Is Violence Between Same-Sex Partners Just As Funny?

When the Huffington Post chose to feature a facetious article detailing 8 ways they could injure or mutilate their male partners' genitals, it is clear that they simply didn't think it through too well. Those who have already signed the petition to have them remove it and apologize have asked themselves the question, "If the article showed a man injuring or abusing a woman's genitals, would the Huffington Post have thought it was funny?" The answer, according to the comments we've received, is a resounding "No." Let's take a moment to look at the Huffington Post's sense of humor in context of something many may not have thought of yet: Violence within same-sex relationships. Would cartoons of women sexually assaulting and raping other women have been deemed an appropriate subject for humor by the Huffington Post? Would they approve of images of a man sexually abusing or raping another man? Not likely. The Huffington Post is apparently sensitive to gay rights and issues affecting the gay community. But as a gay man, I have no need of their support if they are unwilling to extend it to certain sets of victims of abuse simply because of their gender. Odds are, if we asked somebody at the Huffington Post if they thought a cartoon about ways same-sex partners could rape and abuse each other was funny, they'd say no. Depictions of loving same-sex relationships in the media are still relatively new, and they make a lot of people uncomfortable. Images of abusive same-sex relationships would be an even more delicate and sensitive matter. But why should they decline to feature such an article? Gay men are still men, and if it's funny when a straight man is abused by his girlfriend, why wouldn't it be funny to watch a gay man be abused by his boyfriend? If the argument was that it is serious when men attack people because they can do more damage than women, it ought to at least be okay to then laugh at a cartoon lesbian raping her girlfriend and mangling her genitals. After all, women can't hurt anybody, can they? Admittedly, these arguments depend on outdated ideas about gender roles and stereotypes. You might imagine that a publication so concerned about feminism as the Huffington Post would be beyond such silly ideas. The fact remains we have yet to hear a single word from the Huffington Post about how an article illustrating ways women can hurt their boyfriends is acceptable by their own standards, but we have heard them say plenty about how making jokes about men hurting women is a terrible thing. (And it is.) We could be in for some interesting logic if the Huffington Post will explain their reasoning behind allowing a cartoon like this to run on their site, and why they would or wouldn't allow the same cartoon to appear with the roles reversed or featuring same-sex couples. With your help, we can get answers to these questions. If you haven't done so already, please take one minute to share this link to the petition with your friends and family: https://www.change.org/p/huffington-post-remove-comic-joking-about-rape-and-sexual-assault Sexual assault is NEVER funny, and the Huffington Post ought to know that.