Online marketplace Etsy is currently under fire from activists for allowing a shop, called “FyourT,” to sell T-shirts that make light of and encourage rape. One shirt read, “Autumn is perfect for date rape,” and another read, “I’m a sensitive guy. I only rape pregnant women.”
The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) created a petition on Change.org to remove the shirts yesterday afternoon. It has over 5,000 signatures today and continues to gather more.
“What we’re really trying to do is striving to change the way Americans think about sexual violence,” said Katherine Hull, a spokesperson for RAINN. “We’ve been using social media to encourage our supporters to take a stand against these t-shirts and against sexual violence.”
Etsy has removed the shirts, but the shop remains open with other offensive and sexist items.
Facebook is similarly facing criticism for allowing users to post graphic images and videos of violence against women. A video of a woman being beheaded by a man in a mask has recently made the rounds on the social media site. While some people shared it to criticize the violence, others did so to glorify it.
Facebook decided to pull the video only after receiving complaints that they need to do more to protect children and teenage users. It wrote in a press release about some changes it will make to protect users from this kind of content: “When we review content that is reported to us, we will take a more holistic look at the context surrounding a violent image or video, and will remove content that celebrates violence.”
However, BBC reports that at the time of their investigation into the matter, there were still other beheading videos on the site without any warnings to viewers. In addition, some people still question why Facebook’s policies allow for graphic violence to be shown, but ban images of a woman’s “fully exposed breast.”
