Inappropriate humor is often the best kind. But Daniel Tosh's gross jokes about rape cross a basic line of decency

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Daniel Tosh’s humor, however, is utterly lacking in grace. The star of Comedy Central’s “Tosh.0? does not possess the transformative power of his betters, so when he tries to be edgy and transgressive, it tends to fall flat. In April, the unapologetic misogynist encouraged his audience to film themselves touching women softly on their stomachs. I am not quite sure how this encroachment on personal space and ignorance of appropriate boundaries constitutes humor, but it takes all kinds. (I’m also a woman — we are, from what I hear, not funny.) Nonetheless, the incident gave me pause, particularly when his ardent fans actually began filming themselves touching women softly on their stomachs and posting the videos to YouTube. Somehow, they thought this behavior was acceptable because the comic they admired told them so. You’d be amazed what people are willing to do when they are given permission, either implicitly or explicitly.

Given Tosh’s brand of humor and his general history of immature, frattish humor, I wasn’t really surprised when I heard he made inappropriate statements about rape at the Laugh Factory last Friday. Rape jokes are part of his shtick. During his Laugh Factory set, a young woman in the audience yelled, “Actually, rape jokes are never funny.” Tosh is said to have maturely responded, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by like, five guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her …”

What if, indeed.

There’s no better follow-up for a rape joke than a gang rape joke. Because if rape is funny, gang rape is funnier.

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Rape humor is designed to remind women that they are still not quite equal. Just as their bodies and reproductive freedom are open to legislation and public discourse, so are their other issues. When women respond negatively to misogynistic or rape humor they are “sensitive” and branded as feminist a word that has, as of late, become a catch-all term for, “woman who does not tolerate bullshit.”

More:
http://www.salon.com/2012/07/12/daniel_tosh_and_rape_jokes_still_not_funny/