Publications

Publication details [#65342]

Meier, Matthew R. and Christopher A. Medjesky. 2018. The Office was asking for it: “that’s what she said” as a joke cycle that perpetuates rape culture. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 15 (1) : 2–17.

Publication type

Article in journal

Publication language

English

Keywords

culture | joke | rape | symbol | television soap

Place, Publisher

Routledge

Annotation

This study claims that the popular joke, “that’s what she said” is a symbolic rape conception that conduces to and isolates rape culture. Drawing on J. Boskin’s concept of the “joke cycle” and existing literature on rape culture and misogynistic humor, it criticizes divers cases of the joke on the popular television series The Office.