Learn from and with hosts Kiara Mikita, PhD (she/her), Sexual Violence Educator, and Stand-Up Comedian, Em Cooper (they/them) and featured guests as they consider the panel’s thematic question: So…is it safe to make jokes? Hosts and guests will take up questions of safety and risk-taking, what it means, and for whom as well as other reflections about joke making in today’s socio-cultural climate.
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THINK IT’S TOO RISKY TO MAKE JOKES ANYMORE?
Join us throughout Sexual Violence Awareness Month and explore comedy about sexual violence. We will consider how and why humour can connect or divide us, why being funny today matters, and how to make edgy jokes that land.
Join Sexual Violence Educator, Kiara Mikita, PhD and Stand-Up Comedian, Em Cooper Throughout May
Come learn and laugh with Sexual Violence Educator, Kiara Mikita, PhD (she/her) and Stand-Up Comedian, Em Cooper (they/them), as they explore the community-building, risk-taking, and cathartic laughter that comedy about sexual violence makes visible. Join them in challenging the popular misconception that increasing awareness about sexual violence means that “you can’t make jokes anymore.” Join Kiara and Em this month as they make clear that playful engagement, critical thinking, and being funny in interpersonal interactions can be inclusive–not mutually exclusive–acts.
Some of the media our facilitators might speak about are included in this Sample Media List that webinar participants are welcome to explore.
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Think Sexual Violence Awareness Month can't include humour? Think again!
It’s probably safe to assume that most of us have heard that there’s nothing funny about rape, and, therefore, by extension, there’s nothing funny about sexual violence. We agree. There is nothing funny about people sexually violating others.
So, why take up comedy about sexual violence?
The short answer is that we want to learn more about how and what we can do about sexual violence, together. Laughter is an expression and an experience that can bring us together. We think there is much to learn from the wisdom of other approaches and experiences that can deepen our work in preventing, intervening, and responding to sexual violence. Comedy can offer us new ways to look at the world, our work, and ourselves, and playfully lowers our guards in the process.
If you feel hesitation or anxiety about exploring jokes about sexual violence, please know that we take up this work with care, consideration, and resources to facilitate thoughtful and powerful learning opportunities for those who choose to share in this with us.
