#art about rape

[ilynpilled]

it frankly pisses me off that what is essentially “rapists and abusers should be depicted as monstrous caricatures because humanizing them is inappropriate” is considered a very moral and enlightened position to have on art by so many people. a rapist can feel pain, have moments of vulnerability, be amiable and charming, express remorse and compassion at times, be a victim themselves, and so on in real life. they are even capable of doing good things. they can have different sides to them and have individuals in their lives that they are kind to or have a decent relationship with. they will be a human being, and that fact encompasses a lot. conflating that with the claim that they are entitled to and deserve forgiveness or absolution is an issue. nurturing a mindset that believes they need to be one note and uncomplicated to be a correct and tasteful depiction of a rapist inadvertently falls in line with the logic of “how could they have possibly raped you? they are so normal and kind to me. they did all these good things here and there.” ok that doesn’t change that they are a rapist.

[washmouthing]

Polle says: Looking Fresh! Staying presentable is important for company reputation!

[tubbytarchia]

So I think my perception of Grian's reasoning for enabling the horrible Jimmy ecosystem and also my perception of his character as a whole has been turned on its head completely and I feel really bad for him after watching Kingdom of Valor and it's like bad roleplay but it's. it's done things to me and I've never ever felt this much for Grian not even in my sadboy Grian Desert Duo phase. I don't know what to do about this

SA word under cut

Episodes 6 and 10 (like the entirety of it) for context. :( . :(. But like major warning if you watch those episodes, especially 10, because um they didn't use any disclaimers

[dykedvonte]

Mini rant below and in the tags, the only time I’ll talk about this and my personal take on it.

The way people talk about hypothetical male Anya on Twitter and the idea of how Mouthwashing would play out if the genders were swapped makes me remember how people still don’t take sexual assault and rape with male victims with the same gravity, especially when the perpetrator is female.

[scientistservant]

Ancient vulture-like alien creatures once benevolently ruled over mice elves until they drained the essence of one of them as an experiment. They sadly got obsessed with that essence and eventually started an entire genocide in order to increase their own lifespans out of their understandable fear of death, wiping out the mice elves they once cared for. THAT is complex. ValAngel isn't.

Actually begging Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss stans/Vivziepop defenders to start watching other shows and movies because holy shit, many of you have a disgusting view on SA and media literacy.

Speaking of which, watch The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on Netflix, it's a gorgeous show with elaborate puppets and set design. It's sadly cancelled, which the Jim Henson company didn't deserve at all, but I'm not losing hope for some kind of revival.

[elllteo]

gonna be real seeing you boil down someone else's concerns abt making light of a rapist in media as fandom drama really hurts as someone who's experienced that kind of violence first hand. the character is fictional and obviously doesnt exist. but rape victims do exist and we see when people sexualize or joke about predators. idk. i don't intend to tell you what to do, but i hope this helps maybe explain why someone else could've been startled or upset to see that on your blog. its your space you can do what you want with it. i think some media doesn't need to be fandomized or treated as yaoi fodder. maybe it can just be taken seriously and discussed with respect. i think its pretty reasonable for victims of particular types of violence to express discomfort or concern when people joke about or make light of those who perpetrate it.

I genuinely get where you are coming from, I do. But what that ask was getting at did not convey to me what you seem to have taken from it.

There's a difference between making light of/mocking/making jokes about sexual assault/rape vs drawing a character who does those things in a narrative in an unserious way. Likewise, I feel that boiling down the narrative to just be about that One Act in many, many ways does a disservice to the narrative and characters as a whole.

I'm also not understanding where exactly this is coming from, to be entirely honest.

A person can be fully capable of breaking down and analyzing Jimmy in a way that is entirely respectful while still, also, making light of other aspects or enjoying him removed from that context. Drawing a character in a goofy way doesn't mean the person is making light of Anya's SA, or even excusing it. You can ship two characters while still finding the canon actions of one absolutely despicable. These things are not mutually exclusive!

Just as you're not telling me what to do, I'm not saying you, or that other anon, or anyone else has to put up with seeing that character or engaging with media that portrays him that way, to be clear. I'm not trying to tell you that your feelings or hurt or experiences aren't valid, they clearly and very much are.

But it's not my job, or even obligation, to protect you from it. Or any other trigger, for that matter. I do what I can with tags, but that's a courtesy I try to apply when and where I can.

That's what I'm getting at here. I tagged for him and that ship so others could avoid it if they found it upsetting. The anon did not do that, so I explained my stance.

People will engage with media in ways that are upsetting to you, or ways that even disgust you. I can't stop them, I make no plans to, and if my opinions or behaviors around this are upsetting or disappointing to you, if I endanger you or anyone by behaving this way, it is in your best interest to block me and have a safer and less stressful experience online. Those tools are readily available for that very reason.

I know far too many others who have also experienced that kind of violence, family included. I know the frustration and hurt of making light of that kind of thing, and how it can and does impact others.

But this is not that.

If, however, you feel it is, that's your right! I can't tell you how to engage with anything, nor do I intend to. I cannot change my space to fit your needs, and I'm genuinely sorry if that makes you feel unsafe or upset. I'm not trying to make light SA or the victims thereof.

I'm trying to, as best as I can, explain that policing how others engage with a fandom and its characters simply does not and cannot work. That isn't "fandom drama" - it's the psychology of humans and the media they connect with. Humans are complicated creatures, and our needs and interests vary wildly.

There is no monolithic way to demand others engage with a source material, and attempting to do so does more harm to you than that effort is worth. I hope you and that other anon can have a less upsetting day/night/etc - again, I'm sorry if this is frustrating to hear, but I fear this is an impasse we simply won't agree on in this way.

[shreddeddescent]

uncensored dialogue. might shift the tone of this.

leo ends up regretting teaching raph cope jokes after he needs to draw a diagram of what the hell turtle penises look like to help him deal with the fact he had no idea what he was even dysphoric over. yeah he's 16 when he learns that.

the penis envy is a big thing for him. for obvious reasons.

[lil-gingerbread-queen]

So-called Christians still whining about the Olympic opening ceremony supposedly "insulting Christianity", but none of them gave a fuck about Israel bombing the oldest Church in Gaza months ago.

[green--y]

Every time I catch wind of that bitch being a freak again I am reblogging every callout I can get my hands on. Keep being a clown and I will make sure people keep laughing at you

[volfoss]

i think honestly what irritates me about yoshidas work SO much is that people will tell you that banana fish is THE gay manga (ignoring the many things that came before it and were more groundbreaking, ie MW literally having on screen (or like. on panel but still.) gay sex in it and that came out like a decade before BF did) when there really isn't barely any gay rep outside of the pedophiles and the one time ash drops the f slur. like im sorry but somehow yasha, a work she wrote in 1996, has more gay rep in it but also has the same issues.

i truly do not get how people can enjoy banana fish with the rampant racism every 2 pages or the rampant sexual assault plotlines (on women and ash bc he is just... written like how yoshida writes women lmao) that are handled IMPOSSIBLY bad and sincerely i hoped yasha would be better because it had been like a decade or so between works. and then it proceeds to continue with the heres our blonde genius protagonist who everyone is weird as fuck to and will sexually harrass and everyone finds it a VERY funny joke to point out how feminine he is when theres barely any women in the work (if you exclude the ones that are being raped/killed/creepy to minors. which to be fair yasha has toned down the sa a LOT) and that its funny that hes kind of gay except not really!! and its just absurd to me how it just persists in all of her stuff because she is not an author that handles gay stuff well. like the scene in banana fish where ash is completely ok getting gang raped and did it solely to get into the hospital when its been SHOWN that he has a lot of trauma with that. and then right after his friend makes a joke at ash's expense about that. like sincerely and genuinely is this what we are hyping up as the old retro gay manga. go read some tezuka and stop reading shit that the most the main characters do is share a kiss in a nonromantic sense and is obsessed w making every gay person be evil!!

[tariah23]

Can they jump

[dyna-myght]

I’m disappointed but not surprised by how some of tumblr treats Mouthwashing (the game).

[cherrycokedup]

mouthwashing fandom they could never make me like you

[obsessivelollipoplalala]

I made the mistake of looking in the notes of a (good) post made by a big gomens blog about the accusations against Gaiman, and saw two terrible takes on opposite sides of the spectrum.

"Not saying what he did was right, but he just has a 1970s idea of consent." This is just pure bullshit. There's never been a point in time when men didn't understand the concept of consent and violating it for the sake of getting off on feeling powerful; yes, our culture has somewhat changed to take these things more seriously, but abuse and misogyny are not new concepts. You can't say, "but it's just a generational thing!" That just perpetuates rape culture. Abusers are responsible for their own actions. From what I read, he totally knew what he was doing, especially with using his status to have power over women. Full stop.

But that brings me to the next one...

2. "By continuing to engage with his works, you're continuing his celebrity and potentially enabling future assaults." I'm sorry, but it is ridiculous to say fans of a book or TV show are to blame for a man assaulting women, and furthermore, I'd guess that the tumblr gomens fandom is smaller than the overall group of normie, offline fans of his works around the globe, so it's not like people on tumblr still making gomens fan art or whatever are the ones solely keeping his works alive. He's been a famous author for decades, and unfortunately, that's not going to change even if everyone on tumblr never talked about gomens again. I do think people in the fandom have a responsibility to stop sharing any of his posts and interviews, stop tagging fun fandom posts under his name, not invite him to any conventions, not defend him, not financially support him, and inform any female fan who doesn't know about this and wants to go to a book signing or something with him in the future. Women need to know it's not safe to be around him. But other than that, if you've completely separated him from your fandom posts on this fringe, dying website, I really don't think you're hurting anyone. What matters in the real world is people knowing what he did, spreading the word, and keeping him away from fans, not if someone is reading one of his books or watching an adaptation of his work.

Anyway, if you're really concerned about sexual assault, please consider supporting an organization like RAINN. That's a lot more productive than any fandom discourse. I saw posts about organizing a fandom fundraising campaign to the organization, which I think is a great idea.

[halalgirlmeg]

Also I remember I saw something that like, someone was saying like 'oh y'all just want Beyoncé to do all the work cause y'all want Black women to head every movement'

Like, let's back up a second. Like do people try to make Black women do all the work whilst sitting back waiting yeah. Do people expect more of Black women than others yes.

But that's not what we're talking about, Beyoncé has not said anything about what's happening in Palestine, Congo, or Sudan. Her movie is still being shown in Israel. People who boast about murdering Palestinian people singing Break My Soul while waving their flags. People in a country murdering men women and children, turning them into martyrs, ruining some of the world's oldest churches and mosques, people dying to make our phones and computers, people in the midst of a war that's displacing people, setting up circumstances for sexual violence against women, and you can't say anything? Beyoncé's reach is astronomical someone like her or even that white woman saying something would have an impact and they have the money and the means to support themselves should something happen because other people are literally losing jobs and being attacked, some of them are dead and some will never be the same.

Also, someone pointed out that activists in one way or another are putting their lives on the line for a particular cause, they risk being locked up or murdered and God knows what else to help others. You not Malcolm X because you re-posted a few Instagram reels let's be serious. That's not to take away from posting online and its impact because it helps connect people, the internet is how people come to know these things are even happening in the first place but activists have a lot to lose no matter their cause, which is to say no one's saying people like Beyoncé or White lady or Selena Gomez need to be activists but they could say something. I mean esp with those last two they speak up on like their ex boyfriends like someone gives a shit but now people are dying and been doing so for God knows how long (its just now at the forefront) you silent? Okay