In her article, The Predator and the Jokester, Lauren Berlant makes parallels between those who make jokes, and sexual predators. She explains that both the jokester and the predator take control of a moment and give the victim something they did not ask for. Berlant, while explaining that the two are similar, acknowledges that they are not the same thing. She elucidates that the victim of a jokester is subject to a joke, which may be uncomfortable, but it is still not the same as a victim of sexual predator being subject to violence. Both, however, seek out power to give the victim something that they did not ask for.

When highlighting the differences between the predator and the jokester – specifically stand-up comedians, Berlant claims, “No one asks to be the predator’s audience: That is why we call their acts violence” (Berlant 2017). This is an extremely important thing to point out in her article, so that her purpose in writing the article is clear. One may interpret the article as equating sexual violence with being subject to a bad joke, when really, she is simply focusing on the parallels between both situations.