I've never given much thought to Penny Arcade before, but I'm not quite sure how I feel about the PA misogyny spin. These blog posts try to represent PAX as an actively and deliberately misogynistic foundation, but I don't think I buy that. Rather to me it seems that it's a case of overreaction on top of overreaction leading to some tactless response by PA.

If you look at the original comic that started the whole uproar, it looks like the most benign rape joke to ever offend anyone. It's not even really a joke about rape; rape is just mentioned in the setup. It doesn't seem that far removed from the Wanda Sykes joke mentioned in the article as an acceptable format of rape joke.

And while these blogs like to cite a couple blogs that posted tactful responses to the comic, apparently the overall response was quite different. If I were them, receiving that kind of harassment after a seemingly harmless strip with no ill-intent, I would be inclined to respond as well. And if you're Gabe, maybe that response would be trolling those you offended. After that, the whole situation looks pretty ugly.

But still, I think I can understand PA's frustration in the situation. If people start accusing you of being a misogynist and rape culture-promoter, that's going to really piss you off. Unfortunately PA's response seems to be trolling which leads to even more accusations. Thus the cycle repeats. Hell, this "tactful" blog on the issue basically tries to paint them as rape enthusiasts. The thing has spiraled out of control, and if I'm right about how PA is reacting to this, then these posts are only feeding the flames.