Purdue Exponent Cartoon Causes Uproar

[bernie's bender]

Nice to see your true colors show through Soda.

[sodascouts]

I'm being absolutely sincere. I hope that not only your daughter, but every other person on this planet, never has to find out how "funny" rape is. Unfortunately, many already have.... and they're not laughing.

Perhaps you understand the seriousness of rape a little better now. And if you want to keep my quote as your sig, more power to ya. It's things like that which help people to realize that rape victims are real people - somebody's daughter, sister, even mother... and it changes their perspective.

[bernie's bender]

If that is you being sincere, you've got a long way to go to become convincing.

You have no idea who the people are on this site or what life experiences they have had and yet you chose to personalize this with me.

I realize that dissenting on any topic on this site brings the wrath of Sodascouts (one reason the site is so small, people leave after being bullied.)

At some point, you may have children of your own.. at that point, you might also learn something about your sincere statement, in the meantime bask in your hubris.

If those kids never post the comic, they never learn... strangely, their own commmunity was able to help them.. they didn't need the potshots from eagles online... you'll note the administration disagreed with the comic and found it repugnant (you'll also note since reading is part of your day job, that I never once said the comic was funny or good.. but, actually reading and understanding can be difficult when you've already made up your mind.)

Some people's kids.

[sodascouts]

The fact that you actually assumed I wasn't sincere in a matter like this shocks me. That's downright disturbing. What kind of people are you associating with, that you default to THAT?

My statement is one that echos the type of statement many rape counseling groups use to promote understanding. I know because I've volunteered at women's centers. Have you never heard of humanizing the victim before? Honestly, I wasn't even 100% sure you had a daughter, but I took a gamble and if it made you think, it was worth it.

Ah well. I won't belabor the point. Hopefully by now everybody gets it.

I am sorry that you feel bullied by my stark statement. That was not my intent. It does surprise me, though, that when I challenge your statements, you get agitated and cry that I'm stifling dissent and bullying you. It's called debate, Bender. What did you expect? This is a controversial topic. If I disagree with you, I'll say so, and I'll use the rhetorical tools at my disposal. Now, if I deleted your posts, that would be stifling dissent.

Our board is indeed small. We have no pretensions to be anything more than a group of fans talking about the Eagles, and a few other conversational topics that pop up.

However, I must point out the flaws in your theory that the board is small due to bullying. The very few people who have accused me of bullying are still here, so I must be doing something right. It's not as if we're the only place to talk about the Eagles. Indeed, if you are unhappy with the way I administrate the board, you could always investigate whether another Eagles message board might be more to your liking (although I'm afraid the other Eagles boards are no bigger - another factoid that weakens your assumption of causality).

This is an intense topic. However, I'm glad we're having this dialogue. These are difficult things to talk about, but they need to be discussed. In that sense, the cartoon has been beneficial, because it brings them to light. The students aren't the only ones who can learn from it.

[MikeA]

Is there a criminal issue with this "comic" notwithstanding the obvious one concerning Freedom of Speech?

What I mean is, Does Freedom of Speech make it possible for anyone to describe in detail how to commit a criminal act?

The reason I bring this up: When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I lived in Dallas and split the rent on an apartment with a guy who I later found out was on probation. His crime was describing in detail to a group of kids, how to break into a Pharmacy. He didn't participate in any way and received no benefit from the crime these boys committed. I mean, he took the discussion he'd had with them to be one of "intellectual discussion" with no intent of committing that crime himself. Well the boys did in fact attempt a robbery of the pharmacy and did get caught and told the police that my roommate had told them how to "do it".

He was arrested, tried and convicted. Among the charges brought against him was contribution to the delinquency of minors (apparently one of the boys was under 1. I really don't remember the other charges he was tried on. His probation was for 5 years. I can't recall if he ever actually served hard time for it.

Point is, isn't RAPE a criminal act? Is there criminal issue at stake here that would supersede Freedom of Speech?

Or did my roommate just have a lousy lawyer who didn't realize that Tommy was exercising Freedom of Speech?

[Troubadour]

I'm sorry Mike - I can't answer your question, but I hope someone can because it's an interesting point.

I wanted to post a couple of links, one to a blog, one to a newspaper article, about the 'rise of rape talk' in our culture. I'm sorry if this is veering off topic a little, but I think it's still relevant and might be of interest to people concerned with this subject. One of my friends linked to these on Facebook the other day and I read them both, so they were in my mind while I was reading the discussion of the cartoon case. Worth reading, anyway.

One of them mentions the scene in the Richard Curtis film, The Boat That Rocked, which is reminiscent of the cartoon, in which a guy swaps places with another guy halfway through the sexual act, without the girl knowing. I don't recall any uproar about that... but when you read articles like this, it really does make you think about how casual and light-hearted references to rape (and it IS rape) prevail in our society.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...alk?CMP=twt_gu

http://www.fugitivus.net/2009/06/24/...a-rape-uh-bar/

[Eve]

However, I must point out the flaws in your theory that the board is small due to bullying. The very few people who have accused me of bullying are still here, so I must be doing something right.

In leaving, which I certainly would if not for a handful of people, the bully (You) wins.

[eaglesvet]

It seems the university agrees. 5 top administrators wrote this in a letter to the Purdue Exponent's editor:

===================

As an independent student newspaper, you have the right to publish without interference from the Purdue administration. However, as members of the University community, we have the responsibility to point out messages that threaten the dignity and safety of our students and jeopardize the tolerant and respectful environment we strive to create and sustain.

The “comic” that you published in the Sept. 17 issue appears to celebrate non-consensual sex or rape. There is nothing celebratory about rape. Rape is a tragic offense to the person involved and is an extreme offense against our community standards. As educators, we ask you to consider the various perspectives this image invokes. How would a person in such a position feel? What does the reader take away about Purdue students? What kind of behavior might such a cartoon condone? We encourage you to examine the individual rights you suggest denying while engaging in your right to free speech.

While respecting free speech, we urge you to respect Purdue University’s values and commitment to create an inclusive environment that promotes tolerance and respect of every individual, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference or political views. We feel the cartoon published Sept. 17th has no redeeming features. We write here to express and reinforce our shared values in support of human dignity.

We were heartened to see your apology in Monday’s paper. We encourage you to be more thoughtful and reflective in your editorial review by balancing your freedom of speech with your responsibility to the Purdue community.

TIMOTHY D. SANDS
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost

MELISSA E. EXUM
Vice President for Student Affairs

BEVERLY DAVENPORT SYPHER
Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs

G. CHRISTINE TAYLOR
Vice Provost for Diversity & Inclusion

A. DALE WHITTAKER
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs

=====================================

And here's the Apology from the Editor herself.

A pretty amazing apology letter from an editor, that's for sure. Never read one like that before. You can tell that the staff really regretted what they did.

[EaglesFanatic]

One of them mentions the scene in the Richard Curtis film, The Boat That Rocked, which is reminiscent of the cartoon, in which a guy swaps places with another guy halfway through the sexual act, without the girl knowing.

That kind of reminds me of a scene in Pirate Radio. It's interesting to see what our society has labeled "funny" to be. I have never really put much thought into the deeper aspect of these types of movies/cartoons until now, simply because there has never been controversial conversation brought up about it. I agree that we do have freedom of speech, but I also believe in a little thing called common sense. Sure, the publishers and writers need to produce things based off of their clientele's interests, and I hate to admit it, but people do find these kind of comics to be funny. BUT, a portion of their readers are bound to be women/feminists. I'm sure they're aware of the brouhaha that could possibly come as a result of their disputable comics. To me, this means that the majority find these kind of jokes funny, because they've got to have a good reason to publish it.
Yeah, I think I just rambled on for a whole paragraph sorry if I didn't make any sense lol

[Troubadour]

Oh, yes! I'm pretty sure the film was released as "Pirate Radio" in the States, and "The Boat That Rocked" in the UK. So we're thinking of the same scene.