Reader’s Digest: A Golfing Joke Gone Bad

This isn’t exactly the shot you’d think to use your five iron for.

Last month’s issue of Reader’s Digest featured a joke submitted by a reader about police officers finding a man in an apartment, holding a golf club and standing over the “lifeless body” of a woman. In the joke, when asked how many times he struck the woman, the man replied: "I don't know. Five ... maybe six ... Put me down for a five."

Now, advocates for domestic violence victims are speaking out against the joke and the magazine. "Women have a hard enough time coming forward to report the abuse and/or to leave their abuser—now she gets to feel as though it's ok for people to joke about it?" a victim advocate for Bolton Refuge House, a nonprofit support service for domestic violence victims, wrote in a letter to the magazine. "It's obvious that you have no sensitivity to victims of domestic violence and have no clue of the prevalence of this crime."

In responses to the outcries, a Reader’s Digest spokesperson told the Associated Press that it takes domestic violence “very seriously, and clearly this joke crossed the line."

I must have missed the joke when I flipped through that issue of Reader’s Digest but can’t imagine how that one slipped past its editors. I agree that a joke of that nature—submitted by a reader or not—has no place in a magazine like Reader’s Digest.

By Jason Fell --

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Family values?

Submitted by Rex Hammock on Thu, 07/30/2009 - 23:15.

I guess this must be a part of their strategy to "go right of Middle America": http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/business/media/19readers.html

family values

Submitted by Jason Fell on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 00:01.

and then deny it: http://www.foliomag.com/2009/reader-s-digest-cut-frequency-slash-rate-ba...

This stuff happens

Submitted by Garland Pollard on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 06:41.

I remember about 10 years ago when the Wall St. Journal cartoon pictured a woman in an office, obviously in an executive position. Her line? "I think if you buy a company you should be able to return it." It caused an outcry as it was a female stereotype, and they quickly apologized and the matter was over once they printed a few letters to the editor. As I recall, the editors said something like "what were we thinking?" and printed the letters. Other than the cartoon, the last issue of the magazine was fantastic; perhaps the fracas might make a few people look at the rest of the content, which displayed RD's optimism and can-do spirit. As to the company's concern for issues relating to women, the efforts of the Wallace Foundation stand on their own.

A Nation of Victims

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 13:30.

It's a joke! It is supposed to offend people. That's where the laughs come from. People should stop whining and get over it. Do we now live in a nation where we can't offend anyone, ever? It's a joke. Let it go.

Not fuinny

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 16:25.

For it to be a joke, it has to be funny. The idea of a man beating his wife with a golf club isn't funny. It's in poor taste.

golf joke

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 15:20.

Good one. Thanks for the laughs. I'll be sharing this one with family and friends!

Hilarious

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 08/12/2009 - 13:16.

That joke is hilarious, even my wife thought it was funny.