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[iammeiam]

What's arguably weirdest about this, to me, is that the actual base joke in the comic is leaving some guy in slavery where he will be raped by dickwolves. On a global scale, slavery still exists and there are still people out there affected by it, so I don't really get the "making light of this traumatic event is horrible!" while simultaneously ignoring that the entire overall joke revolves around making light of a separate traumatic situation.

And while triggering a traumatic memory is a serious issue, I'd argue PA is relatively well-established as unsafe reading for somebody with a serious rape-related emotional trigger. Making a reference to "rape by dickwolves" isn't twenty times more offensive than depicting a recurring character forcibly violating an orange--neither is an event anyone is really dealing with surviving, they both carry connotations that may trigger negative results in people, and so the recent comic isn't a tonal shift for P-A.

Would 'beaten' have been an acceptable word in place of 'raped'? Because there are a ton of survivors of domestic violence out there, many of whom suffer trauma as a result. It's a tasteless joke, but that's what they've always done, and I'm not really sure how substituting another horrible action for "rape" would make it less offensive or tasteless. Or is there a list of which kind of victims it's okay to mock the trauma of, and which kinds are off-limits? Dropping this kind of joke in the middle of a traditionally tame web comic would be one thing, but this isn't new, they've been joking about the actual concept of rape for years.

 

[Sir Lizardman]

Clearly you don't realize that it's yet another example of the disgusting rape culture that festers in our fair land. So proclaimed the blogger that apparently started this outcry over on Shakesville. They also took umbrage over the so-called "apology."

I find the comic quite funny but what really outrages me is this person. :lol

She does realize that there are murder victims that live after the murder. It is the family and love ones of the person that get murder that are victims too.

 

[BuddhaRockstar]

In the first form the word isn't taken seriously.

I'm going to stop checking this thread now, the amount of ignorant people here is unbelievable.

Consider using the word rape for a joke the same as using the word retard for a joke. Respect victims. It's not funny.

All I'm saying is that the blogger is arguing that rape shouldn't be brought up because it causes the memories to be triggered in a victim and they are force to relive that experience. It doesn't matter what context the subject was brought up in, if you hear the word rape and you were raped you are going to have a different reaction than another person. Whether or not the word is "taken seriously" is irrelevant.

 

[thcsquad]

Reading the comment section on that blog page is nothing short of infuriating. I saw the user 'Brett' on that page making excellent arguments and getting downvoted into oblivion, with no rebuttals but namecalling, mostly made up terms like 'mansplainer'. Eventually, his comments get moderated with stuff like 'I am a douche'.

What the fuck? These people wonder why nobody listens to them. They make Fox News look fair and balanced.

 

[echoshifting]

Reading the comment section on that blog page is nothing short of infuriating. I saw the user 'Brett' on that page making excellent arguments and getting downvoted into oblivion, with no rebuttals but namecalling, mostly made up terms like 'mansplainer'. Eventually, his comments get moderated with stuff like 'I am a douche'.

What the fuck? These people wonder why nobody listens to them. They make Fox News look fair and balanced.

Brett

I was called a "rape apologist" in those comments - and was summarily banned - for basically saying "uhhhh yeah rape sucks but free speech doods" :lol Don't know how these people get from place to place without just blowing a fuse. People were trying to defend Brett, by the way, but their comments were edited out by a moderator, you can't see it anymore

mansplainer :lol

 

[SketchTheArtist]

Actually, it's reh-tard.

It's r-tard, retard.

 

[jman2050]

Consider using the word rape for a joke the same as using the word retard for a joke. Respect victims. It's not funny.

It still blows my mind that people consider the word "retard" offensive now.

 

[GillianSeed79]

I don't get what's offensive about it.

I mean, the Too Soon? Nirvana Rockband comic could be considered a little tasteless, but I thought it was funny as hell.

Of all their comics why was this one that got singled out?

 

[WanderingWind]

Brett

I was called a "rape apologist" in those comments - and was summarily banned - for basically saying "uhhhh yeah rape sucks but free speech doods" :lol Don't know how these people get from place to place without just blowing a fuse. People were trying to defend Brett, by the way, but their comments were edited out by a moderator, you can't see it anymore

mansplainer :lol

Those comments are frightening in their hiveminded single-purposeness. I love the backpedaling when they discovered "Brett" was a female. Oops. Oh, and the posts belittling the crippled guy because he doesn't know what it's like to feel pain.

 

[echoshifting]

Those comments are frightening in their hiveminded single-purposeness. I love the backpedaling when they discovered "Brett" was a female. Oops. Oh, and the posts belittling the crippled guy because he doesn't know what it's like to feel pain.

:lol That was me

I think I even signed up as echoshifting in fact. Check out my tag sometime, I have the Pain Achievement, and I can prove it.

Consider using the word rape for a joke the same as using the word retard for a joke. Respect victims. It's not funny.

If you can have a list of offensive words and subjects that should never be used again on my desk in an hour we'll see what we can do about banning them all. There must be some objective way to do this or you would never suggest such a thing, right?

Personally I find the white-knighting over rape jokes so insanely self-serving. I'm standing up here for all the rape victims who find humor helpful, buddy!

 

[WanderingWind]

:lol That was me

I think I even signed up as echoshifting in fact. Check out my tag sometime, I have the Pain Achievement, and I can prove it.

If you can have a list of offensive words and subjects that should never be used again on my desk in an hour we'll see what we can do about banning them all. There must be some objective way to do this or you would never suggest such a thing, right?

Look at this shit! I'm ragin' over here.

we have an existing community with an established culture here, and debating ... ideas is not part of it.

 

[echoshifting]

Look at this shit! I'm ragin' over here.

I really just think that's kind of sad. Not to sound too after-schooly but when you give up on the debate of ideas you give up on wanting to make a difference at all. I think it's an incredibly sad irony for a group of rape victims who exist solely for the purpose of wallowing in victimhood. I guess if that's what they need it's cool, support groups can be great regardless of their emotional center, I just don't get it.

 

[mclem]

Just glancing through this, I can't help but think this is Paedogeddon all over again. Not quite with the extra layer of delicious irony Paedogeddon had, but otherwise very similar.

Context:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paedogeddon#Paedophilia_special_.282001.29

The similarities are there, somewhat; people latched onto the context of the joke (in Brass Eye's case, paedophilia; in PA's, the poor treatment of slaves in this quest) when the actual focus of the joke was something completely different (BE: The hysterical media; PA: the player's behaviour)

 

[Arde5643]

I really just think that's kind of sad. Not to sound too after-schooly but when you give up on the debate of ideas you give up on wanting to make a difference at all. I think it's an incredibly sad irony for a group of rape victims who exist solely for the purpose of wallowing in victimhood. I guess if that's what they need it's cool, support groups can be great regardless of their emotional center, I just don't get it.

Wait, are they even rape victims?

 

[echoshifting]

Wait, are they even rape victims?

Many of them are at the very least presenting themselves to be. I don't know, who knows. My impression when I was in the thread was that many of them were rape victims.

 

[Arde5643]

Many of them are at the very least presenting themselves to be. I don't know, who knows. My impression when I was in the thread was that many of them were rape victims.

If true, that's a really sad mental state for them to wallow themselves into just getting stuck there.

 

[WanderingWind]

Really, next time "GAF hivemind" comes up in conversation here, I want to link them to that site. Some real fucked up shit in those comments. One of the mods even went on a personally attacking rant based entirely off the fact the persons screen name was culturepolice.

Any time anybody said anything like "Well, I thought of it like this." Their posts were changed to "Hi, I'm a douche" and they were banned. They all repeated phrases like some weird cult. Mansplaining? Oppression Olympics?

What the hell?

 

[spwolf]

All I'm saying is that the blogger is arguing that rape shouldn't be brought up because it causes the memories to be triggered in a victim and they are force to relive that experience. It doesn't matter what context the subject was brought up in, if you hear the word rape and you were raped you are going to have a different reaction than another person. Whether or not the word is "taken seriously" is irrelevant.

it is called therapy. look it up. Banning words because of trauma, irrelevant of context, means you need therapy to get you through or else it will be sad life, possibly short.

we dont live in society of rape glorification, if people think that, they are delusional.

 

[echoshifting]

Oppression Olympics?

Ha! That's one that really gave me a chuckle. "Do we really need to go on the Oppression Olympics here?" :lol

Well, the context was funny.

 

[spwolf]

I really just think that's kind of sad. Not to sound too after-schooly but when you give up on the debate of ideas you give up on wanting to make a difference at all. I think it's an incredibly sad irony for a group of rape victims who exist solely for the purpose of wallowing in victimhood. I guess if that's what they need it's cool, support groups can be great regardless of their emotional center, I just don't get it.

it shows you what happens when you have support group without professional help.

 

[WanderingWind]

Ha! That's one that really gave me a chuckle. "Do we really need to go on the Oppression Olympics here?" :lol

Well, the context was funny.

Got to be honest. You're a better person than I am. You laughed it off. I wanted to register just so I could call them a bunch of ignorant fuckwits. I didn't, though. So...I'm growing?

 

[Deleted member 30609]

some.times. i. can't.

believe.
it~

 

[GillianSeed79]

I'd like to hear Antoine's thought's on this subject:

"Weellll obviously, we have a DickWolf in Lincoln Park. He’s climbin in your windows, he’s snatchin your people up, tryna rape em so y'all need to hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband cuz they're rapin errbody out here."

 

[echoshifting]

Got to be honest. You're a better person than I am. You laughed it off. I wanted to register just so I could call them a bunch of ignorant fuckwits. I didn't, though. So...I'm growing?

That's kind of you but...I should be honest too, I suppose....I abused my blogger privileges to PM the douche who banned me with

"How DARE you call me a rape apologist. You have a LOT of nerve. Go to hell!"

 

[WanderingWind]

That's kind of you but...I should be honest too, I suppose....I abused my blogger privileges to PM the douche who banned me with

"How DARE you call me a rape apologist. You have a LOT of nerve. Go to hell!"

Well, good. They really need to stop being so insular. It's hurting their cause, their development and any sense of any real, rational debate surrounding real rape. (As opposed to comic depictions of dickwolf rape.)

 

[thcsquad]

Anyone else notice Melissa McEwan there? She's the blogger who was up in arms over the premise of Fat Princess a while ago. Among her contributions this time around was calling the Penny Arcade strip a 'rape joke'. I'm sorry, but if my joke starts with 'A priest, a rabbi, and George W Bush are sitting together on an airplane...', its not an airplane joke.

 

[echoshifting]

I was mostly pissed because I finally had a super-snappy comeback for "Oppression Olympics" and I didn't get the chance to post it. DAMMIT! I felt like George in that Seinfeld ep...

 

[WanderingWind]

Anyone else notice Melissa McEwan there? She's the blogger who was up in arms over the premise of Fat Princess a while ago. Among her contributions this time around was calling the Penny Arcade strip a 'rape joke'. I'm sorry, but if my joke starts with 'A priest, a rabbi, and George W Bush are sitting together on an airplane...', its not an airplane joke.

Oh. Oh, that explains so very much.

I was mostly pissed because I finally had a super-snappy comeback for "Oppression Olympics" and I didn't get the chance to post it. DAMMIT! I felt like George in that Seinfeld ep...

We have all had Costanza moments.

 

[Arde5643]

I really wish we can get Armond White to troll them. :lol

 

[-COOLIO-]

those are pretty hilarious

i wonder how a dick wolf works. i suppose it has a dick in the normal place and since the rest of dicks are appendages, they merely hold you down. i suspect only one orifice is penetrated at a time despite what might be immediately implied.

just sayin

 

[Facism]

man that blog and it's comments were hardcore hate. Someone with an account there needs to link a youtube video of Fat Princess to see how much more holy rage can be squeezed out of htem

 

[FLEABttn]

Anyone else notice Melissa McEwan there? She's the blogger who was up in arms over the premise of Fat Princess a while ago.

The face looked familiar but I couldn't place where or why. Thanks for the reminder.

Yes, she tends to undermine her own opinions by over-reacting to things that most people don't find offensive or care about. Her reactionary responses negate her ability to get sympathy or support from people looking at the issue in an objective light, so all she has is a website full of people who agree with her to the same extreme, with any dissent being banned.

That they call people "mansplainers" tells you how they will frame all their arguements past, present, and future. I actually had to google that one as I had never heard it before, nor even experienced first hand.

 

[echoshifting]

those are pretty hilarious

i wonder how a dick wolf works. i suppose it has a dick in the normal place and since the rest of dicks are appendages, they merely hold you down. i suspect only one orifice is penetrated at a time despite what might be immediately implied.

just sayin

Maybe their sperm have a horrible survival rate, and they've evolved to overcome this through penetration with five (four?) dicks. Or maybe the female wolf has five vaginas and they have huge, horrible orgies...sure would make for some solid cross-breeding.

 

[Hawkian]

those are pretty hilarious

i wonder how a dick wolf works. i suppose it has a dick in the normal place and since the rest of dicks are appendages, they merely hold you down. i suspect only one orifice is penetrated at a time despite what might be immediately implied.

just sayin

One orifice at a time? With every appendage an erect phallus?

 

[Ridley327]

You guys are thinking about this way more than Tycho did.

 

[echoshifting]

You guys are thinking about this way more than Tycho did.

You could replace Tycho with the name of any creator who made something a fanbase has since latched onto.

Make no mistake, there will be a wiki entry on some Penny Arcade fanpage on the ecology of the dickwolf within a fortnight.

 

[Mumei]

I'm not offended by it, but I can understand how someone who was raped or knew someone who was raped would be.

But I don't read PA, anyway, so I don't suppose it matters.

 

[Chris_C]

One orifice at a time? With every appendage an erect phallus?

Is it physically possible to have that much blood flowing to all those appendages at the same time though? I don't think so.

Actually, I would argue that a dickwolf would be incapable of any quick movements. Since its appendages are phalli, they wouldn't have bone, and would be unable to support the wolf's weight.

It would essentially just kind of roll around on the floor. I think the only way it might be able to get victims would be if it lay in wait in tall grass, striking the moment its prey is close enough, not unlike a snake, except with penises instead of teeth.

 

[echoshifting]

Perhaps it has ten hearts, and each has the pumping power of a small car

 

[WanderingWind]

Is it physically possible to have that much blood flowing to all those appendages at the same time though? I don't think so.

Actually, I would argue that a dickwolf would be incapable of any quick movements. Since its appendages are phalli, they wouldn't have bone, and would be unable to support the wolf's weight.

It would essentially just kind of roll around on the floor. I think the only way it might be able to get victims would be if it lay in wait in tall grass, striking the moment its prey is close enough, not unlike a snake, except with penises instead of teeth.

Then how do they have slaves?

 

[BuRT!]

One orifice at a time? With every appendage an erect phallus?

I think being held down by dick arms makes it funnier, though.

 

[-DarKaoZ-]

Wait, this is still on? I leave to do stuff, then I come back and this is at page 4? :lol

Just wow... :lol

 

[S1lent]

The situation in which said fictional rape occurs is absolutely ridiculous and is paired alongside other terrible occurrences (abuse, slavery), making the whole thing an absurd joke based on the NPC's suffering and the nonchalance of the wolf hero.

There's no glorification of rape. There is no concrete imagery for a rape victim to be traumatized by. In fact, the entire scenario is so absurd as to be almost impossible to imagine in a coherent form; how is one raped to sleep, and how does a wolf that has four erect phalluses for limbs accomplish this feat? The word "rape" is simply a tool, a word paired with other terrible words to impress upon you the ridiculously dire situation set for the NPC, and gives a starker contrast to the absurdity of the quest. Replace "raped to sleep by dickwolves" with "stabbed to sleep with knife wielding bears" and you get an equally absurd situation impossible to coherently imagine. Why would a bear wield a knife?

So why not use rape in this context, where all it really means is "this is a terrible thing that is happening to this character." We can't use the word rape anymore because the mere mention of the word might hurt someone?

Then that person should know better than to read Penny Arcade.

P.S. If you want to read something that will CONCRETELY impress upon you the horror of rape, read The Rape of Nanjing.

Shit, I was depressed for three days afterwards.

This.

I can hardly even comprehend how someone could be offended by that strip, let alone someone who has been reading PA for years.

 

[Pureauthor]

Is it physically possible to have that much blood flowing to all those appendages at the same time though? I don't think so.

Actually, I would argue that a dickwolf would be incapable of any quick movements. Since its appendages are phalli, they wouldn't have bone, and would be unable to support the wolf's weight.

It would essentially just kind of roll around on the floor. I think the only way it might be able to get victims would be if it lay in wait in tall grass, striking the moment its prey is close enough, not unlike a snake, except with penises instead of teeth.

Presumably the slaves can be held down by wolves that are not dickwolves. The.... um, normal wolves are thus helping out their less mobile cousins.

Or something.

 

[Hawkian]

Handwolves, if you will.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

In the first form the word isn't taken seriously.

I'm going to stop checking this thread now, the amount of ignorant people here is unbelievable.

Consider using the word rape for a joke the same as using the word retard for a joke. Respect victims. It's not funny.

Sorry, but the enterprise of comedy as a whole (and hey, maybe free speech in general!) is more important than any one person's feelings. Comedy should be a free market. People who are offended can choose what they consume. If offended by a PA comic, they can stop reading them.

I want to make clear that I feel bad for people who have been victims. It's not that I don't care how they feel. It's that trying to appease everyone who might be offended is a completely implausible solution. Creative people should get to be creative, and if they offend people, they can live with the consequences, if any.

Also, there's a difference between making a joke that includes the word rape and making a joke about rape "haha women, they dress so slutty and wonder why they get raped! LOL." I think the latter is a bad and probably hurtful joke, but I can't argue on principle why someone shouldn't be allowed to make it.

 

[Lost Fragment]

I see so murder is fine but not rape? She goes on about a rape culture where rape is normalised and yeah, that is worrying, but what about jokes about murder and killing people? She admits she has a dark sense of humour and enjoys the comic strips where Tycho and Gabe kill each other. Murder happens in the world right? And over small, petty things sometimes too.

I for one found the comic quite funny. The image of a Dick Wolf was quite funny and there would be another adventurer along in 5 minutes to save the guy anyway so he won't get raped anymore.

Yeah pretty much this.

Never heard of a group going all self-righteous on someone for making an "I'm gonna kill you" joke. Sucks that rape happens and that the mere mention of the word makes some rape victims "flashback" or whatever, but if that's the case then they should probably be in counseling or something because it means that person probably still has some related issues to overcome.

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

Rape is not a funny word in any context.

Unless you rape the context.

 

[conman]

Gabe's comment sums it all up perfectly: "I think that people are perfectly happy to laugh at offensive jokes until the joke offends them."

 

[Pureauthor]

Gabe's comment sums it all up perfectly: "I think that people are perfectly happy to laugh at offensive jokes until the joke offends them."

You'd think they'd realize the sensible and non-hypocritical thing to do would be to shrug and move on.