April 9, 2008
Wearing one’s penchant for raping on one’s sleeve
Or, to be more accurate, across one’s chest.
Via Cara I came across this horrifying t-shirt, which reads, for anyone who’s wary of clicking through, “serial rapist.” The author of that post refers to other shirts, which confused me at first because whoever was selling the t-shirt pictured only has one other design available, one that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with rape. But then I saw that there’s a whole category of CafePress shirts relating to rape. Many of them are inspirational in nature, stating that the person wearing the shirt is a survivor, or that one should speak out against sexual violence. Some reference Darfur; others refer to rape as part of a larger point, such as in the statement, “Spreading democracy through war is like spreading virginity through rape.” Others, though…
Browsing through the t-shirts available, I found such gems as “I put the sensual back in nonconsensual,” “No means Yes,” and a picture of the chemical makeup of rohypnol (”roofies”—a rape drug). I don’t even know what to say. (from the SAFER blog, linked above)
And there’s worse. Oh, is there worse. I’m horrified that these shirts are available, and horrified further that there is apparently a market for them. And frankly, I’m a little stunned that there are companies, or at least one company, that’s willing to sell merchandise as blatantly offensive as some of the things found under the rape category. I poked around some and came across CafePress’s Content Disclaimer:
CafePress provides users complete e-commerce tools needed to create and sell a wide variety of products featuring their ideas, designs and art. All merchandise content is created by users of the CafePress Service and does not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of CafePress.com.
I appreciate that CafePress’s business model is essentially “we’ll put whatever you want on a t-shirt.” And I further appreciate that when that’s your business, your customers’ right to freedom of expression is essential, and censorship would be problematic, to say the least. Furthermore, I know that “offensive” is subjective; I know there are plenty of people who would take offense at the “Rebellious Jezebel” shirt I’ve been coveting. But — and this is that age-old question when it comes to the issue of censorship — is there ever a point at which a line must be drawn? Disclaimers aside, to what extent is selling a shirt that says “calm down — don’t make this rape into a murder case” promoting criminal activity?
What say you?
I am the Lizard Queen! 
Dollymix said,
April 10, 2008 at 10:38 am
I love the way the smiley face is somehow supposed to make it all ok and tongue in cheek. It goes without saying that this t-shirt is ridiculous and offensive and all those things. But I don’t think censorship would help – it would probably give the shop owners more publicity. The best thing with stuff like this is to studiously avoid giving them any attention… even though I did write about this myself as well.
Plus, the good thing about this t-shirt is that anyone wearing it would be helpfully advertising to the world the fact that he’s a complete twat and isn’t likely to make great “friend” or “boyfriend” material. If only every idiot out there wore t-shirts letting you know what their annoying character trait was…
Rachel said,
April 10, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Cara has since updated with some info about CafePress’ content guidelines – they set some fairly general rules which state they will not promote materials that advocate hate or violence toward a particular group. I sent them an email this morning pointing out that these tee shirts (and other products) violate the guidelines; hopefully there will be some sort of response.
Palomino said,
April 11, 2008 at 12:06 pm
“But — and this is that age-old question when it comes to the issue of censorship — is there ever a point at which a line must be drawn?” No, LQ, there is not, unless you shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater when there is no fire, or “No fire!” when there is one in a Clinton campaign headquarters in Indiana. Free speech is free speech, especially when the speech is something we disagree with. It will be interesting, though, to see how Cafe Press responds, since the T-shirt does, at least implicitly, advocate violence against a whole group of people. Oh wait, I forgot–women aren’t people.
sigh said,
April 11, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Isn’t encouraging men to rape similar to yelling fire in a crowded theatre? It does put people’s (oh, but just women, so they don’t count) safety and live’s in danger.
sigh said,
April 11, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Too fast (or too slow) on the draw there
harlemjd said,
April 11, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Palomino – actually, there are plenty of other lines that courts have ALREADY drawn marking the parameters of free speech.
Secondly – there is NO QUESTION of censorship here because CafePress is not the government. The First Amendment protects people from being silenced by the government. It does obligate T-shirt companies to make hateful, sexist T-shirts.
The Lizard Queen said,
April 11, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I fear I was too quick to use the word “censorship” — indeed, First Amendment rights cover only free speech in terms of governmental action; it means the government can’t prevent offensive t-shirts from being sold, but it doesn’t mean that a company has to print offensive t-shirts, which is what I think harlemjd was saying at the end of the above comment (I’m guessing that should read “it doesn’t obligate”?).
On the surface level, I absolutely believe that if someone wants to print these t-shirts, and other people want to buy them, it should be legal for them to do so. As Dollymix points out, the plus side to shirts like this is that we can steer clear of people wearing them: “If only every idiot out there wore t-shirts letting you know what their annoying character trait was…” — indeed!
But given Cara’s update, it does seem that these shirts violate CafePress’s own guidelines. If they decide to take the shirts down, then it’s not censorship — it’s a company deciding what it does and does not want to put its name on.
And as sigh and harlemjd have pointed out, limits to free speech have been applied when they go against the interests of public safety. I think one might be hard pressed to demonstrate in a court of law the idea that these shirts are actively promoting rape, but again, the question here is of the marketplace, not of the courts.
Crissa said,
April 11, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Luckily, most things on CafePress have never sold. Like to the five nines of stuff. And they’re terrible quality.
…But other places…