Guest post by Professor Cordelia Fine
Originally published on LinkedIn.
What are your views on women? Apparently, according to some, they should be:
bound, gagged, naked, treated as animals, degraded, humiliated and subordinate. Women exist to be used then thrown out with the rubbish.
That's a neat summary, from a petition by Collective Shout, of the images on t-shirts being sold by TeePublic, owned by Melbourne based parent company Articore.
These dehumanising and degrading depictions of women raise interesting questions about the scope of Articore's Diversity policy which makes the usual commitments to "treat[ing] individuals with respect" and empowering their workforce "to champion and respect differing identities".
It would be interesting to know if those in leadership positions at TeePublic (such as CEO Vivek Kumar) and Articore (such as CEO Martin Hosking and Chief People and Culture Office Meahan Callaghan) see any potential tension with the Board of Articore Group's claim to be "committed to a culture of integrity, ethical behaviour and respect."
Some years ago, in The Monthly, I wrote about "the porn wars", including the then new book Big Porn Inc, edited by Melinda Tankard Reist and Abigail Bray. The book marshaled bleak evidence that 'everyday' pornography had become increasingly brutal even as it was becoming more mainstream.
Big Porn Inc opens with a list of signs of the shaping of mainstream culture by pornography: from the ejaculate-themed images used in advertising, to a Facebook page celebrating the 'facial cum shot' titled "Swallow or it's going in your eye."
I am sure the authors take no pleasure when products like these prove their point.
Do claims of commitments to diversity and respect have any meaning for a company that profits from the sale of t-shirts depicting a woman (or, as the t-shirt designer prefers, "slut"), bound and thrown out with the trash?
See also
Misogyny for Sale: TeePublic Normalises Violence Against Women - change.org
TeePublic Profits from Pain: Stop Selling Violence Against Women!
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