Reductress takes on rape culture with a satirical blitz
To push back against a culture where rape survivors are doubted far too often, the satirical feminist website Reductress has dedicated its homepage to darkly funny jokes about rape. Headlines include: “This Brave Man Hates Social Media Witch Hunts So Much He Decided To Start His Own,” “How To Be An Ally To Both A Rapist And His Victim,” and “Chill Ways To Just Sort Of Live With It.”
The homepage takeover comes in response to a sexual assault controversy unfolding in the New York comedy community over the past week. A prominent comedian was banned from the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy network after being accused of rape by multiple women. Many applauded UCB for the ban, while others spoke strongly against it. The most vocal critique has come from Inside Amy Schumer staff writer Kurt Metzger, who took to Facebook to pen a strongly worded, vaguely nonsensical post about a fictional alleged rapist named “Jiff Dilfyberg”:
Metzger has continued to be outspoken on Twitter, with most of his anger centering on the fact that these women brought their issues to UCB’s attention, rather than going to the police: