Rape is rape and no one in jail should be subjected to it. The following letter was sent via email and snail mail to the DC Comics-owned MAD Magazine, over one of their drawings and accompanying text in the current issue now on newsstands.
Please take a few moments to write to the editors at Letters@MadMagazine.com, either an original note of your own or cut-and-paste mine in the body of your email, and let them know male prison rape is no laughing matter.
"Dear Mad Magazine,
"As a longtime reader and subscriber to your publication, and a gay man, I am very unhappy with your male prison rape joke in issue #541.
"In the "Mad's Meme Graveyard" spread, there is an image of the Sexy Mugshot Guy on a tombstone and the text reads, "This felon was so handsome, Women tried to post his bail, But it's bad to be so pretty, When you're showering in jail."
"A set of hands rest on his shoulders indicating a man is mounting him from behind and a jar of petroleum jelly sits at the bottom of tombstone.
"There is nothing humorous about male rape and sexual battery, against men or women, they should never be part of serving time or being incarcerated because you can't raise enough money to bail out.
"An apology about this offensive cartoon and text is requested, on behalf of male prison rape survivors, men currently in prison and advocates working toward reducing sexual violence in our jails.
"Stick to parodying TV shows and movies, poking fun at politicians and corporations, and don't use rape as a punchline.
"Regards, Michael Petrelis San Francisco, CA"
Kudos! I totally agree! Having been a victim of several rapes, it is unconscionable that they would try and extract humor from something so physically, emotionally, and mentally devastating! There is no humor in this! Period!
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