Why Does Film & TV Treat Men's Sexual Assault Like a Punchline?

In their latest YouTube video, entitled "Sexual Assault of Men Played for Laughs," Pop Culture Detective is pointing out exactly how omnipresent jokes about the sexual assault of men has become in our culture's film and television. You might be shocked by how widespread the jokes are—and how many you have unwittingly laughed at over the years.

The video catalogs various male-on-male rape and sexual assault jokes sprinkled throughout blockbuster hits like Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, all the way down to late-night talk shows and the Oscars, and even children's entertainment like Paddington and The Powerpuff Girls.

"Prison rape jokes are so pervasive in mass media entertainment that the phrase 'don't drop the soap' has become a routine sight gag," Pop Culture Detective explains.

"Notice how these jokes are all designed to demean, humiliate, or emasculate a male character for being the victim or potential victim of sexual violence," says the video's narrator. "The idea behind the joke here is as obvious as it is toxic, that men who aren't tough or manly enough to avoid being victimized are pathetic and therefore deserving of ridicule or worse."

The device is used to feminize, and ultimately subordinate men, which as the video points out, many men believe that there is "no greater humiliation for a man than to be treated like a woman." This, of course, underscores society's misogyny.

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