By now, I’m sure most of you have heard about The Daily Free Press’s insensitive, un-humorous and distasteful April Fools “joke” issue, in which the paper renamed itself The Disney Free Press and proceeded to publish a cover story in which a female BU student was roofied and then “gangbanged” by seven members of a fraternity.
I know, hilarious.
The DFP did not publish the text of the article online (perhaps rethinking it?), but Jezebel has posted it. Some highlights: “Seven frat dwarves were arrested last night after they allegedly drugged and gangbanged a Boston University student in an Allston Village cabin.” “The girl…woke up wearing no clothes with seven BRO dwarves laying naked in bed with her.” “The fraternity is known for its rousing parties where the ‘cocktails flow freely and bitches are easy,’ according to a BU student who wishes to remain anonymous.”
Okay. I’m not even sure where to start this discussion. First of all, rape should never, ever be taken lightly as a joke. Treating such a serious issue as fodder for humor is a hallmark of rape culture, something of which the BU community has been actively struggling to eradicate. That being said, this is not a “too soon” issue; this article would have been inappropriate in any context, at any time.
In their defense, the DFP editors have released a formal apology, which included saying, “We know that even though the stories were meant to be jokes, simply writing them perpetuated rape culture.” Absolutely. I’m so glad they recognize that now. But why even publish it in the first place?
It baffles me to think how many people must have had a hand in getting this piece published. Someone pitched the idea, someone approved it, someone wrote it, someone edited it, someone printed it…and most likely there was more than one person involved at each of these steps. No one stepped forward to say that maybe this was in bad taste, particularly considering recent horrible events on campus?
Another upsetting moment in the article comes at the end, with the sentence “The CGSC (Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism) is calling for a university-wide analysis of underage drinking on campus and the sterilization of all BU males.” Great, let’s just play into the offensive, out-dated stereotype that all feminists are man-hating, violent extremists, shall we? And in light of all the good work the Center has been doing lately to make BU’s campus safe and welcoming to all people, including hosting open discussions about rape culture, circulating a petition for a rape crisis center, and organizing a successful Take Back the Night rally just this past week, this attack is doubly insensitive. Again, the DFP editors do specifically apologize to the Center in their letter, but, as with the entire letter, it feels a bit too little, too late.
This article is also offensive to those involved in Greek Life, disrespectful to survivors of sexual assault, and just plain not funny. I’m ashamed of my school. I can only hope that, like Rush Limbaugh’s recent “humorous comments,” this incident will draw attention to the issues of sexual assault and rape culture and incite more people to become passionately involved in fighting against them.
To read the full text of the article [trigger warning], visit http://jezebel.com/5898425/heres-the-funny-sexual-assault-parody-boston-…