Does This Facebook Page Promote Rape Culture?

Social media sites and censorship has been a heavily debated topic here at WebProNews as of late. First, we discussed a particular Twitter hashtag that popped up on the top trends list, #reasonstobeatyourgirlfriend. The controversial tag led to some petitioning Twitter to remove it from the top trends list.

Days later, some screencaps were grabbed from the Fox News Facebook page that showed people making death threats toward atheists. Fox News later deleted the post containing the comments, but by then the story already had legs. It led us to ask the hypothetical question – Do these vile comments deserve free speech protection?

The current offensive content rattling some people comes in the form of a Facebook page called “You know shes playing hard to get when your chasing her down an alleyway.” Yes, everyone (including the admin) seems to be aware of the grammar mistake in that title, but that’s not exactly what opponents are most concerned about.

As you can imagine, many are taking issue with the connotations of the page. It doesn’t take a genius to parse out the sexual assault and/or rape joke inherent in the page. Some people are concerned that the page even exists, but others are more concerned that is currently has over 172,000 likes.

Some Facebook users have spoken out against the page on the wall (all posts below are from different Facebook users) –

You know shes playing hard to get when your chasing her down an alleywayThankyou to all the potential rapists and girls here who think rape is funny , why dont you go to a family gathering and make some of these jokes with your mums,grandmothers and aunties if your loud and proud. Its actually a good thing that your intellectual enough to post your “thoughts”here because this site has been reported to proper authorities and you will all be watched carefully. as supporters of rape you are possible rapists and girls who suppoprt rape (great mate you’d be ). 5 days ago · 5 likes · 23 comments

You know shes playing hard to get when your chasing her down an alleywayI am sure the police will be interested to know all your names especially those of you who are admitting to rape. Could you be any more underdeveloped evil scum of the earth individuals? But thank you for being absurd enough to post your comments up on such a public forum where you can so easily be named and shamed 5 days ago · 4 likes · 14 comments

You know shes playing hard to get when your chasing her down an alleywayi hope you’re happy with yourselves, this is sick. Rape should NOT be joked about like this. 4 days ago · 3 likes · 2 comments

You know shes playing hard to get when your chasing her down an alleywayyou’re all fucking pigs. this is absolutely atrocious, and i’m sure you’ll all burn in fucking hell for supporting this shit. honestly, do you small minded fucks even realize the seriousness rape causes on woman? (and i bet you didn’t even know that men get raped too).. there’s a lot of physical and emotional pain that NEVER leaves the girl after something like that happens, and sometimes they even feel so guilty to keep the bastard child, caused from your selfish fucking sperm and tiny little penis’. i reported this page and i’ll continue to tell whoever i have to, to shut this shit down. and btw, a man that has to rape is sure pathetic he can’t get laid without violent force. 4 days ago · 2 likes · 25 comments

Some of the comments from fans of the page include: “Running only makes it worse,” “You call it a restraining order, I call it a challenge,” (24 likes) and “roses are red, violets are blue, I’ve got a knife, get in the van” (12 likes).

The page’s creator issued this statement earlier today –

You know shes playing hard to get when your chasing her down an alleywayalot of people are saying this page will be gone soon? but why im just having a joke some people these days just need to relax. i did not even think of rape when i made this yous need to chill the fuck out. and the people why know this is a joke and like having a laugh i love yous 😉 <3 9 hours ago · 485 likes · 141 comments

In an article at The Huffington Post today, Barbara Hannah Grufferman asks whether this Facebook group (and others like it) condone a “culture of rape.”

She defines that as “a term used to describe a culture in which rape is common, and can be condoned through cultural attitudes and behaviors, including the way its victims are portrayed in the media, and the objectification of certain people (usually women) that seems to make their bodies open to violation.”

One Facebook users discussed the concept of “Rape Culture” as follows –

Virtually all rapists genuinely believe that all men rape, and other men just keep it hushed up better. And more, these people who really are rapists are constantly reaffirmed in their belief about the rest of mankind being rapists like them by things like rape jokes, that dismiss and normalize the idea of rape.

Does this page promote a culture of rape? Or do people need to lighten up and take a joke? Does this joke cross the line?

And even if you feel like this joke is a sick demonstration of how flippant people can be about a horrible thing like rape, what do you think should be done about it? Should Facebook disallow pages like this, or would that go to far toward censoring speech? Let us know what you think in the comments.

[Image above is the group’s Facebook page image]