SALON

Wednesday, Jul 2, 2008 8:40 PM UTC

“Anti-Abortion, but Pro-Date Rape”

Why was Amazon.com selling a T-shirt supporting rape?

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Topics: Broadsheet, Love and Sex,

Amazon.com, doesn’t anyone look at your vendors’ items as they’re posted for sale? Apparently not, because this “Anti-Abortion, but Pro-Date Rape” T-shirt slipped through. (Ed. note: The Amazon link is now broken, as explained in the update below. The original shirt sold on Amazon is pictured to the right.)

Amazon.com customers are all over the case — though some are saying their “one-star” reviews are being deleted. However, we have no way of knowing that for sure. At least the site did the right thing by pulling the item, for it now reads, under the product, “Currently unavailable: We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock.” But a T-shirt making light of sexual assault never should have been posted on the site, and we suspect some heads are gonna roll in corporate. You can help speed that process along with angry letters and phone calls to Amazon.com, 1200 12th Ave. S., Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98144, (206) 266-1000.

Of course, it would have been nice if someone in the printing pipeline had exercised some judgment. (The vendor, according to Amazon, is Tshirts.com, but when I looked at that site, all I could find was this charming “Abortion Clinic Staff” T-shirt.) I get that it’s free speech. I just wonder what kind of sick fuck would want to print that.

Update: The T-shirt was up on Amazon.com all morning, but clicking the link this afternoon now brings you to a generic “I’m sorry” page. It reads: “An error occurred when we tried to process your request. Rest assured, we’re working to resolve the problem as soon as possible. If you were trying to make a purchase, please check ‘Your Account’ to confirm that the order was placed. We apologize for the inconvenience.” Innnnnnnnteresting scrubbing going on there, Amazon.com.

More Jessica Wakeman.

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