any old lie will do

"I was only joking!": Freedom of Speech and the Power of Rape Jokes

2012-01-22T14:59:00.001+01:00

Chances are that you, like everyone, have certain things that you'retouchy about. Each of us reacts in our own way and has a unique sense ofhumour. We all get offended, purposefully or not, by things people say attimes. Censoring all speech that causes offence is practically impossible andit's not always fair to say that simply because something is offensive it istherefore harmful. Comedians often take dark subjects as their influence forcreating jokes, and even some of the best-known comics are known to cross theline at times. Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle regularly attracts criticism fordoing so. In April 2011, Boyle was condemned for making a joke about glamourmodel Katie Price's disabled son, Harvey, that "appeared to 'target andmock the mental and physical disabilities' of the eight year old", and wascensured, along with Channel 4, by regulator Ofcom. In its statement afterwards,Ofcom defended it as a one-off decision, stating, "To restrict humour onlyto material which does not cause offence would be an unnecessary restriction offreedom of expression." Many comedians will often push the boundaries of what is deemed sociallyacceptable in the hopes of making their audiences laugh. As someone who was at the recording of thatparticular show and didn't find it funny then, nor when I later saw it on TV, Iwas surprised that Channel 4 had made the decision not to cut that particularjoke. Whilst I don't find it particularly funny to make fun of children withspecial or additional needs, I'm sure I've probably giggled at plenty of otherthings that would have offended someone I know. As far as freedom of expressiongoes, UK citizens have a negative right to freedom of expression under commonlaw, and in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (and in theHuman Rights Act 1998 in the UK). Obviously there are exceptions to this, including "any threatening, abusiveor insulting speech, any behaviours that are likely to cause a breach of thepeace, incitement to terrorism, defamation and corruption of public morals andoutraging public decency." If you ask me, that's quite a broad range ofexceptions – particularly that last one – and any could be easily moulded tofit your criteria. A lot of what is said 'freely' might be incredibly offensive,but not necessarily illegal and similarly, some of what should be treated as ajoke, or innocent self-expression ends up condemned as harmful according to theexceptions.

Defining what we consider 'comedy' is impossible in terms of jokes;everyone has a different set of standards to how amused or offended they are bysomething. Almost every joke made is at the expense of offending somebodysomewhere. Some jokes are just engrained in our culture to the point that manyof us laugh without really examining what it is that makes the joke funny. Somefeminist groups are often accused of over-reacting when it comes to jokes aboutrape or violence against women, but is this a form of 'free speech' which weshould have more control over censoring? Women's rights activists in the UKaccused Facebook of "promoting rape and 'rape culture'" afterrefusing to remove pages and groups that encouraged jokes about sexual assault. Following an online petition Facebook eventually made it possible to report groups to the site that madejokes about sexual violence.

Rape jokes are a touchy subject - to say the least - for a lot of people. Many argue that youcan't pick and choose where to draw the lines and that anything is up for grabswhen it comes to comedy. I consider myself firmly in the 'against' camp when itcomes to jokes alluding to rape or sexual violence, not because I'm easilyoffended, and not because I've necessarily been affected first-hand by either,but because I genuinely don't see how such a topic can be funny. I can't seehow normalising something like rape or having people laugh at the notion ofsexual violence, can have a positive spin, never mind the consequences yourlaughter might have on the company you keep. For example, did it ever occur toyou that if the statistics of those committing rape are so high, it's verylikely someone in your circle of friends has or will commit such an act? Theopen letter 'To all the men who don'tthink rape jokes are a problem', on THIS blog, was a real eye-opener forme, because I'd never even considered it from that point of view. I'd like tothink that none of my friends would ever do something like that, but reality isharsh. I'd also like it to be the case that none of my friends had been thevictims of rape or sexual violence, but again, reality is harsh.

Comedian Sarah Silverman is arguably best known for her rape jokes. In aNew York Times article proposing to be about the 'breaking of taboo', JasonZinoman said "if you had to pinpoint onejoke as a breakthrough for this new generation of female comedians, it might bethis one: ‘I was raped by a doctor, which is so bittersweet for a Jewish girl.’When I saw Sarah Silverman deliver that signature one-liner in a downtowntheater almost a decade ago, the audience exploded with laughter followed bygroans. Then came the anxious chuckles whose subtext seemed to be: I can’tbelieve I laughed at that joke.” Sure, joking about rape is an unfortunate norm of our society, a normthat perpetuates violence against women*. On a separate occasion, Silvermandelivered a joke that directly drew attention to the fact that the majority ofsexual assault victims never report it, "Who'sgoing to complain about rape jokes? Rape victims? They barely even reportrape." This particular joke deviated from the norm, steering away fromjokes implying that rape is funny, or trivialising it, and instead made theaudience uneasy. Fewer laughed, allegedly. Did they question the content? Okay,let's ask ourselves if there are any positives. It may well be the case thatcertain rape jokes can provoke people to become more conscious, more aware,perhaps even make it easier for victims to come forward and there's a chance itcould even lead to better discussions on how society deals with sexualviolence. It might even be possible that using humour in this way, by way of arape joke, can be a useful way of getting that statistic through to people, as The Funny Feminist has considered, “That’s a rape joke I can get behind,because she’s not making fun of the victims, but in fact pointing out one ofthe most fucked-up things about our culture: that rape victims often don’treport rape.”

My main objection is that considering just howharmful and how triggering rape jokes can be is it worth the risk? In the UK, one in four women have experienced rape or attempted rape. Only 15% of sexualoffences of persons aged 16 and over are reported and only 6% of those resultin a conviction. The reported negative effects of rape jokes on victims of sexual assault mayinclude the increasing likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorder or the slowdown or prevention of recovery. It might even discourage people from reportingthe offence, knowing that it could be laughed off. Certainly, it could beargued that there is a difference between jokes that make fun of rape victimsor the act of sexual assault and those that make fun of rapists, rape culture,or acknowledge the low percentage of rapes reported. Perhaps, considering justhow harmful it can be and how widespread the effects of rape are, more could bedone to censor speech that aims to normalise or trivialise sexual assault andrape. My only efforts to censor such things have been to point out that it doesjust that, whether it be to friends who have made a joke in the pub, theresponse of a friend of a friend on a Facebook status, or a celebrity onTwitter who should know better. While I sometimes lament the pouring of 'publicoutrage' on Twitter to so many news stories, I do believe it can occasionallyget a point across strongly. Sometimes all it takes is one person to stand upand say 'Wait a minute, that's not okay' and you'll find you have hundreds, oreven thousands, of people supporting you. There will, of course, no matter whatthe subject, be just as many showering you in vitriol. I've seen the subject ofrape debated and argued in newspaper columns, and in the comments section ofblog posts, only for everyone to be screaming at each other (or the text-basedequivalent; typing in caps lock) and falling out. Like I said initially,joking about rape is a touchy subject. The problem is, for at least one in fourwomen, it's more than just that; it's a constant reminder. It's a recurringinsinuation that rape is something we laugh about, something that is no longershocking.

Jokes always have the propensity to offend nomatter what their content, but perhaps we should take a stronger line on whatwe consider unacceptable and what is really 'just joking'. As far as socialmedia is concerned, we must consider at what point we consider something postedon Facebook or Twitter as being possibly harmful to victims. There are manyother cases – racial hatred, homophobic content and threatening behaviours –that are not tolerated and, depending on just how 'important' you might bedeemed, are punishable in different ways. Of course it's difficult to justifycensoring anything, because by its very nature censorship is the removal of truefreedom of expression. But if the sensibility and empathetic natures needed ofsociety are somewhat lacking, how else can we challenge those that either seekto harm, or inadvertently do so? I'll keep standing up to people and keepsaying it until I'm blue in the face. It's NOT OKAY.

*I'm not neglecting rape or sexual violenceof men, just focusing on women in this context.

All views are my own, unless otherwisestated, obviously.

Why do girls hate other girls? (or ‘How not to be hated on the internet’)

2012-01-22T14:17:00.000+01:00

Take note: girls are not in direct competition with each other. This is a myth propogated by women’s magazines in order to stir up rivalry. If you subscribe to the bullshit that Cosmopolitan (and the others) feed you, then you will end up believing that the only things that matter in life are how your body looks and how to sexually please a man. They tell you that you need the perfect body; that your body isn’t good enough no matter how slim, how toned, how cellulite-free, spot-free, blemish-free, scar-free, hair-free your body is. They encourage you to believe that it is your responsibility to fulfil a man sexually, and to somehow ‘trap’ a man into being with you, then ‘make’ him stay with you. They will tell you that what you do with your life is not enough and you should always want more, try harder and run yourself into the ground in the process. You too can have the man, the career and the family you’ve always wanted. If you subscribe to this bollocks then yes, you will find it hard to believe that other girls are not the enemy.

We do notice it. We do pick up on the snide asides, the catty comments aimed at other girls. If you’re the girl who says she doesn’t get along with girls, she’s a “lad’s girl” - not because you necessarily get on better as friends with males, but more because you hate other females, we notice that. If you’re the girl who gets jealous and instead of realising that it’s a natural feeling that everyone gets at times, decides to vent it in hurtful ways, we notice that. If you’re the girl who claims that other people’s comments hurt her, but when challenged, your response is essentially couldn’t gie a fuck what you think, we notice that. The thing is, we don’t believe that you don’t care, because we’ve seen you go through this process with others. If you really wanted to push people away, you wouldn’t ask aloud ‘why do people hate me?’ and more to the point, if you really thought about it and were more aware of what you were doing, then you wouldn’t need to ask yourself.

Let me explain something, here. We don’t hate you. We probably barely know you. We don’t hate the person you are, because we’re sure that in person you’re lovely. When there’s that automatic real-life filter on everything you say and do, when you stop yourself from saying that hurtful thing because you know your social etiquette, we might even like you. We simply hate the internet persona you have - that girl that only comes out when your fingers can flee across the keys and you don’t stop to think what you’re about to post in the public domain.

So, it could be down to jealousy. Jealousy is a powerful thing and it can make you act in shameful ways. Sometimes after a period of jealousy you’ll ask yourself why on earth you’d have acted in a certain way. It’s fair enough to be jealous of the close relationship someone has with someone that you happen to like, but if you think that taking the piss out of that person in not-very-subtle comments is the right way to go about it, you’re completely wrong. Everyone is prone to jealousy, it’s a normal part of life. What isn’t okay is to let that jealousy drive you to make hurtful comments about others, or go on emphatic rants about the things you deem to be cool (and how they’re the complete opposite of the things someone else deems to be cool).

In essence, all I’m really saying is take a step back. Look at what you’re saying, and how you’re saying it, and how that might make others feel. If you’re trying to belittle others, stop. If you’re trying to take the piss, stop. You’re making everyone else feel uncomfortable. If you stop trying to one-up every other girl, or make other girls look bad, then they will not hate you, or your internet persona. Then you won’t be the person for whom, when someone brings up your name, we all make the face and go ‘UGGHHH I KNOW’.

(November 2011)

You're payin', I'm payin', we're playin'.

2011-09-20T02:45:00.000+02:00

I have an idea. Why don't you do a support slot for a DF Concerts gig, say somewhere really classy like King Tut's, the o2 ABC or The Arches? You too can harass your friends into paying at least £8 to see you go on stage at 7.10pm in an almost-empty venue after a four minute soundcheck. Lucky you.

In all seriousness, I've been against Pay to Play gigs for years. I've agreed to play a few in recent times because however much you want to stand by your principles, band decisions are somewhat democratic. So when the majority of the rest of your band want to play a gig you can either do it, or quit, and the latter wasn't an option for me. Whilst I agree that it's nice to support bands that you wouldn't otherwise get the opportunity to, I just can't rationalise the need for each of the support bands to sell upwards of 30 tickets each. As a rule I will not charge those who buy tickets from me more than necessary. So, the face value of the tickets for our most recent gig was £12, but the first £8 goes elsewhere and we could have kept the £4 surplus and put it into our band fund - we have an EP to record at the end of next month and it isn't going to pay for itself - but none of us want to charge our friends excessive amounts to come and see us play. That, though, is the crux - how do you convince your family and friends to spend £8 coming to see you play when they could easily see you elsewhere for free, or for less than a fiver, usually on a fairly decent line-up in a venue that doesn't serve piss-water beer in plastic cups? Chances are few of them will be fans of the headlining band - though if they are, you're lucky, and you're helping them out by getting them cheaper tickets - and you'll have to strongarm them into showing up.

Now I've made my decision. I will oppose all suggestions to play support slots of this manner, because even though I get really excited about the headlining bands and the idea of playing in a cool venue, I can't deal with the stress, or the guilt, of trying to sell those tickets. It's just not worth it. If you're a decent band (and that itself is mostly objective) then you'll eventually get good support slots, or headline slots, without selling your soul, or begging your friends. If not, a 'helping hand' from the likes of DF concerts won't do much for you. Particularly if the sound ends up being so bad that even those who did come out to support you and paid their money, wonder if it was worth bothering. They probably won't bother next time.

RIP The Free Hetherington, 1/2/11-31/8/11.

2011-09-03T05:39:00.002+02:00

Closed.

The occupation of the Free Hetherington at Glasgow University ended on Wednesday 31st of August, after 7 full months. This makes it the longest student occupation in UK history.

After numerous meetings with Senior Management of the University, the occupation negotiated the following terms:

1. No more course cuts.
2. No more compulsory redundancies.
3. A new postgraduate club, to be opened in the next year.
4. No cuts for student services, a guarantee of transparency with the SRC.
5. A public meeting with the principal Anton Muscatelli, where students and staff may address their worries.
6. No repercussions from the University for staff or students involved in the occupation.
7. An assurance that no information will be volunteered to the police about people involved.

London, March 26th 2011

I 'joined' the occupation back in February, about two or three weeks after it first began. I had stood in University Gardens on the day it first began, watching Liam talk through a megaphone, attempting to make students listen from the first floor balcony. I'd had a class to get to that day, and I had never really considered myself political, nor the sort of person who took direct action as a form of protest. There was a demo organised against the proposed cuts to departments, including my own department, and I'd seen posters around the campus in those first couple of weeks. I'd already decided I was going, but first I wanted to see what was happening in 13 University Gardens. Curiosity took me over the doorstep, but as soon as I walked in the door I was welcomed by someone on door duty, and shown through to the downstairs room by someone else. There were people sitting around, chatting, to my left, people studying to my right. Directly in front of me, someone was busy behind the bar and offered me a cup of tea. That day, I ended up doing the dishes. A few days later, I came back and learnt how to knit. Over the following weeks I attended workshops, offered my opinions in meetings, found my political voice and somehow, only a month later, found myself marching through the streets of London, protesting against the government's cuts to education and public services. I slept on the hard wooden floors of the Free Hetherington, when there weren't enough mats or mattresses and peeled vegetables in its kitchen. I made endless cups of tea for visitors and cleaned endless dirty dishes. I stayed up all night writing essays, fuelled by complimentary coffee, accompanied by numerous other students doing the same. I attended workshops where I learnt about the experiences of others and more about myself than I thought I would. I went to lectures and seminars on subjects I wouldn't have gotten even at the university. I met some of my heroes in terms of writers, film-makers and musicians. I laughed, I cried and I took part. It was a very small part. There were some wonderful, dedicated, lovely people at the Free Hetherington who did so much more and I am so grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to be involved. In comparison, I did very little. They were the ones who made sure there were always people around, that there were always activities planned and that people didn't forget why we were there in the first place. I felt proud to stand behind that banner, and prouder still to say that the Free Hetherington gave me a voice I didn't know I had. I won't forget that. Long live the Free Hetherington and my best to all its occupiers. I won't forget everything I've learned.

(If you'd like to read Liam and Alistair's article in Thursday's Guardian, it is here. The final word from the Free Hetherington blog is here.)

my persecution complex

2011-04-22T14:52:00.000+02:00

You may have noticed a few changes around here, namely that there are no posts prior to this one. All of my previous posts have been transferred to somewhere a little more private and, from now on, this blog will likely be less about me and more about other things. That said, I'll most likely be somewhat involved in those things, so there will still be a bit about me in them. Blogging for the sake of blogging is becoming the done thing, even when you have nothing to say. I'll try and keep posting only as long as I have things I want to say.

An introduction, then.

I'm Jef. You probably already know that, seeing as you're here. I'm a 24 year old student, studying French at the University of Glasgow and about to go into my final year. I mention that because it will possibly be relevant to future posts. I also play in a couple of local bands, namely the second hand marching band and Where We Lay Our Heads, though I sometimes contribute to others. I mention that because it's my main social activity. I have recently realised just how destructive apathy is and this realisation has left me anxious to try to actively change those things that I feel are unfair and unjust. I mention that because it explains just about everything else.

Everything else, I suppose, you can learn along the way.