Summary

Solnit writes about how before 2014 or so jokes about rape were frighteningly common and condoned. In what she calls “punching down,” jokes were aimed at victims, deriding their suffering and revelling in being in a position of power over them (106). One joke which Solnit cites, for example, goes: “My ex-girlfriend never made me wear a condom. That’s huge she was on the pill…Ambien” (106). Many male comedians, such as Daniel Tosh, Sam Morril, and Louis C. K. mocked those feminists who did not find them funny, pitting humor against feminist criticism. However, attitudes gradually began to change.

In 2013 Louis C. K., revising his earlier position, acknowledged how strange it was for women to still be interested in men when men are the greatest threat to women. Hannibal Burress, another comedian, made much of the accusation and...