Rape: definitely not a joke. Even in this, the enlightened, safe 21st century, rape is not only still a huge problem but the crime most likely to be ignored, with findings consistently showing that the majority of rape cases go unreported. 2011 saw the beginning of a backlash against the silence that often surrounds rape cases, with the Slutwalk protest movement that began in April and the furore over the alleged sexual assault of a hotel employee by Dominic Strauss-Kahn (who is set to speak at the Union on the 9th March), bringing the issue into the spotlight. Yet rape is still, by certain parts of society and the media, consistently seen to be an appropriate subject for flippant comment.

‘Unilad.com’, the self-styled “number one university student lad's magazine and guide to getting laid”, has recently been forced to issue an apology over publishing an article- snappily entitled ‘Sexual Mathematics’- that stated "If the girl you've taken for a drink... won't 'spread for your head', think about this mathematical statistic: 85% of rape cases go unreported. That seems to be fairly good odds”. This, even when clearly said in jest, is never acceptable.

Of course, laddish behaviour and jokes about sex and the female body are by no means equitable to the acceptance of rape. Yet in a world where the female body is consistently objectified by various forms of media, such as universally available pornography and the widespread acceptability of Page Three photography recasting women as “totty”, any situation in which the sexual exploitation of women is seen as ‘banter’ desensitises the issue and increases the likelihood of a generation of boys growing up with a lack of respect for women and an unhealthy attitude to their own sexual welfare.

The self-evident horror of the rape “joke” itself aside, the audacity of the assumption that “Lad Culture”, whether evidenced by jokes about sexual assault, the drunken arrogance of the Bullingdon Club or the smug, boorish camaraderie of the Top Gear presenters, is both acceptable and funny is an underlying issue that must be addressed. The use of “lad” as a byword for amusingly normalising disgusting and misogynist behaviour has become as common as VK glass sprinkling the floor of Cindies, and we have to stop tolerating it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have become so used to the notion that ‘laddishness’ is something to be tolerated and accepted as an inevitable part of life that it has now become acceptable to objectify women, glorify violence and an unthinking, disrespectful attitude towards any part of society not devoted to drinking and sex. Lads' magazines such as ‘Nuts’ and ‘Zoo’ propitiate a constant undercurrent on misogyny and advocacy of loutish behaviour that should cause outrage, and yet they are present on the shelves of almost every newsagent in the country. Even the rare occasions when they are called up on their actions publicly, such as when Danny Dyer advised a reader in his 2010 ‘Zoo’ agony uncle column to “cut his ex’s face, so no one will want her”, illustrate only how entrenched this behaviour has become in our society that such clearly offensive views could ever be considered acceptable to print.

Objecting to this culture of “babes, booze and banter”, as one Cambridge student paper prides itself on discussing, is more often than not met with the accusation of being a humourless, bluestocking spoilsport or a victim of the tabloid’s favourite phrase “political correctness gone mad”. Yet the defence that this is “just a joke”, and that it should be treated as a light hearted “banter”- a word that is consistently used to justify abuse- is not only ignorant but dangerous. Comedy is a difficult realm to navigate – it can push boundaries and raise questions, at times forging a position of being able to say the unsayable. Too often, though, it veers in the opposite direction, with shockingly unpleasant statements packaged amongst self-proclaimed humour – the giveaway lying in explicit references to such a package. Surely the need to repeatedly assert one’s own funniness not only reveals a core insecurity at the heart of such forays, but automatically drains it of any wit for any reader at all.

In this lies a lesson to be learned by the group of six anonymous students who are reportedly responsible for the website: to attempt a mix of ‘shock value’, sex-related trash (“this’ll get us some clicks, guys!”) in a misconstrued emulation of national tabloids – rife as they are with their own weaknesses – is to inevitably end up on the wrong side of the comedic line. Worse than this, the jumped-up, lightly-written endorsement of the victimisation of women only needs to influence or vindicate a few individuals for it to have potentially irrevocable consequences. The Unilad website might have been deactivated this afternoon after the storm surrounding it escalated – something one can only hope comes around for similar rehashings of such a ‘banter’ model – but the deep-set flaws revealed in the attitudes expressed on it should not be forgotten in a hurry.