Rape is not funny...

From http://www.davidandgoliathtees.com

I saw this photo on the David and Goliath website in 2008. I lodged a complaint at the below website at that time. You can do the same. Rape is not funny, but apparently David and Goliath thinks it is.

http://www.davidandgoliathtees.com/index.php?mode=CC

I don't see this particular shirt at the site now but in the "boyfriend" section of the website there are other shirts that are equally disappointing.

In the past when I perused the girl's section there were plenty of foodie t-shirts that I dug. I love food themed items and found some cute things. But the boys side was stereotypical in that this company seems to think that boys/men love crude shirts (and girls want sweet shirts). These shirts aren't just crude, more specifically they are sexist, homophobic and socially irresponsible.



I'm not sure why men would purchase shirts like this. Do they think they are amusing but do not take them seriously? Do they think women will find the shirts amusing? There is no doubt in my mind that some females will find these shirts amusing which saddens me. To some I'm sure this item is "just a shirt", but to me it is a reinforcement of sentiments that I think should be outdated. It is a promotion of male bravado and a reflection of our oversexed culture. Media and marketing love encouraging sex and neglect the notion of love altogether.


Being that we seem to be in the era of sex-videos (i.e. Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, Paris Hilton etc) I'm sure this is a popular one. It is amazing to me that anyone would wear this shirt with confidence but pornography has become so mainstream perhaps I shouldn't be surprised.


Another example of our oversexed culture. Love is out and casual sex is in. We live in a hook-up culture after all. Anyone who wears this shirt is not only adament about kicking the girl out after sex but (I am assuming this is a shirt meant for heterosexual men but I couldn't be sure if it is gender neutral) proud of his actions. Wham bam thank you ma'am!

Because this is part of being a man right? This shirt promotes the idea that being a man, being masculine equates to using up women. It seems that using another person for sex is "man's territory" so to speak. I am not advocating women using up men mind you...nor am I advocating same sex partners to do so either. My point is that sexist stereotypes are presented strongly here.


And this means what? If a gay person were to wear a "He is straight" shirt would it get as many laughs? Is being gay funny? This shirt is basically saying that being gay means that you are less manly than a straight man and that makes the gay person amusing.


This shirt is basically exclaiming, "sleep with me anyway!" A joke perhaps but not a funny one to me.

Am I too uptight? I'm sure many would say so. But take a minute to ask yourself why some find these shirts funny. Even scarier some might take them quite seriously.