Writer and activist Jennifer Baumgardner has created a new T-shirt (with the guy who invented the '90s staple "Vinnie's Tampon Case"). The shirt reads: "I was raped."
In a New York Times story about the shirts, journalist Susan Dominus writes: What was she going for? A shirt that would let rape victims "own the experience," [Baumgardner] says, and would help chip away the cone of silence that surrounds a crime with humiliation at its core.
A woman on the website Scarleteen.com, which is selling the shirts, writes,
What it illustrates is how difficult rape can be to speak about, and how often those of us who have survived sexual assaults and abuses feel (largely because we are told, by our rapists and by the people around us) it is something shameful we must keep locked up inside ourselves: the open safe is a gesture of unlocking that silence, having that conversation, refusing to keep something which is often so huge so deeply hidden and silenced.
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 3)
16. If I ever need counseling I sure hope I don't run into "Father John", I can't even get past his first line, "It's great if women who wear it were actually raped" He sounds like a complete idiot to me and a chauvinist. Probably not used to dealing with adults who can not only fight back but can think too. He probably isn't even a priest or pastor just some lonely ass who sees hisself closer to holy than the rest of us. Start Praying Loser!!!!
Robin at 1:44PM on Apr 8th 2008
17. Father John, for what it's worth. I understand what you are saying. I was amazed to see someone post that NINETY PERCENT of the women she knows have been raped.
Spurious claims like that one don't help rape victims at all.
Captain Negative at 1:48PM on Apr 8th 2008
18. To say that rape is tragic is to trivialize it. However, to wear a T shirt stating it continues to make you a victim. Try something more positive, like I'm a survivor.
What's next? A whole clothing line: I have cancer, I am mentally ill, etc?
Gil at 2:05PM on Apr 8th 2008
19. Very poor form.
This may have already been addressed, but I will post it again as it is new in my mind. Why is it the woman's responsibility to wear this brand? It ought to be part of the sentence after conviction that sexual predators wear brands that announce "I was convicted of rape on _______." The brand should go on all of their clothing and be required to be worn until they complete counseling.
I don't understand how this brand will help a victim talk about the attack that was carried out against them at all, even after reading the linked article. Maybe the artist should have thought just a little bit more before starting this kind of campaign.
Eric at 2:12PM on Apr 8th 2008
20. Eric, let's take it one step farther.
Don't force the rapist to wear clothing saying he is a monster. Borrow a line from D'Souza's blog, TATTOO the peice of shit. Put it where all can see it, so none mistake the asshole for a human!
mac at 2:21PM on Apr 8th 2008
21. CN: "I was amazed to see someone post that NINETY PERCENT of the women she knows have been raped."
This is probably because she finds comfort in dealing with people who have a similar experience. I don't think it diminishes the scope of the problem, though. In reality, about 18% of women, 1 in 6, are sexually abused in some form.
Abuse has a lifelong negative effect on people and their interpersonal relationships. But, I'm sure that people like Father John think that they had it coming to them. Typical religious fruitcake.
AndrewV at 2:22PM on Apr 8th 2008
22. Kobe Bryant wasn't exonerated, Father John. Rabid fans drove the young woman further into exile and she withdrew her legal complaint. Much like Pierre Pierce late of Iowa State, fame provides power that can be used to influence things.
Spurious claims? Father, do you think the claims of young people in the catholic church are "spurious"?
It is NOT "great" that these shirts are being "sold" at all.
Feminist agenda? How is providing security against sexual attacks anything but a humane agenda?
"Father" John, I hope that you are not a leader of my church because I can't see how pointing fingers in a hundred different directions and not at the attacker will do any good at all.
Eric at 2:35PM on Apr 8th 2008
23. (Tried to post this before, but it's not showing up, so excuse me if it posts twice.) Someone has written a blog on this. Check out her unique perspective: http://abyss2hope.blogspot.com/
I agree that this particular design probably isn't appropriate for rape survivors, but I feel all the skeptics who have posted here should look up some statistics on rape (e.g., one happens in the US every 2 minutes; 63-74% of rapes go unreported) before making accusations of spurious claims. Future efforts into making t-shirts for rape survivors should focus on recovery or simply say "I know someone who was raped" rather than open the door to abuse of the message.
GKMEB at 1:22PM on Apr 9th 2008
24. "This is probably because she finds comfort in dealing with people who have a similar experience."
-----------------------------------------------
But it contributes to the problem. Saying that 9 of every 10 women have been raped is ludicrous. One could then exrapolate that 9 of 10 males are rapists.
We have witnessed such mass-hysteria before. DNA testing has shown that a whole lot of people have been imprisoned for crimes which they did not commit.
Remember back in the frantic days of the Mc Martin Pre-School era? Back then, the accepted wisdom was, "CHILDREN DO NOT LIE! CHILDREN DO NOT CONFABULATE! CHILDREN CANNOT BE INFLUENCED TO CREATE FALSE MEMORIES!"
Well, we found out that wasn't true. Such hysteria creates more problems than it resolves. Same with "I was raped T-shirts" as a fasion statement.
Captain Negative at 5:39PM on Apr 8th 2008
25. What happens if the girl buys a T-shirt before she is raped( as the captain said - a fashion statement), then gets raped later. Does anyone believe her? Why did she need that silly shirt?...Be careful ladies, this shirt may make you look like the boy who cried wolf.
mac at 6:14PM on Apr 8th 2008
26. I have worked my entire adult life with the traumatized and abused, both children and adults of both genders on a professional basis and I thought Father John's comments were quite balanced and insightful although slanted from his perspective. In fact he and Captain Negative and a couple others as always were the only few I have noticed to be reasonable and not extremist or emotionally or dogma driven. I thank them.
What we see here is a largely cultural response and a whole lot of Hyperbole to a problem that can only be resolved by the individual. Broadcasting it to the public is not going to benefit anyone at all but bring more shame and reproach and more issues and contention for the individual to have to contend with to be heaped on top of the existing issues. Why invite trouble? It's a bad idea from the offing. We insist on making a public issue of what is a personal one. The issue of public safety may very well be a public issue but the individual's personal clinical issues are not.
Krautknabe at 8:24PM on Apr 8th 2008
27. It seems to me it's pretty much up to the individual how he or she wishes to deal/ reveal/ talk about... or not... his or her own experience.
This is about choice, something taken away from a rape victim, and yes, sometimes one is victimized.
There's no shame in it and it seems like a bit of politically-correct parsing to always have to use the term "survivor."
If someone has cancer and wants to "advertise" that fact, that seems perfectly fine, too. Others can choose to engage or not engage about it. To me that makes it interesting. I sometimes read people's t-shirts and sometimes don't. I often don't comment on them. But maybe for some people it can start a dialogue they need.
The "crying wolf" or "asking for it" comments strike me as a strange projection.
I can't imagine choosing to wear a shirt that tells the whole world much of anything personal, but everyone's different.
S at 6:00AM on Apr 9th 2008
28. they only come in one size, which i suspect will keep the guys buying it as a novelty item restricted to shorter, skinnier types, which most frat guys and other meatheads (the most likely demographic finding the novelty here) are not.
Heather @ 2: your comment about giggling inappropriately at the thought of a pregnant woman wearing it made me giggle quite a lot--fine job!
matthewdowning at 12:30PM on Apr 9th 2008
29. The Department of Justice needs to create a special department within itself that spcecifically focuses on sexual assault and rape investigations. Just like the Justice Department has the Drug Enforcement Agency for illegal narcotics investigations, it needs to have a special department for sexual assault and rape investigations. Present statistics are a s follows: An average of 1 in 6 women report being raped every year. However, seeing as how most rapes are not reported, it is estimated that actually 1 in 4 women are raped every year. And, in the rape cases that are reported, the conviction rate is about 5 or 6 percent. That is deplorable conviction rate! I believe this low conviction rate is why many women don't report their rapes. They know there will probably be no conviction, so why bother? If men were being raped with such frequency and the conviction rate was that low, I believe most of the Justice Department's investigative resources would be geared toward bringing those rapists to justice. I believe that if the Department of Justice created a special agency for investigating sexual assault and rape, state and local law enforcement agencies would follow suit, just as they have done with illegal narcotics investigations (i.e. the drug task-forces they have set up). Think of a woman in your life; your mother, daughter, wife, sister, aunt, niece, etc. In our society today, she stands a very good chance of being raped and very little chance of being served any justice for that rape. The Justice Department needs to do much more to stop sexual assault and rape.
cory at 1:34PM on Apr 9th 2008
30. I agree with many of the posts - rape is a horrible, disgusting crime, and I suppose that if wearing a T-shirt identifying oneself as a rape victim helps that person to "own" it, more power to them....but I think it will further desensitize the public in general. Frat boys will wear them for a laugh. Are T-shirts, in this day and age, really seen as serious statements? What's next? "My father used to beat me with a tire iron when he was drunk" baseball caps?
helas at 4:04AM on Oct 28th 2009