And so it begins

Made it to the gym yesterday, and The Husband and I played racquetball tonight. The trick is getting my ass to the gym tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.

So, in short, we're trying to get back on the wagon. We had a really good process going for awhile, where we were working out steadily, and we were getting into shape, and then we moved, and...well, that's it.

Also, I'm about to spend the next four weeks in the library doing homework, so that's gonna be great. Just this weekend I have a copyedit, reading, research for advanced tech (read: I get to read professional journals), online discussion responses, and I have to start working on my community discourse journal (read: I have to start writing about where I'm going to publish). Oh, and I should probably work on my article at some point.

Ah, grad school. So useful. So exhausting.

But, hey! Racquetball!

Also, I hit The Husband in the side of the knee with the ball tonight. He's fine, but I still feel kinda bad.

Quick update on the PA thing (More talk of rape)

I posted here about a F!S secret about how the Penny Arcade guys should burn in hell for making a joke that included mention of rape of a completely fictional character by another completely fictional character.

The basics are: there was someone in the comment thread who was making some AMAZING claims on the PA guys, notably that they mocked rape survivors on a podcast and threatened to rape a blogger for disagreeing with them. Myself and other requested proof of these things--the PA podcast is still available for download, and if they threatened to rape a blogger, certainly there's text or a voicemail or something somewhere that proves it--and this person has not responded to any of the requests.

Meanwhile, the PA guys maintain a sense of humor about the numerous ragey blogpots and threats of violence to them and their families. Was the Dickwolves T-shirt tasteless? Yeah. But they're listening to people who are talking to them like rational people and responding in rational ways. Hell, given the chance, I'd get a Dickwolves shirt. I still think the visual is fantastic.

And I do not believe they're promoting any kind of "rape culture" because I think "rape culture" as a term and idea are used to make sure no one ever, ever stops thinking about rape. You can't make jokes about rape, because that's rape culture, but you can't not talk about rape, because that's rape culture, and the United States isn't a rape culture anyway. "Rape culture" dictates that it's okay to rape. That we believe, as a culture that rape is acceptable. There are places in the world where rape is the culture. That's not the States. And using the term to describe behavior that could be considered derogatory (like one man referring to another man as a "bitch") dilutes the real pain and awfulness of rape.

And finding rape funny in a fictional sense doesn't make me part of any "rape culture" either. I'm a rape survivor. Being able to joke about rape lets me have power over the thing that's supposed to have power over me. I can make fun of it. I win. It's the same as taking back "cunt." Rape, as an idea, will always have as much power as we give it, and right now, it gets way too much. Perhaps if we let it into the vernacular as a joke, as a casual topic of discussion, as a real, recognizable thing, the power of it--and the use of it as power--will fade out.

Maybe you disagree with me, and that's fine. But remember this: The PA guys made a comic mocking the idea of "heroes" in MMOs and to show how unheroic they are, had a completely fake character (created from a completely fake character) talk about getting raped to sleep by another completely fake character. And in response, people are threatening to do physical harm to their wives and children.

Team Penny Arcade