Heads up FML: Sexual assault is not funny

For a while now I’ve gotten my daily giggles at the site FMyLife.com. Sure, it’s not always in good taste, but schadenfreude rarely is. In case you’ve missed out on the FML goodness, people submit very short stories which begin with the word “Today” and end with “Fuck My Life” (abbreviated as FML).
I was pretty disturbed today to come across not one, but two stories that clearly described sexual assault. Below is the letter I wrote to the FML administrators:
Dear FML admins,
I’ve been enjoying your site for months and have gotten many laughs from it. But I was very disturbed when I checked the site today, because I saw two FML stories published that gave clear descriptions of sexual assault (copied and pasted below for your reference).
These two comments both describe situations where a man performed a sexual activity using a person’s body without getting his or her consent (neither poster explicitly stated his/her own gender). This is sexual assault, and is absolutely not funny. Making light of these people’s experiences is inappropriate, and contributes to a culture where sexual assault and rape are not taken seriously. I am also disturbed by a number of the comments on these FMLs, as they contain a good deal of “victim blaming” material (telling the poster that it was his/her fault because he/she was drunk, or saying that s/he shouldn’t have a problem with the situation because their boyfriend has a right to use their body in this way).
FML is about taking unpleasant situations, phrasing them in a funny way, and letting people laugh at each other’s misfortunes. This is all in good fun. But rape is not funny, and making fun of rape victims is not fun.
Please take these two posts down, and modify your criteria for posting on the site so that further descriptions of sexual assault do not make it to your main page.
Thank you,
Lily

TRIGGER WARNING: I’m reposting the FML’s here for reference.
Today, my boyfriend decided to come clean. Apparently last week when I was drunk and asleep, he decide to wank all over me. Then laughed when I said I felt ‘sticky’ in the morning. FML
Today, I woke up with my boyfriend next to me, with his knob in my face. Apparently I’m a heavy sleeper, and he’d been shoving it in my mouth for months. FML

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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