Controversy flares over rape satire

[voivod]

Controversy flares over rape satire
A satirical article about rape that appeared in Central Connecticut State University's student newspaper is causing controversy on campus.

Outraged students held a protest rally Thursday in front of the university's student center.

The article, titled "Rape Only Hurts If You Fight It," appeared in The Recorder, the school's weekly newspaper. Written by John Petroski, the newspaper's opinion editor, the article discusses what Petroski says are the benefits of rape.

It describes rape as a "magical experience" and points out its so-called importance throughout history. He also states that rape has advantages in today's society.

Petroski and the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Mark Rowan, could not be reached for comment Thursday, but students said they have been told that the article was meant to be satirical and it appeared on a page with two other articles that were clearly satirical in tone.

One of those articles "Interview with Hanoi Jane" is followed by a note labeling it as satirical fiction.

Thursday evening, Petroski's article was still posted at http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/currentissue.pdf

University President Jack Miller acknowledged that Petroski is protected by the First Amendment, but he said the student journalist's "tasteless" article "deserves to be roundly condemned as deeply offensive and hurtful."

"It is a clear violation of responsible journalism and the community standards of this institution, where it is inarguable that rape is not a fit topic for humor or satire, particularly in a campus newspaper largely supported by student fees and intended for the readership of the CCSU community," Miller said in a prepared statement.

One Central freshman and rape victim said she was furious after reading the article, which appeared in Wednesday's edition.

"It just brought back everything that happened," the 19-year-old said.
Raped when she was 15, the freshman said she still attends therapy once a week.
"It changes your life," she said.

Ashley Cossette, an 18-year-old freshman from Wallingford, was also upset by Petroski's article. Living on an all-girls floor of her dorm, Cossette said that she was not alone in her feeling.

The article makes reference to "ugly women" and states "If it weren't for rape, how would they ever know the joy of intercourse with a man who isn't drunk?"

"I just don't understand how someone could say that," Cossette said.

The article also refers to rapes in prisons as being good for the victims.

Cossette said she understands the need for freedom of the press and freedom of speech, but she said ethics are also important. Petroski should have thought about the effect his article would have on rape victims, she said.

"I think he crossed the line," Cossette said.

Miller is encouraging university faculty and administrators to work with student editors to convey the seriousness of the matter and the poor judgment used, he said.

He also intends to get students and faculty together to examine the newspaper's editorial process and to take steps toward educating students about the damage such "blatantly misogynistic and homophobic content causes."

[voivod]

The article in question:

Rape Only Hurts If You Fight It
John Petroski
Opinion Editor

Most people today would claim that rape is a terrible crime almost akin to murder, but I strongly disagree. Far from a vile act, rape is a magical experience that benefits society as a whole. I realize many of you will disagree with this thesis, but lend me your ears and I’m sure I’ll sway you towards a darkened alley.

If it weren’t for rape, Western Civilization might not exist as we know it today. When the Romans were faced with a disproportionate ratio of women to men in the early kingdom, they had to do something, lest their fledgling society die for lack of sons. To solve their little dilemma, they did what any reasonable man would do: they threw a festival for their Sabine neighbors, and then stole and raped their women. It’s quite logical; in fact I don’t understand why the settlers at Plymouth didn’t do the same to the local Indians—it certainly would have saved on shipping costs.

Obviously, in the case of the Rape of the Sabines, rape was a tremendous help to society. The Sabine women, for their part, didn’t seem to mind so much, as they threw themselves between their brutish old Sabine husbands and their charming new Roman ones to prevent bloodshed when the Sabine men came to reclaim their wives. Yet even when society was totally against a rape, the raunchy act has benefited society too. Where would the Romans be, after all, if it weren’t for the Rape of Lucretia infuriating the people to the point of overthrowing their last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus? If it weren’t for that event, the world might never have had the Roman Republic for a pristine example of a flawless government.

Rape’s glorious advantages are not, however, exclusively found from 2,000-year-old examples. In actuality, rape’s advantages can very much be seen today. Take ugly women, for example. If it weren’t for rape, how would they ever know the joy of intercourse with a man who isn’t drunk? In a society as plastic-conscious as our own, are we really to believe that some man would ever sleep with a girl resembling a wildebeest if he didn’t have a few schnapps in him? Of course he wouldn’t—at least no self-respecting man would—but there in lies the beauty of rape. No self-respecting man would rape in the first place, so ugly women are guaranteed a romp with not only a sober man, but a bad boy too; and we all know how much ladies like the bad boy.

Ugly women are not, however, the only people who benefit from rape—prisoners enjoy its many perks too. What, after all, could possibly be more boring than spending years of your life confined to some tiny cell 23 hours a day? The answer, of course, is spending years of your life confined to some tiny cell 23 hours a day and never getting some hot action.

With rape, prisoners never have to worry about that. Instead, they merely need worry about treating their rapists with enough love and respect to earn a quick reach-around. But if there is one bread and butter reason for why rape should not only be accepted, but even endorsed, it is because our news editors are in dire need of interesting stories for our front page. Bookstore stories? Fossils? One dollar coins? Please. Now, some saucy circle-jerk rape action? Yeah, that’s the ticket.

[Axxman300]

Well, I would be happy to pay this guy a visit wearing this:



See if he changes his tune.

[SactoFan]

In satire, you are supposed to be critical of vices...He points out the vice, but where's the criticism? So, this guy is not only unfunny, he's not that bright, either...

[ZeoBandit]

Why would you even attempt to write something like that? It's just asking for trouble.

[ddzavis]

It's a college kid"s opinion in writing or attemping to be satirical, that's all. And, It's not that good. Now, whether he believes it or not, stay tuned.

[Raldo]

I live about 15 minutes from the campus and this was a major news story. Even though it was satire, in this day in age, you just don't make light of something as ugly as rape. Too many women have gone through that disgusting experience.

The editor of the newspaper must have been on crack when they gave the ok to print that garbage.

[Axxman300]

The two problems with the piece are:

1. It's not good satire.

2. It's not funny.

The thing is that you can get away with almost anything if people are laughing their ass off. Dave Chappel is a prime example of someone who is a master of crossing the line (Clayton Bigby - Black White-Supremacist, The R Kelly video parody).

Rape would be one of the single toughest subjects to write satire on, also the most dangerous to your writing career because if you fail - like this guy did - you can forget about a career in journalism as well as getting a date with a woman who can read. There are very few angles that you can approach rape and make it funny. The only one I would try is if I am the person being raped, example:

If I'm Mike Tyson's cell mate and he's horny, bottom line: I'm getting fucked. The only room for negotiation is -maybe - how long I get fucked.

You could build a funny essay out of that, but you're still going to piss off a few people. However, since I've made myself the victim, it doesn't cross a lot of lines and so more people might laugh about what I wrote.

[jimmy812]

I can't wait to read his next piece on 'Abortion.'

This kid is an idiot and, apparently, will have no problem finding a job at Fox News.

[voivod]

Rape Opinion Writer Removed From Newspaper
Writer Apologizes To Students About Article

POSTED: 1:03 pm EST February 13, 2007

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- A college student who wrote an opinion piece making light of rape has been removed from the campus newspaper.

Opinion editor John Petroski apologized to Central Connecticut State University students on Monday during a town hall meeting on campus.

Petroski wrote an article, "Rape Only Hurts Of You Fight It," appeared in last week's edition of The Recorder.

He said the article was not meant to hurt anyone and that he now understands he went too far.


"I've been receiving a lot of e-mails from people that were very hurt by this and it's changed my mind," Petroski told Eyewitness News. "I'm not going to joke about rape anymore."

Petroski will be allowed to continue writing for The Recorder on a limited basis, but he will no longer be on the paper's staff.