The other night I opened my phone to a Snapchat post of someone quoting their friend saying, “I’m going to rape you.” This nauseating phrase was used in a humorous context, and it is a form of comedy that I have seen become increasingly common. These types of “jokes” have never been funny, and I am sick of them being used to perpetuate the normalization of sexual assault.

Rape is one of the most horrendous violations that can happen to someone. It is dehumanizing, traumatic and extremely common in the United States. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), every 68 seconds someone in America is sexually assaulted. The term sexual assault refers to any sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the victim.

Just as we have become culturally desensitized to suicide and gun violence through attempts at humor, the same thing is happening with sexual assault. I cannot get through a school day without hearing someone comedically shout, “I’m going to touch you,” at their friends or discuss how a difficult test “raped them.” Although there is a time and place for dark humor, it absolutely crosses a line when jokes perpetuate or normalize harm rather than point it out.

I know more people my age who have been sexually assaulted than I can count on all ten fingers. None of them have been able to press charges on their offender. Sexual assault is so common, they did not feel like their situation was “bad enough” to be reported, or when they did report, law enforcement did nothing about it.

Rape has been fetishized in the media for years, and the dismissive humor surrounding the subject only contributes to its disgusting normalcy. This crude behavior not only makes survivors feel uncomfortable within their school community, but it also instills the wrong message in our youth. I have recently heard middle school girls discuss how they want to be raped to “know what it feels like,” and 13-year-olds certainly did not come up with this idea on their own.

I am not solely blaming my peers who make these jokes for the nationwide spread of rape culture. If a form of humor is used within social circles, of course their friends will accept and repeat similar jokes. That being said, we need to be more hesitant before mindlessly accepting these forms of heinous and offensive comedy.

It is understandable that people do not like to talk about uncomfortable topics, but we must have conversations about this clearly prevalent problem so we can collectively work toward solutions. Instead, people my age would rather make jokes about it and ignore the situation completely.

Although your jokes may appear harmless, there are real ramifications for the underlying message they send about our society’s tolerance for sexual assault.

Rape “humor” is not funny.

It never has been.

This is not OK.

Find some better jokes, because this is no laughing matter.

This story was originally published on The Express and Husky Headlines on September 24, 2024.