If you want something in life, it’s best just to ask for it.
Today, I’m asking for a lot: BE SMARTER.
In case you missed the late night (Eastern time) Twitter riot , the LA Kings gave control of their account to KROQ radio host Kevin Ryder for the second period of Game 4 vs. the Sharks. He did this:
Image from CBSSports.com
And because nothing is funnier than a rape joke, the Kings then had to do this:
I’m curious what you think. Do you care? Is a tasteless joke excusable or is an organization responsible for what they put forth, regardless of author? We’re all desensitized to a certain amount of ingrained sexism and misogyny, especially in sports. Where is the line?
Before turning over the keyboard, the Kings said:
How true?
Honestly, I’m all out of passes for people doing stupid things on social media. We’ve already discussed how the trend-setting and extremely popular Kings Twitter account operates under the “Usually We’re Funny and Sometimes We’re Jerks” mandate [link]. We also talked about Asshole Day, celebrated by Duncan Keith and Tyler Seguin with various sexist/homophobic/moronic remarks [link]. My inner publicist dies a little when this happens.
I don’t want everything sanitized and I want these team accounts to have personalities and have fun. Sometimes they will push boundaries. But sometimes they will jump off the edge. This is a failure on the part of whoever runs that ship to keep their sailors from going overboard.
Also, being upset that people are upset by something you said to upset them? No. You worry about you, dude. Be smarter.
On the ice, the Sharks were busy winning. They’ve come back from 2-0 down to tie the series. Maybe the Kings won’t have worry about their Twitter account for much longer this season.
Tags: Los Angeles Kings
This goes into a whole can of worms I feel about things like that. Sexual assault isn’t funny, no, but I also think the joke itself was so obviously not about someone truly being sexually assaulted. And the thing is, I take sexual assault very seriously, not just because I, like way too many women I know, have been victim of it, but because it’s an ongoing problem in rape culture. But at the same token, by affording this level of gravitas to it as a topic, by making it something that can’t ever be taken as less than 100% serious, I feel we’ve only given rape culture more power. And quite frankly, while I think the joke was stupid, it’s stupid not because it’s rape culture, but because it’s another banal “shock” jock or whatever being stupid. They’re trying too hard.
But speaking for myself, I need for there to be the ability to joke about things, including sexual assault. I need there to be times when it’s not taken so seriously, because otherwise, I buckle under the weight of it, I take myself as victim too seriously. And that’s not undermining the tragedy of it, but the fact is, that my life does not deserve to be rendered down to only this thing. I am more than a victim and I can laugh about it.
But that’s me, and I don’t claim to speak for anyone else. Given that I can and do find humor in absolutely everything, I’m maybe the queen of bad jokes, so take that as you will. And, of course, there’s a difference between humor as coping method and humor for cheap laughs.
Honestly, I do think the Kings need to stop handing their twitter account over for guest tweeting; they do well when it’s them, so why the need for guests?
This makes me sad and angry.
This makes me sad because I love the Kings Twitter feed, and I would hate for this incident to completely ruin all the generally good, chirpy fun.
This makes me angry because not only do I not find rape jokes funny, but because I f-ing HATE IT when people “apologize” by saying “IF you were offended by what I said, then I’m sorry for THAT.” That is NOT an apology. That is a passive aggressive way of saying “I’m being forced to apologize, but I really don’t mean it.” If that’s what you’re going to say, then just don’t apologize, because it’s incredibly insulting to everyone’s intelligence and possibly the only thing that makes me angrier than a rape joke.
I respect Vanessa’s thoughtful and well-stated opinion about needing to joke about everything. And I am, in general, very difficult to offend with humor. My sense of humor is very dark, and I’m usually the one having to think “Is this going to get me sent to HR?” before — or sadly, sometimes after — saying something. But at the risk of sounding way over-dramatic, I find the prevalence of rape culture, especially in sports and media, to be an absolute scourge on humanity, and I just can’t excuse it. Especially when it’s done in such a public, “official” forum.
And what might even be the absolute worst of this is that the “joke” was NOT EVEN FUNNY. Not even a little a bit. Not even in a way that I don’t want to admit publicly, but privately snickered at for a second. If you’re going to wave your “I’m the edgy shock jock guy who pushes people’s buttons” flag, for crying out loud, at least be GOOD at it. This is not just offensive – it’s offensive and lame and just pathetic.
Sadly, I have become as desensitized by the apologies as I have the off-color jokes.
I think it was tasteless and crude, but at the same time, I shrug my shoulders. This is the world we live in, where any publicity–even bad–is good publicity.
Thank you for finding the words I was looking for re: the apologies. Should the shock jock get a free pass? Absolutely not. But should the general public be treated as smart enough to know when they should and shouldn’t find something offensive withouth having to be told “THIS IS OFFENSIVE!”? Probably (although, the general smartness, or lack there of, of the general population always surprises and upsets me. I should be used to it by now).
I think that in general people are too sensitive and need to just let things slough off sometimes, however, this is one area where I never think it is funny or appropriate.
I was horrified by all the comments over at Puck Daddy on this subject. “Get a life!” “Toughen up!” “Don’t be so easily offended!” It is easy for a man to say that when his chance of being sexually assaulted is small. Since most sexual assault is perpetrated by men against women, I found the lack of empathy and understanding for those that may have been offended to be more disturbing than the actual tweet. I am not sure that much headway will be made surrounding ‘rape culture’ in our society until the dialog amongst the male population changes.