Letterman's Palin Jokes

I was going to ignore the controversy over David Letterman's jokes about Sarah Palin & her daughter, but after seeing this article in the Washington Post I felt compelled to write something. The outrage over it has gotten to be too ridiculous not to.

First of all, I don't know whether or not Letterman knew which daughter of Palin's was at the baseball game. It seems quite likely he didn't, especially since the joke works better about the older daughter, Bristol (the one who did get knocked up).  But even if he did intend it to be about Willow (who's 14), it isn't that bad. It's not a rape joke. It's a joke about hypothetical sex between Willow and Alex Rodriguez. Yes, if the sex were to occur, it might be statutory rape, depending on where it happened. But illegal does not mean immoral or unethical. It is a joke; statutory rape doesn't exist in jokes. 

Statutory rape exists to prevent coercion in relationships with vast age disparities. That's why, in Maryland for example, a 14 year old can legally have sex with an 18 year old, but not with a 30 year old (or anyone more than 4 years older). But, the fundamental presumption is that a 14 year old is capable of consenting to sex. Furthermore, this is a reasonable assumption. And if a 14 year old can consent, there's no problem having jokes involving them consenting.

To take the oppositions logic one step further, consider a 14 year old. Suppose the fantasize about sex, possibly with an adult (a teacher, favorite singer, actor, etc). Suppose in their fantasies the sex is consensual. While such sex would be statutory rape were it to occur, these are not rape fantasies. They are not fantasies about rape. They are fantasies about consensual sex; sex which may reasonably be criminalized to protect teenagers from coercion by adults. But, in the fantasies, it is not rape. Similarly, in Letterman's joke, it is not rape. It does not make light of rape, or encourage rape culture, or any similar thing.