Tosh.No

   Recently stand up comedian Daniel Tosh, host of the Comedy Central television show Tosh.0, has come under fire for his recent comments to a female heckler during one of his sets. Tosh has been a staple of the media because he made a rape joke aimed towards his female heckler allegedly saying "Wouldn't it be funny if five guys came in here and raped you right now?" Because of Tosh's comment, questions in the media have surfaced on what is appropriate and not appropriate when talking about rape.

Here is an example of discussion on Tosh's joke:

   This recent incident showcases some aspects of the Ferguson et al. study that looked at influences on sexual harassment. The study used Jerry Springer as the media influence on  sexual harassment in relation to the "promiscuous female." One of the main findings of the study was the fact that verbal comments warded lower perceptions of traumatized victims and placed more responsibility on the victim amongst their participants. When it comes to Tosh and the verbal comment that he made towards the lady in the audience, it seems that the outcome of the situation has placed her in a position similar to the findings of the study. In the clip above it shows more people agreeing at the fact that it was just a joke and should not be blown that much out of proportion. However, each person in the clip agrees that rape is a serious topic but still gave leeway to the "harmless" joke that Daniel made.

   The Ferguson study looked at more serious scenarios when getting results from their participants, which makes this situation a bit of a grey area in the realm of sexual harassment . Though rape is serious crime and sensitive topic, it has not been exempted from the comedy realm as Daniel Tosh and other comedians have demonstrated. Comedy is intended for jokes to have real life implications and unfortunately rape happens to be an ugly aspect of reality. This lead me to think what if the Ferguson et al. study used shows like sitcoms that have more comedic elements to their characters story line. But given the fact that comedy has no perimeters when it comes to topics, it would be harder to determine what aspects of "promiscuous females" should be taken more seriously. I believe that this brief incident between a comedian and a heckler has opened the door to explore more possibilities when dealing with different areas of sexual harassment and its influences.

   Another real world application of this joke gone bad would be to explore if this would make people more susceptible to forms of sexual harassment. On one hand it could show people that it is alright to publicly joke about rape and other serious sexual topics. On the other had it could display how deep-rooted issues dealing with rape can be and yield people in their making fun of the topic. I believe that the most unique part of this bad joke is that it was not intended to ruffle any feathers. The joke was said in the confines of a comedy club where consumers are aware that they did not pay money for each and every comedian to be politically correct. However, word got out that this comedian made such a statement and has been in media circulation for the past two weeks. Using Tosh as an example can help researchers explore new dimensions of media that may have an influence on how people feel about sexual harassment.

Rape Jokes, Dark Humor, and the Sexual Double Standard

A little over a week ago, comedian Daniel Tosh caused quite a stir because of a distasteful rape joke directed at a female audience member. According to the woman's personal account, as a segue into the next part of his act, Tosh made a generalized statement about rape jokes always being funny. The woman in the audience retorted, "Actually, rape jokes are never funny!" Tosh paused and responded to her "heckling" by saying, "Wouldn't it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her..." The woman was so appalled and humiliated that she left the club immediately. (You can read her entire account here.) Jamie Masada, the owner of the club (The Laugh Factory in LA), had a slightly different account and has released a statement saying that, though he "couldn't really hear properly," Tosh asked the audience what they wanted to talk about, and someone said "rape." A woman in the audience said "No, rape is painful, don't talk about it." According to Masada, "Daniel came in, and he said, 'Well it sounds like she's been raped by five guys'- something like that."
My question is: does it matter? In either case, Tosh was making fun of a hypothetical gang rape, and at a single audience member's expense. And though the backlash regarding the joke has sparked outrage in other comedians, ("It was a joke! She was a heckler! He's a comedian! How dare anyone try to tell him how to be funny!") I personally believe that there is very good reason for eyebrows to be raised, and for this woman to be angry. Yes, comedy should be able to talk about terrible situations, but Tosh's attempt to do so was poorly executed, tasteless, and hurtful. What makes dark comedy (specifically rape jokes) successful is the ability to criticize the act itself, not the person victimized by it. In her article, "Anatomy of a Successful Rape Joke," Jessica Valenti speaks eloquently about how rape jokes can "subvert rather than terrify," and that they can work if they highlight the absurdity of the rationale behind rape. (Read the article here.)

The jokes that Valenti referenced as successful were only so because they were presented as blatant hyperbole. Tosh’s statements weren’t remotely funny because women deal with sexual harassment and assault every day. It’s a very real and prevalent problem, and blame is still all too often misassigned. Tosh wasn’t doing his part as a comedian to use laughter as a way to deal with or transcend a horrible issue; he was being a bully to an audience member for embarrassing him.

Perhaps the most unsettling thing about this situation is the response that it has garnered from Tosh-defenders. Some people (other comedians!) have been pitching a fit about free speech, saying that nothing should be off-limits for comedy, arguing that anyone who goes to a Daniel Tosh show should expect his brand of humor, and criticizing the woman for complaining about his response to her heckling. I think it’s important to note that many of these responses come from men. I’m certainly NOT of the school of thought that all males are misogynist pigs, but it makes me wonder about our culture’s tendency to be flippant about rape, vastly underestimate the statistics (1 in 4 women, guys!), and hold females responsible for a horrible and traumatizing crime committed against them. I think a lot of it goes back to the media’s portrayal of sex and sexual roles, especially evidenced through Kim et al.’s sexual double standards and Ward’s (1995) discussion of sexual roles. Men are expected to be sexually aggressive, and are often reduced to the sex that they have as the defining factor for their manliness. Women are expected to be alluring but passive and set limits. Meanwhile they’re judged for their sexual experience, while male sexual experience is lauded and seen as powerful. It may seem a bit of a stretch to connect these portrayals of men and women on television and movies to the current state of rape culture, but how often do we see examples of a woman being called a slut because of the way she dresses or her sexual past? How often do we see examples of a man’s decisions being driven by their penis? How often do we see one or both genders ridiculed by their peers for not being sexually assertive enough? It’s a terrible and misguided double standard that keeps making women the butt of the joke, and comments like Daniel Tosh’s are doing nothing to dissuade it.