Amy Schumer gets points for using her comedy to not just make us laugh, but to make us think about really important issues!
Entertainment Weekly reports that in promoting her now book, she sat for an interview with Howard Stern and discussed the effects of losing her virginity when she was raped by her then boyfriend as she slept. This type of rape doesn’t fit our image of ‘what rape is’. There was no masked stranger jumping from the bushes rape. There was no screaming and struggling in fear for her life. It’s not what we imagine rape to be… but it’s what rape is, more often than not.
-
48% were sleeping, or performing another activity at home
- 29% were traveling to and from work or school, or traveling to shop or run errands
- 12% were working
- 7% were attending school
- 5% were doing an unknown or other activity
Just because a rape is what Schumer jokingly refers to a as a “grape”, i.e., gray area rape, doesn’t diminish the violation the victim feels. In fact, being sexually assaulted by your best friend, a family member, or a trusted co-worker can leave a greater sense of betrayal than a complete stranger. Schumer confided that her “[the rape] messed me up… “my trust issues are terrible.” With comedy, compassion and candor, she challenges our judgments about sexual assault victims, using her own life experience as a launching point for conversation about a taboo topic. “I think it’s important to talk about because it’s made me feel less alone when other women have come forward about being sexually assaulted,” Schumer told Stern. “And also because it’s not this perfect rape. People want you to have been raped perfectly, and they want you to be a perfect victim.”
Schumer has used her considerable comedic voice as a forum to transcend the victimization and to help others. We don’t all have that option or her frankly her courage. If you or someone you know has experienced a sexual assault, whether recent or in the past, call us. We know there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect rape’.