Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died • Hacker News Board

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#121

Post by romwell » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:26 AM UTC

Jensson wrote: post #89

romwell wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an autistic: no. Lack of social awareness isn't an excuse for rape and abuse jokes. You don't need any social awareness to figure out that you shouldn't do that. The concept of "jokes at someone else's expense = bad" isn't hard to grasp for an analytical mind. Autism is not stupidity. You are not doing "autists" any favor by trying to excuse this behavior. (Also, for some reason , autistic women aren't seen joking…

> The concept of "jokes at someone else's expense = bad" isn't hard to grasp for an analytical mind. Rape jokes aren't at anyone's expense. A joke at someone's expense would be making fun of someone, a rape joke is just something like "9 out of 10 enjoys gang rape" etc, that isn't what people mean when they say "joke at someone else's expense". So to me your post just shows that you lack the social awareness to under…

Do I really have to play Captain Obvious and say that rape jokes are usually at the expense of rape victims?

The "9 out of 10 enjoys gang rape" joke makes fun of the fact that the person being raped doesn't "enjoy" it.

Let's see if it works in other contexts:

> "9 out of 10 people enjoy lynchings"

> "9 out of 10 people enjoy stoning"

> "3 out of 4 people enjoy bullying"

> "1 out of 2 people enjoy scalping"

> "9 out of 10 people enjoy mob beating"

Doesn't quite have the same vibe, does it?

Going back to that joke, for it to be funny, you have to assume that raping someone is inherently enjoyable.

What mind finds deliberately hurting another human being an enjoyable pastime?

This particular joke comes at the literal expense of all women, because it reinforces the idea that hurting women is an enjoyable thing to do. It's dehumanizing the victim.

Do you get the picture, or should I go on further?

>and if you grew up in a different environment you would have happily made rape jokes

What environment do you think I grew up in? You seem to be making a lot of assumptions and unsubstantiated inferences here.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#122

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:27 AM UTC

hacksnewer wrote: post #68

javajosh wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>credible allegations I truly wish that allegations of any and every sort were considered not credible by the general public. Domestic abuse is a real problem, but false allegation of domestic abuse is a real problem, too. Indeed, if a person wants to harm another without lifting a finger, the simplest thing to do is claim "He hurt me" or "I'm afraid of him" and you'll get every cop, judge, attorney, a legion of your…

This comes off as naive. I saw the domestic abuse allegations again him and decided to read up. He had multiple allegations from both exes. He lightly joked about rape, domestic abuse etc. Yeah, they're jokes, but when I stopped being a child that stopped being funny, you can still see him making these jokes int interviews about his situation. You've got people on HN today that believe that metoo is just made up. Tho…

[deleted]

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#123

Post by Jensson » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:28 AM UTC

commoner wrote: post #106

Jensson wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The concept of "jokes at someone else's expense = bad" isn't hard to grasp for an analytical mind. Rape jokes aren't at anyone's expense. A joke at someone's expense would be making fun of someone, a rape joke is just something like "9 out of 10 enjoys gang rape" etc, that isn't what people mean when they say "joke at someone else's expense". So to me your post just shows that you lack the social awareness to under…

> So to me your post just shows that you lack the social awareness to understand these things Your first comment used autistic people as an example to advance your argument. When an autistic person used personal experience to counter your argument, you defended your argument by accusing the autistic person of lacking the social awareness needed to understand the point they just made. Frankly, your comments aren't mak…

My point was that people who make rape jokes as young adults stops with it when they realize that other people gets disturbed by them. An autistic person who never made rape jokes isn't a counter example for anything, and that autistic person saying that other autistic people should just naturally understand that rape jokes are bad doesn't prove anything either.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#124

Post by javajosh » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:29 AM UTC

davidgerard wrote: post #114

javajosh wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Society is really confused about right and wrong. Wendy Williams (a talk show host) asked her audience if one of her guests, who wanted a baby, should trick her boyfriend into fathering a child. The audience laughed and said yes -- Wendy laughed too, and agreed. This is called paternity fraud, because once pregnant the father will have no say in the disposition of the child, AND will be on the hook for child support.…

At this point in the thread, it seems clear you're talking about personal issues and not about anything to do with Richard Kyanka or the detailed allegations, police reports, etc.

The guy killed himself and posters are mentioning "credible DV allegations" to imply "good, glad he's dead, he (probably) deserved it." This is the concrete outcome of a much broader consequence of exempting women from ordinary standards of evidence around DV allegations. It's a big problem, worth pointing out, and I strongly suspect that Kyanka would appreciate the discussion.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#125

Post by scotchmi_st » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:29 AM UTC

javajosh wrote: post #65

extortionist wrote: post #12

He leaves behind a complicated legacy. It's important to note that credible allegations of domestic abuse lead him to sell SA in the past year, and this can't be set aside. At the same time, SA's influence on the modern internet can't be understated. The 'image macro' of early SA (maybe created by Lowtax himself, from what Fragmaster says in his video in the link) is the direct ancestor of today's common meme image--…

>credible allegations I truly wish that allegations of any and every sort were considered not credible by the general public. Domestic abuse is a real problem, but false allegation of domestic abuse is a real problem, too. Indeed, if a person wants to harm another without lifting a finger, the simplest thing to do is claim "He hurt me" or "I'm afraid of him" and you'll get every cop, judge, attorney, a legion of your…

This is really misinformed comment. Aside from the specific case here, in the UK at least, on average two women a week are killed by a current or former partner[1]. Women are at far greater chance experiencing domestic violence than men[2]. In 2018 there were 1.32 million domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes reported to police of women, of which 746,219 were considered by the police to be criminal acts under uk law. There were only 78,624 prosecutions and 60,160 convictions for domestic-abuse related crimes. In other words, only around 6% of domestic violence reports end in a prosecution, and of those only 4% end in a conviction. The stats are probably similar for different countries.

If you want to push the idea that a significant number of these cases are bogus, you really have to provide some evidence for that. Domestic violence (against both women and men) is real, and people (usually women) often die as a result of it. Spouting off sexist tropes that women are just going it because they're 'scorned' really isn't acceptable.

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeand... [2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeand... [3] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeand...

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#126

Post by tallanvor » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:31 AM UTC

AmericanChopper wrote: post #117

romwell wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#metoo was literally about bringing the attention to the scale of the problem and raising awareness, and normalize talking about abuse, so that it wouldn't continue in silence. The court of public opinion has existed before and after #metoo. Let's not pretend that #metoo invented it. If twenty people were to go public and say that Justin Bieber beat each of them with a crowbar, Justin Bieber would have some 'splainin…

Society never made an exception for sexual abuse at all. If I accused Justin Bieber of beating me with a crowbar, but somehow I was unable to provide any evidence at all that I was ever even injured, people wouldn’t take me seriously. If I successfully started a rumour that Biebs was a serial crowbar assaulter, it’s possible that it might get some media traction, but publishing rumours like that (at least used to be)…

What are you talking about?

Women are still often told that sexual harassment is their own fault for dressing the way they do, or get told "boys will be boys". It used to be expected that women would have to put up with it in the workplace.

Rape victims get told that if they really didn't want it to happen they could have fought harder.

There are still judges in the US giving lighter sentences or no jail time at all and citing this sort of reasoning.

So yes, society has certainly made an exception for sexual abuse of all forms for many years and those excuses are still being made. Are things improving? Yes. Are those improvements good enough? Not by a long shot.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#127

Post by Jensson » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:32 AM UTC

wayoutthere wrote: post #109

sokoloff wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Jokes at someone else’s expense = bad” seems to me like it literally* requires some social awareness. * in its original definition

Look, autistic people don’t get a pass for being socially awkward, nor are we entitled to one. The internet autism communities (particularly the edgelordy ones) often enable this nonsense because “fuck you I don’t want to change”. Social skills therapy exists and you can learn these things. Poor social awareness does not make up for contributing to a hostile work environment, full stop. Autism means you have to work…

Right, we shouldn't exempt autistic people who make bad jokes. But you shouldn't assume that those people are rapists or domestic abusers just because they make those jokes.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#128

Post by Jensson » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:34 AM UTC

romwell wrote: post #121

Jensson wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The concept of "jokes at someone else's expense = bad" isn't hard to grasp for an analytical mind. Rape jokes aren't at anyone's expense. A joke at someone's expense would be making fun of someone, a rape joke is just something like "9 out of 10 enjoys gang rape" etc, that isn't what people mean when they say "joke at someone else's expense". So to me your post just shows that you lack the social awareness to under…

Do I really have to play Captain Obvious and say that rape jokes are usually at the expense of rape victims? The "9 out of 10 enjoys gang rape" joke makes fun of the fact that the person being raped doesn't "enjoy" it. Let's see if it works in other contexts: > "9 out of 10 people enjoy lynchings" > "9 out of 10 people enjoy stoning" > "3 out of 4 people enjoy bullying" > "1 out of 2 people enjoy scalping" > "9 out o…

> Doesn't quite have the same vibe, does it?

It does. There are also a lot of jokes about burning babies etc. Just because you don't understand that sort of humour doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#129

Post by Jensson » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:36 AM UTC

batman-farts wrote: post #111

Jensson wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The concept of "jokes at someone else's expense = bad" isn't hard to grasp for an analytical mind. Rape jokes aren't at anyone's expense. A joke at someone's expense would be making fun of someone, a rape joke is just something like "9 out of 10 enjoys gang rape" etc, that isn't what people mean when they say "joke at someone else's expense". So to me your post just shows that you lack the social awareness to under…

Rape jokes normalize sexual violence, and create an intimidating atmosphere for anyone who may potentially be a victim, or may unfortunately have already suffered. To me, they are also a clear marker of someone who never matured enough to express their sexuality in a healthy fashion. SA may have had a lot of that shit back in the day (and may still in some corners, I’ve never spent much time in FYAD), but it shouldn’…

I never said that people should continue making rape jokes, I don't find them funny either.

Re: Richard “Lowtax” Kyanka, creator of Somethingawful, has died

#130

Post by antihero » Thu, Nov 11, 2021, 11:37 AM UTC

extortionist wrote: post #12

He leaves behind a complicated legacy. It's important to note that credible allegations of domestic abuse lead him to sell SA in the past year, and this can't be set aside. At the same time, SA's influence on the modern internet can't be understated. The 'image macro' of early SA (maybe created by Lowtax himself, from what Fragmaster says in his video in the link) is the direct ancestor of today's common meme image--…

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&th...

"I have been sitting for hours debating whether or not to disclose this, and I feel like it's something I do need to get off of my chest. Frankly, I'm tried of being quiet. I've mostly had to stay quiet for years about things happening behind the scenes. I've held things inside so long and so hard my chest physically hurt the same way it is now.

I considered not sharing this out of respect for Rich's parents and sister, but after thinking on the incredibly vitriolic wall of text Rich's Mother sent to me this morning, saying upon many other things, that his blood is on my hands, I need to share it to regain some sense of control over what's taken place in the past 48 hours.

Yesterday I recieved a divorce ruling that would help me and my daughter stay in our home in Canada and allow me to provide a good life for her as well as pay back numerous debts that had accrued during the past two years when I was receiving $350 a month in child support.

In the divorce ruling the judge found that Rich had willfully spent down the martial fund, confirmed his treatment of me was Domestic Violence and put together a plan to pay for the attorney fees etc. He would still retain custody settled on previously in mediation. He was due to get our daughter for Christmas.

An hour later I was contacted by my attorney who informed me that Rich had shot himself earlier in the morning.

So. There it is. His other ex and I got to tell our children that their father died without saying goodbye to them, or that he loved them, or to my knowledge, left a note for them.

If you've made it this far thank you for giving me space to let this go so I know longer have to hold onto it. "