This book chapter examines the Canadian stand-up comedy show Rape Is Real and Everywhere (2017) to hypothesize why sexual violence survivors are increasingly divulging their traumatic experiences through stand-up comedy.

The author begins by arguing that testimonial stand-up allows survivors to gain back a sense of agency by criticizing the dominant culture that enabled their trauma to happen in the first place. Next, the author hypothesizes that survivors experience catharsis through the creation of healing ritual performances, social performances with the (un)conscious intent to help the performer psychologically heal from trauma by asserting control over the traumatic memories being testified.

This article adds to the conversation of controversial feminist humour by moving away from debates as to whether rape jokes can be funny or feminist and instead examining how they may impact feminist women and female sexual assault survivors.

By studying contemporary rape jokes from comedians including Daniel Tosh, Dave Chapelle, Jim Jefferies, Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, and Heather Jordan Ross, through an affective lens, this research shows that whereas sexist rape jokes told by male comedians to a mostly male audience may force women to experience shame (whether intentionally or unintentionally), feminist rape jokes told by female comedians are more likely to eliminate or prevent shame.

This book chapter provides educators with practical guidelines for using intersectional feminist humour in the classroom. The author discusses a) building trust, b) content warnings, and c) providing opportunities to leave.

This opinion piece published in the Montreal Gazette argues that Quebec’s sex education curriculum should teach students the warnings signs of sex traffickers, as they they are cunning, manipulative, and experienced. To educate is to prevent.