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July 13, 2012 - I'm somewhat curious how many people suspected the cause of Theresa's pregnancy involved a rape, or if everyone turned a blind eye to the possibility much like Jennifer did. With all the controversy over comments a certain comedian made recently, there's been a lot of discussion over the apropriate way to handle sensitive topics such as rape. Quite frankly it's never funny, and this relatively old blog post by Harriet J talks a lot about all the reasons why it isn't funny.
But rape is a pretty serious issue in terms of what situations this comic deals with and the world in general, especially in terms of the difficulty it is to talk about, to which today's comic tries to bring attention. It's uncomfortable and unfortunate how little threats of rape are taken seriously and how often they're ignored. Rape is so horrible as a concept that most people don't want to put serious thought into thinking about it, preferring some sort of fetishized version of it that exists in most depictions of it in media, and the general ignorance extends to inadequate laws and prevention techniques (for example why are most anti-rape campaigns focused on the victims rather than the perpetrators? we're told not to murder, told not to steal, told not to lie, but more often you hear someone get told not to get raped, rather than saying simply "don't rape").
Anyway, I'm honestly not sure there's much of a punchline to today's comic, it's more a realization and a reveal of Theresa's circumstances. Theresa's situation is pretty disturbing and the tone may shift wildly whenever it's dealt with (which will be fairly infrequently as there are so many issues to deal with regarding abortion and I tend to flit back and forth between them. I don't want to spend a long time dwelling on one issue without a way of cutting to something lighter (though at some point I probably will explore rape a bit more in depth)), but sometimes I just can't have a punchline to end a comic. Instead I'll try to find an emotional beat to end on.
So that's this storyline. Maybe Jennifer's communication with her parents will improve, maybe people will be able to more openly discuss the horribleness of rape. Next week begins an interlude then I'll be kicking off the next storyline with some flashback strips (though none that focus on the specifics of what occured with Theresa).
Also, like the shirt Jennifer's wearing? well you can buy it:
Click the image below or visit the store.
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