A rant for SA awareness month.
[TW: SEXUAL ABUSE AND HARRASSMENT]
Hey guys. Its april. This month was chosen to spread SA awareness. This year i also wanna do my part. And I have something to talk about that has been botherting me. For a long time.
Now, im not against dark humour. Its purpose is to talk about the horrible things in the world with a comedic approach, and it also serves as a way to criticize that horrible thing.
But theres a fine line between dark humour and straight up mocking serious topics.
And unfortunately, many "jokes" about sexual harrassment are just a straight up mockery of victims.
Theyre made the laughing stock. The butt of the joke. As if its "funny"...but its actually just disrespectful and nasty.
And it only invalidates their experience more than people already do.
This type of "jokes" (that shouldnt even be called jokes cuz theyre not funny at all) usually affect male characters, but even female characters arent safe from it.
Just think about the many times in anime where a girl gets harrassed by a creep and its treated as a moment of humour that youre supposed to just. Laugh and forget in 2 minutes.
Half the time, this occurance happens in fandoms. And the other half, in the media itself.
Specifically i want to tackle both of these phenomenons.
SA "jokes" in fandom spaces
All fandom spaces, wether big or small, have a bunch of "bad" people who seem unable to take any serious topic seriously. Sexual abuse is part of those topics, and one of the most disrespected ones.
I have seen many. MANY. MANY FANWORKS where the punchline was literally just a character getting straight up MOLESTED.
Let me give you an example of this situation:
Sometimes, while scrolling trough the tag of the fandom youre in, youre gonna stumble upon a comic or one shot that is supposed to be comedic. But when you read it, you realize that the punchline is straight up harrassment or even rape. "God this is terrible" you think to yourself. So you go to the comment section to call this out or to hopefully someone with common sense.
You know what you find instead? People making jokes. They dont even realize that its a problem. Because SA has been mocked and invalitated so much to the point its not even seen as something bad.
"Haha when A touched B's butt lmao XD" and then B is shown to be extremely uncomfortable.
....my brother in christ. WHAT IS THERE TO LAUGH ABOUT???
Ok, let me give you another example:
Errors haphephobia and how it was portrayed in the older days.
It was either removed for the sake of shipping, OR treated like a fucking joke.
The amount of comics ive seen on pinterest where the butt of the joke was errors haphephobia getting triggered MY LORD.
Like let me just show you one so u get the idea:
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS. NO GENUINELY WHAT THE FUCK.
And despite how ink is LITERALLY forcing himself on error here, I still saw some people make jokes in the comments. Eugh.
Not to mention that its usually done with fresh and ink for some reason. What the hell.
Error isnt the only victim of this, but also many other characters, like denji from chainsaw man. His story is literally centered around sexual abuse, yet you still see some morons who call him a "gooner" and say "damn I wish it was me".
NO BRO. YOU DO NOT WISH YOU WERE DENJI.
No matter how attractive a character is it doesnt excuse the fact they groomed and sexually abused someone.
Now, what happens if these "jokes" are made not by the fandom, but by the media itself?
SA "jokes" in the canon media: writers incompetence.
These type of "jokes" can happen in the serie, game, or movie itself. Though they can be used to criticize sexual abuse and call pit how horrible it is, making the butt of the joke not the victim, but the abuser or the carelessness of other people, none of that happens in many, espeically in older medias.
And even then, some modern medias still do this. It shows the writers incompetence to take any deep topic seriously.
An example is hazbin hotel, where it was done not once.
(Last two scenes were taken from a video made by kamsholiday on youtube that tackles male SA victims representation in media)
These arent only nasty, disrespectful and unnecessary, but are also a spit in the face to angel dust, who is literally a victim of sexual abuse and there was a whole episode dedicated to that. The sir pentious scene happened ALMOST RIGHT AFTER THAT EPISODE. LITERALLY 2 EPISODES LATER.
I can think of so many more examples of this happening, like the old epictale "meme" comics (thankfully the creator doesnt make stuff like that anymore).
(I dont really know if this counts but you get the idea)
Even worse, epic has been a victim of those jokes. Especially because his backstory has many allegories with CSA (since he was experimented on from childhood without consent and on his SOUL, aka a monsters most intimate and vulnerable part of themselves).
I would go on but If I showed all the examples this rant would be infinite.
The importance of spreading awareness.
Luckily, its not all that bad. In fact, in recent years sexual abuse is finally starting to be taken more seriously by people. Those "jokes" arent seen as much anymore, and there are even medias that spread awareness. Thats why its so important: it helps victims reach out to report what happened to them and to get support, and it also educates others on the topic so thry can help or make sex offenders pay the consequences of their actions.
Even though it still happens, these "jokes" are way less common than before. Sexual abuse is finally getting taken seriously, and despite the hardships and injustice, more people are talking about their experience.
Your voice is important. And even the quietest one can make a difference.
Dont be afraid to speak up.
Your experience is valid. Even if you think others had it worse.
