Shameful admission: I once thought Holkins and Krahulik were pretty cool.

[snarp]

(The comic to which all this refers is here, if you don't know the context. It may be upsetting for some people.)

Penny Arcade stops selling rape-joke shirts, offering a sincere apology to... the rape-joke fans!

It’s true that we have decided to remove the Dickwolves shirt from the store. Some people are happy about this but a lot more of you are upset. You think we’ve caved into to pressure from a vocal minority and you’re not entirely wrong.

First of all I would never remove the strip or even apologize for the joke. It’s funny and the fact that some people don’t get it, or are offended by it doesn’t change that.

- Mike Krahulik

No, they do not apologize to, like... rape victims, or anything. The entire post is an apology to creeps who think rape is a funny word. Stay classy, guys.

When I heard from a few people that the shirt would make them uncomfortable at PAX, that gave me pause. Now whether I think that’s a fair or warranted reaction doesn’t really matter. These were not rants on blogs but personal mails to me from people being very reasonable.

"Fair and warranted!" Because, if you're scared of someone who's voluntarily wearing a t-shirt that labels them as a rapist, that's a conscious and unfair act on your part, like cutting in line. You should apologize to the creep in the dickwolf shirt for worrying that he might be wearing it because he doesn't think rape's a big deal. I mean, he doesn't - that's why he's got a dickwolf shirt in the first place - but it's unfair to judge him for that. He probably, like, loves his mom and stuff.

He might even stop wearing the shirt if his mom got sexually assaulted, because then it wouldn't seem quite as funny somehow. It's still funny now, though! I mean, he doesn't know anyone who's been raped. No one who's mentioned it to him, anyway. And certainly, if any of his friends or family members had been the victims of sexual violence, they'd trust him enough to tell him about it. It's not like they might feel uncomfortable talking to him about these things, knowing that he laughs at rape jokes.

I also like how Krahulik thinks that, before he makes a move to keep the con he's organizing from becoming a threatening environment, he deserves to be asked very nicely, in private where he won't be embarrassed. I mean, he's doing these people a favor, here. It's not like they're paying him for admission to a video game convention, where they're expecting to have fun.

They don’t want to come to PAX or support PA because of the strip or because they think Tycho and I are perpetuating some kind of rape culture and that’s a different matter. First off it assumes a lot about us that simply isn’t true but more importantly it’s not something I can fix.

I don't think anyone's assuming anything about him that's not true. And one can, generally, fix the perception that one is a jerk. It's done by apologizing for acting like one, and then trying not to do it anymore. Not going to happen here! Dude's hands are tied.

Comments

[yeloson]

I'm more pissed at the fanboy apologism and Rape=LOLZ trolling fanbase than anything else. At what point does making a shirt specifically to LOL at rape survivors = reasonable and in good fun?

[lovepeaceohana]

I really wonder about those guys. What is it about acting like decent human beings that's somehow so beyond them?

And one can, generally, fix the perception that one is a jerk. It's done by apologizing for acting like one, and then trying not to do it anymore.

Also, this. Not, say, by being a jerk while apologizing for not being more of a jerk.

[dhara]

I mean, he doesn't know anyone who's been raped. No one who's mentioned it to him, anyway. And certainly, if any of his friends or family members had been the victims of sexual violence, they'd trust him enough to tell him about it. It's not like they might feel uncomfortable talking to him about these things, knowing that he laughs at rape jokes.

I don't understand how people who make rape jokes consistently fail to make this connection. But then, I don't understand how people can make rape jokes, so clearly there is a certain key lack of common ground there.

[(Anonymous)]

I did know a guy who used it as a synonym for 'killed'...for a difficult test/homework set.

Difference being, when our mutual friend told him it made her uncomfortable and could he please not use it in her presence, he *apologized and stopped.*

Whether he got it or not, he at least showed he respected her.

[dhara]

This. Even if you don't really get it - hell, I don't always understand the ways in which I'm being an asshole until well after the fact, it's only human - you have no excuse once someone has said to you, "Please stop, you're hurting me." There's no way not to understand that, and then stopping is a matter of basic decency.

[snarp]

Difference being, when our mutual friend told him it made her uncomfortable and could he please not use it in her presence, he *apologized and stopped.*

That is the wrong answer! You're supposed to respond to that by saying, "But I'm not sexist! You're wrong for being uncomfortable! Stop being uncomfortable right now! It's not fair to me!"

[opusculus]

You know, every time I hear about this, it just amazes me how badly they responded. I can't say I cared much about the original fight, but they do just keep digging that hole to try to prove how much they Just Don't Care.

[liannesentar.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Penny Arcade has been making rape jokes forever, and the dickwolves joke in the comic wasn't their worst offense, so I think the more obvious criticism happening as a result of that particular strip was just a coincidental timing thing (maybe they have a big enough audience now that minority opinion is more "obvious" now) and may have blindsided them a bit.

But seriously? They couldn't have POSSIBLY HANDLED THIS WORSE. Especially Mike, but I always suspected he was a bit of a manchild. Tycho's poor reaction was, to me, the most disappointing. I expected more from him.

[snarp]

Holkins has always been pretty scared of conflict on non-video-game-related stuff, I think. And it's important to keep in mind that he's the one writing most of the rape jokes in the first place. I don't know if the stuff actually appeals to him, or if he's just consciously thinking of his audience as a bunch of bigoted middle-to-upper-class white guys, and this is all just a business decision.

He's obviously smart, but, you know, that's hard to appreciate in a guy who refuses to express an opinion on anything that matters if he thinks he might be alone out there. I feel like his utility is mainly in video-game-related areas.

[jinian]

My bar is so low that I am honestly still happy they just fucking stopped selling the thing. Granted, I want to slap them, but slightly less overall than I did a week ago.

[dragon]

In continuing ass-hattery, I'm pretty sure at one point -- after removing the shirt from the store? -- he "assured" people that he personally would be wearing that shirt to PAX. Wow.

[snarp]

Jesus. Do you remember where he said that?

[snarp]

Never mind, apparently it was on his Twitter. The first few tweets on there are bad enough I'm not even going to look for it.

[dragon]

Yeah, I was linked to it from Metafilter and the timeline here.