What do I find funny?


The schizophrenic weather this April.

That's funny.

Vintage music video clips on YouTube.

Hilarious.

University of Western Ontario's recent article in The Gazette satirizing the rape of Women's Issues Network member Jennifer Owsianik.

Not funny.

While The Gazette's "spoof" edition was labelled a satirical issue, intending no harm to anyone involved in the stories, the publication goes on to publish various articles depicting blatant homophobia, emasculation of heterosexual males, as well as a series of misogynist stories depicting malevolent ridicule of feminism as well as a depraved farce using date rape drugs as the focus.

Through the email of this press release "Labia Majora Carnage" is the piece that first brought injury through insult to my world. Not only does the fucked up article substitute unrelenting abhorrence towards the campus' Women's Issues Network (WIN) for satire. The main focus is Jennifer Owsianik (named Jennifer Ostrich in the article), key member of WIN as the willing victim of the article's fictitious rape.

To date the university has yet to make significant headway in delivering retribution for the offense. In its stead, online activism is quickly raising awareness towards the newspaper's ongoing practice of "negative sexual stereotypes and sexist attitudes", according to Jennifer Owsianik by using the "spoof" edition as the most recent evidence.

Is it acceptable to violate Human Rights Codes regarding harassment on grounds of both gender and sexual orientation if the disclaimer labels it as farce? I say, "no". According to The Gazette's online poll, 56% of The Gazette readers voted that the edition was offensive compared to the 5% that thought it was hilarious.
Is University of Western Ontario breeding hate among their students? While, the university may answer, "no", previous issues of The Gazette have included articles belittling the significance of rape. Is University of Western Ontario encouraging a rape culture? Kids, welcome to Rape U!
Some student groups are rallying behind the guise of "Freedom of Speech" as a pillar we all must adhere to. However, they fail to understand such freedom is upheld by the Canadian government and does not include Hate Speech, Obscenity and Defamation to be acceptable uses of the aforementioned freedom.
Kids, your point is moot. Your school has a problem. You need to step up and accept the consequence.
What else was upsetting about the edition?

The edition also included an image of a gay couple blown up to two pages then dissected with derogatory remarks as well as an article entitled "Western Girl Likes the Taste of Rohypnol: She's a real knockout!".
STAT TIME:

- 60% of university males would commit sexual assault if it meant they wouldn't get caught.
- Majority of rape victims are females 16-24 years of age
- 1 in 6 female university students will be raped at some point in their university career.

Want to take action?
- Write to the Gazette Editor-in-Chief, Ian Van Den Hurk at gazette.editor@uwo.ca
- Email UWO's equity services UWO (equity@uwo.ca) since this article clearly violates UWO policies on equity and human rights.
- Contact London Police Chief Murray Faulkner, (Email: http://pegspirate.blogspot.com/ooc@police.london.ca, Phone: (519) 661-5670) with his real name used in the article, he is involved.
- Contact the UWO Student Union (usc@uwo.ca) and request that student funding be revoked for a year to match the USC's actions against the Society for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) when it was accused of hate speech last year.

AND... Spread the word about this article.
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