H is for Hatred and Harm Disguised as Humor

I actually had something completely different planned for my A to Z Challenge H post. I had originally wanted to talk about how history has inspired me to write on countless occasions. However, because of another offensive and horrible post passed off as humor on Facebook, I felt compelled to change my subject. Here is the link to a post that I’ve seen shared on Facebook a number of times lately.

When I saw this “joke” I was filled with anger and felt sick to my stomach! For those you who may not be aware of what Rohypnol is, it is a powerful sedative. It has become infamous for being a date rape drug. A person can sneak this medication into their unsuspecting victim’s drink. And in no time, the victim is unconscious and powerless to protect themselves. This drug is so powerful that even if the victim awakens during their sexual assault, they usually have little or no memory of the attack. Worse yet, the body quickly flushes evidence that this drug was ever used, ridding even more proof that an assault actually took place.

My major in college was Criminal Justice, and I studied Rohypnol and its use as a date rape drug. It horrified me then, and it still horrifies me now that anyone could do something like this to another human being!

But what is just as scary is how often our culture tries to pass situations like this as humorous. Some people may argue that the joke featured in this Kneeslapperz.com post is funny because it is depicted as a “fail”. In my mind, this is NOT a fail. It isn’t funny. And it sure as hell shouldn’t be something that society should even remotely depict as a joke. This lightens and pokes fun of something evil and horrendous that happens far too often in this world.

No joke that depicts something harmful, hateful, or wrong should be tolerated. We each, as human beings, have an obligation to stand up and say, “Hey, this is NOT acceptable! We will NOT tolerate this any longer!” We need to be stopping this trend right in its tracks, so we can show our children and teenagers that some things are never acceptable. We need to teach them that anything that harms others is wrong, regardless of people trying to pass it off as humor.