Daniel Tosh Rape Humor: 9 Funny Women Who DON'T Defend Comic

Comedian Daniel Tosh (Getty Images)
Comedian Daniel Tosh (Getty Images)

Over the past 48 hours, a lot of famous comedians have defended Daniel Tosh's rape comments. Louis CK, Jim Norton, Patton Oswalt, Dane Cook to name a few. If you're just catching up with the controversy, here's a brief recap: Tosh, of Comedy Central's Tosh O., was called out by a female audience member at a live show for making a lame joke about rape. In response to his female heckler he stopped his performance to say, " "Wouldn't it be funny if that girl got raped by like, 5 guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her…"

The woman, who recounted the unnerving experience on her blog, immediately left the show frightened. Tosh, whose fan-base is largely teenage boys, later apologized, kind of. Then came a stream of Twitter reactions, some outraged (
a petition with over 20,000 signatures to cancel Tosh O. has been making rounds) others disturbing supportive (from a few young male fans: "I didn't think daniel tosh was funny till he made fun of rape" and #iheartrapejokes and "All these people hating on #tosh could really use a good raping") but the most widespread coverage has been from those fellow famous men who support the comic's rights to make rape jokes.

As a counterpoint, Shine decided to highlight some of the funniest, coolest tweets from women NOT defending Daniel Tosh. Please enjoy.
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Melissa McEwan@Shakestweetz
"Exhibit A of Rape Culture: Female critics of Tosh are getting "hope you get raped" responses. Male critics, not so much."

Miss O'Kistic ‏@missokistic
"How dare you call out Daniel Tosh. This is AMERICA, where rape jokes are free speech but condemning them is censorship by humorless bitches."

Karen Elson@KarenElson
"DanielTosh didn't get the memo that it never was and never will be funny."

Bonnie McFarlane@bonniemcfarlane
"Corolla said women aren't funny women got mad. Tosh made rape jokes, women got mad. It's like men can't win."

Stacey Nightmare@STACEYNIGHTMARE
"I don't have cable so instead of watching Tosh.0, I just have my computer read offensive YouTube comments in a robot voice."

katiehalper@kthalps
"Guys, Daniel Tosh was heckled. And that's the real crime."

Lilith@GrimalkinRN
"If you're a comedian who can't be funny without making rape jokes, you're a really s-----comedian. #Tosh"

Martha Plimpton@MarthaPlimpton
"The vile name-calling these last couple days has been really telling."
Plimpton, an actress who portrayed awesome female characters in the past three decades, then linked to an article on the Tosh controversy by Meghan O'Keefe.

Meghan O'Keefe@megsokay

"I wrote a serious. 'When Rape Jokes Are Never Funny' for @ HuffPostComedy "

O'Keefe, a comedian and writer, linked to her excellent essay (read the whole thing here) on why Daniel Tosh's rape humor shouldn't be defended. Here's an excerpt:

"It's not that comics can't cross lines. Comics should say whatever they want. If Tosh honestly thinks rape is funny... well, that's his opinion...What's disturbing is that this is a worldview that is violent and that lacks empathy. What's even more disturbing is that he's not some unknown comic presenting an unpopular opinion. He's one of the most popular and beloved comic acts in the country. Which means that a huge percentage of our country thinks rape jokes are funny...because they think the act of physically hurting and sexually dominating a woman against her will is funny."

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