'Wife Beater' T-shirt gets royal thumping

[Earth Walker]

DALLAS--A web site that sells so-called "wife beater"
T-shirts has come under attack by domestic-abuse
agencies who said the retailer encourages violence
against women.
"We're highly offended," said Leigh Edgar, spokeswoman for the Genesis Women's Shelter in
Dallas, one of several groups critical of the site.
She wants the site taken off the Internet. The creator
of the site, James Doolin, sais he's just using humor to
sell the shirts and accuses women's groups or over-
reacting. "It's a joke...I can't do nothing for them."
The web site offers $20 US sleeveless shirts
embroidered with the words Wife Beater. Doolin said
convicted wife beaters receive a discount--if they buy
one T-shirt, the second is half-price with proof of
conviction.
"To say that you get something for actually abusing a
woman...it's just a tragedy," said Edgar.
Doolin said he came up with the idea for the shirts
after watching the television show Cops, which he said
often shows people in sleeveless T-shirts being
arrested for domestic violence.
"I just decided to do it before somebody else did,"
he said.
---Associated Press

I agree. I want this site off the Internet!

Would you like to try and beat this woman, Doolin?
You're a JOKE! I would love the chance to kick your
ass before somebody else does. :bigredgri :sunny:

[*ULA*]

This is just disgusting. What a pig.
Hey Mystique, I'll hold him down for you!
We could wear shirts that say "pig beater"... hee hee...
;)

[Earth Walker]

Originally posted by *ULA*
This is just disgusting. What a pig.
Hey Mystique, I'll hold him down for you!
We could wear shirts that say "pig beater"... hee hee...
;)

Should I order 3-4 dozen? :D

[*ULA*]

I'm sure there are tons here who'd be thrilled to grab a limb or so!

So who wants one? Hot item!

[Fawn]

me!!! That's funny a 'wife beater' t-shirt? Well I am all for the for we slammed his butt t-shirt then!

Save some of him for me Mystique--I want a round with this clown!!

[*ULA*]

and if you can prove you're not a misogynist asshole you get a free blunt object to pummel him with.

[cydira]

I say let the loser be on the recieving end of a drunken rage... every day for a few months. I bet his product will suddenly be discontinued for "a lack of demand in the market."

But of course, I'm being kind. We can't kill him, he wouldn't learn anything then.
<remembers her deep breathing exercises for stress and wonders if she's going to be doing these execises every time she reads the news too....>

[Monkey]

I'll take a pig beater and we slammed his butt shirt!

[Wiccan Maeve]

I'm in, what an awful thing for him to be doing. How dare he encourage the behavior that almost took my life and has affected and taken many others.

[Earth Walker]

I can't afford to have the T-shirts done commercially,
but Robin and me can cut out letters and sew them
on. :D

[Xois]

though I find it most disgusting that he would offer those convicted of beating their wives a discount, that is how these t-shirts (real name A t-shrits) are popularly called ...

[Fawn]

I agree I always wondered what the humor was in harming another. And have just discovered from this there are people out there even sicker who want to make a profit of another's nightmares!!

[gunner]

woman beater? where? (fires up cruiser and looks round for 20 feet of rope) is he a good runner?

[gunner]

but seriously, (though i'd be happy to try this jerk's running skills up to 130mph) to any "real man" this guy, his t-shirts and the concept behind them are disgusting. real men treat women with respect, courtesty and love. beating women is not acceptable in any society that claims to be civilised. i won't even "brag" that my wife has never felt the hard side of my hand in 35 years. that is simply the only acceptable standard of conduct between men and women. beat the drums, beat the odds, beat the red sox, but never beat the girls.

[Earth Walker]

:D You're :cool:. And a Sweet:heartthro Too. :sunny:


Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.:crazy:
---Isaac Asimov - Foundation

[Dria El]

Originally posted by gunner
woman beater? where? (fires up cruiser and looks round for 20 feet of rope) is he a good runner?

Not once this 6 foot Amazon takes out his knee caps...

Helpingly,
Dria El

[cydira]

Can we flay and skin the lummox and hang his head as a trophy and warning to others? I know a few good ways to do that. :) And they say the Inquisition was bad??? <laughs darkly> They never did piss off a person that's been on the recieving end of that stuff did they? We learn well from individuals who dare to strike us.

<coughs>

Sorry, that just kinda came out.

[Earth Walker]

:sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:
You said that very well. :cool: :D


Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.:crazy:
---Isaac Asimov - Foundation

[cydira]

I'll just say that people like that have a special place in my heart. It's usually one that most of my friends off line like to describe as borderline homicidal, but I'm really rather harmless. People who encourage domestic abuse is just as guilty if not more so then the abusers. All of them, in my opinion, are sick individuals. Those who encourage domestic abuse should be beaten with in an inch of their life and left to die. If they have the will to live they will never dream of doing something to encourage that atrocity again.

Abusers should simply be executed if they can't break the cycle of abuse. If by chance they manage to avoid death, let them be tortured in the most debasing and violent methods possible. It may shoot my karma to hell in a hand basket but I don't necessarily have the patience to do other wise. I belive I can honestly say that I feel something close to hatred for the first time in my life, and it is not directed towards a person but towards a group of people.

It is more then just wrong to manipulate, belittle and attempt to destroy another person. It is another form of murder, it's attempted murder of the psyche and the spirit. I personally think that's far more devistating then killing the body. It's very difficult for me to contain the rage that I feel when I hear about women, men, children or animals being abused. Unfortunately, I find far too many people in our society pay lip service <sneers> to the concept of protecting the individuals who are being abused then actually doing something about it. :bad:

The way I see it, if you're not with me then you're against me. Lady and Lord help whom ever it is that's standing in my way on this one because I'll have no qualms about rending their flesh from their bones before they cross over if I have to. :smash:

<growls, takes a deep breath and forces her self to calm down>

It just makes me murderously angry. I kinda can't help it.

[Elaine]

Although I've never been psychally (excuse my spelling it's 4:20am) abused, I have been verbally abused....it happened by my first boyfriend in 8th grade (his mamma didn't teach him too well, he was a mean little bastard).......and I am just since I met my husband getting my self esteem back....(I graduated high school in 97.....22yrs old) I can't even imagine being psychally abused.....because that takes a toll on your body on your mind ......on your whole being!! I was able to repair my mental scars over time.....a lot of people aren't so lucky!!

Goddess forgive me for saying, but, are we 100% sure that stoning is illegal???? If it is I think we should bring it back for the people that think it's ok to abuse women!!:cool: what do ya think?;)

[Red Dragon]

To me, as a Knight in the order of the round table not to mention shining armour, It is in a word unthinkable. I took an oath to defend the weak

A Knight is sworn to valor
His words speak only truth
His might defends the weak
His wrath undoes the wicked.

Not that I consider women weak, but it is time to recognize that no violence against another is acceptable, be it man or woman.

I am a little surprised at the aggression displayed by you all, rather let's work a little magick, Hmmm?;)

[Earth Walker]

The aggression is directed to the men of the
mainstream, who say that, according to their bible
and god, men are superior to all, and that women
are their property and they have the god-given right
to do whatever they want to women. :mad:
They also claim the same right when it comes to Black
people, First Nations in Canada and U.S., animal and
plant life, Pagans, lesbians, gays, and other people.......
It is not directed toward the men in the Pagan
community(s), for they know that women are equal,
and that ALL Life is special and should not be made
extinct. Love Ya Bro! :heartthro


Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.:crazy:
---Isaac Asimov - Foundation

[Elaine]

sorry Red Dragon.....I'll go sit in the corner in time out and think about what I've said!! :bad: :D

In all seriousness...I don't think any of us really want to cause harm to men of any kind (unless they are the ones doing the actual beating and demeaning! that's a different story!) I don't want to speak for the others, but I don't think I'm alone in saying that we were just taking out our aggressions the way we were in order to vent to each other......We did not want to offend anyone....I apologize if I offended with what I said.....it was not meant for that!! *hugz* let's all still be friends!!:D

[Incendia]

Hmmmm....how about this for a product line: Wife-beaters Bobbitizer De-boner knives... (Just kidding) ;)

[gunner]

lorena bobbdit?

no worries ladies, for that sort of s.o.b. us guys will hold him down while you work him over. i'll even lend you my ka-bar

[bluecat]

I have avoided posting to this thread for some time because of something I experienced in grad school in Norman, OK, and something that happened later that I was involved in.

As a grad student at the University of Oklahoma, I was the scenic designer for a Sam Shepard play called A Lie of the Mind about spousal abuse. While the play did not show any direct abuse it did show how the woman was somehow blamed for being beaten and how the man was supported in some way. It was the playwright's intent to show this as a brutal and ugly thing and how the woman is still wounded long after the physical abuse is over.

We had a seminar after one of the showings and very few people showed up, but there was one preacher who was there and his comments were about how the wife did not respect her husband. This comment came from a man who is supposed to preach love, but instead was concerned over the fact that the "man" was somehow wronged. The man in the play was abused as a child and this just carried thru, it was normal, and the same for the woman. Even though she had been beaten to the point of serious neurological damage this behavior was somehow just the way things were.

The playwright knew this was wrong but for the most part his words felt on deaf ears in this audience. That was a sad day.

The other experience was closer to home. I had a friend call me to say that there was something going on between a couple that we knew. I went over to see if I could help and I walked in while he was hitting her. I went into a rage and grabbed one of those torch lamps and swung it striking him on the side of his head. He stumbled then turned around and asked me why I had hit him from behind and how much of a chickensh*t thing that was. I then shoved the lamp into his stomach and proceeded to inform him, in a VERY personal way about what it was like to be beaten by someone. I AM NOT PROUD OF THIS!

The police were called and he was transported to the hospital and then to jail. He later left and has never returned, he fears for his life from the brothers of the girlfriend he was beating. She now has a very good husband who loves her very much.

You see, this thread was personal, I never want to do what I did that night again. In my present physical condition I probably could not do it.

I heard that guy was killed, he was driving while drunk. I can only hope he carried that lesson into his next life.

I was not being a knight in shining armor that night, I was brutal. Looking back on it, had I been a cat, as my nick suggests, he would have been ripped apart, I was in so much of a rage.

The very idea of this shirt just makes my blood boil.

'Nuff said.

Blue

[gunner]

you did no wrong that night bluecat, none! brutal and violent as you might see yourself then you very likely saved a life. it is also possible that seeing her tormentor helpless and cringing may have helped her break the illusion of power he had created in her mind and led to her gaining freedom. much as i like and respect mystique i have to argue with her quote of isaac asimov (as i did with isaac too, likely why we never became friends) violence is a tool that can be used for good or ill, i've a letter on file from an on line friend, another trans gendered person describing a close call from a hate filled punk about to assault her. calling her a "dyke" among other things. she gave him a glad smile (her words) and moved the side of her coat open so he could see the 9mm pistol she was carrying. conversation over, no one hurt and one punk that might think twice about what he gets up to next time he sees someone "different". you go on to say, bluecat, that she has gone on to find a man that treats her as a woman should be treated, with love and respect. would this have happened if you had not intervened? likely not.
"gunner"

[bluecat]

looking back on it gunner, I suppose when she saw him bleeding and, yes, "whimpering" she did see that he wasn't very powerful ...

[Tigerwallah]

Originally posted by Monkey
I'll take a pig beater and we slammed his butt shirt!


Count me in!!!! Maybe he should just add to the back of the T-shirt.."Turned Prison Wife"

[Celtic_Angel]

Grrrrrrrrr....

The guy's brain needs to be seriously rearranged! He is promoting violence. I don't care if it's domestic violence or whatever, though I have no problem venting violent emotions verbally or cyberly, if you are not acting in defense you should try to commit no acts of violence what-so-ever. If my anger is too much for me to control, I either go to the batting cages or attack a punching bag.

Anyways, it's not just against women and children that these acts occur, it happens to men too. I think it's a real shame that the abuse of males has been so well ignored over time. Either way, I can only hope that this a**hole selling these shirts meets the proper judgement, whatever that may be!!!:mad: :crazy: :bad:

C_A

[Earth Walker]

Originally posted by Elaine
sorry Red Dragon.....I'll go sit in the corner in time out and think about what I've said!! :bad: :D

In all seriousness...I don't think any of us really want to cause harm to men of any kind (unless they are the ones doing the actual beating and demeaning! that's a different story!) I don't want to speak for the others, but I don't think I'm alone in saying that we were just taking out our aggressions the way we were in order to vent to each other......We did not want to offend anyone....I apologize if I offended with what I said.....it was not meant for that!! *hugz* let's all still be friends!!:D

I don't advocate violence toward any person, but I
will defend myself if it is necessary. I always look
to walk away from that kind of thing, but if the man
persists, I will give him an attitude adjustment!:smash:
It is tragic that the patriarchal religious fundamentalists
victimize men by telling men that the "bible" is true, and
that as white males, they are entitled to do what they
like to women or to people who are not white.
I always point out that what was written in the
patriarchal bible was stolen from the original
Traditions of Goddess/Matriarchal societies, and
adapted to the purpose of men.
Men have been victimized in other ways as well,
economically, socially, religiously. For example,
Malleus Maleficarum was responsible for the deaths of
11 million women, men and children. I read one review
that says:"The translator, Rev. Montague Summers,
waxes rhapsodic on the "learning" and "wisdom" of the
authors of the Malleus. He was apparently of a mind with Kramer and Sprenger, and wrote two embarrassingly effusive and bigoted introductions(in
1928 and 1946), praising the "brilliance" of this work
and its importance in this "feministic" era.
Summers' commentary is as frightening as anything
Kramer and Sprenger wrote in the text proper, the
more so for being 20th century, and particularly post-
World War Two. Like the Papal Bull of VIII which is now
considered integral with the Malleus, future
commentators will make much of the statements of
Summers, a "modern" man.
In short, the MALLEUS MALEFICARUM was a license to
kill. And it was used far too often and far too freely.
Kramer and Sprengers' madness did not die with them;
but how many have died with their madness?"


Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.:crazy:
--Isaac Asimov - Foundation

[cydira]

If I've offended, I think I can rightly say that I don't care. I have very few qualms about putting a blade into the chest of *any* self serving, cowardly wretch that seems to think that *they* have the right to abuse another person for *any* reason. I'll pay the karmic debt, and I will pay it gladly.

I have lost friends due to the abuse they had suffered. Did they kill themselves or die from the abuse, no. But they are so far withdrawn into themselves that they're emotionally catatonic and the others are constantly on the verge of taking their own lives. <shakes her head> I refuse to allow another person to be so grossly debased, so heartlessly belittled and battered, or have the light of their souls crushed out of their eyes. So long as I can fight it, I will with any means that I can use.

This sparks a rage in my heart that is murderous. It is only a meager amount of mercy that stops me from acting on it, mercy that is interceeding for the sake of what love is in the heart of the abused. It was that sense of mercy that I plead with my own love to preserve the life of the man <sneers and spits> I once loved and had put me through the paces. Today, that bastard still looks for me and I have nightmares of his making good on the threat to kill my loved ones and myself. As I look back on it all, I think that I should have pushed him infront of the semi when I had the chance.

Any wretch that dares to assault or abuse another has named themselves my enemy and I will not change this stance, not even after the breath has left my body. I do not hate them. In truth, I want them to cease to exist on this plane and all others to prevent any chance of their causing harm again. I belive evil exists and it can be found in many places. The hearts of abusers is one of them.

<takes a deep breath>

For me this is also an intensely personal thread. Bluecat, you did the right thing. Goddess bless you for it, you did the right thing. The times where my ex tried to kill me, I desperately wish some one was there to do what you did. The only reason why he didn't is because I stopped fighting for *fear* for my life. That fear is quickly being replaced by an icy rage that is driving me to find justice in any means I can.

[Earth Walker]

You did the right thing Bluecat.:)

I would have no problem breaking an elbow, kneecap,
ankle, or other bones if I needed to...nor would I
hestitate to stab an attacker if needed.:mad:

[bluecat]

There are many different people here with many different viewpoints, we won't agree on everything and may disagree very strongly on some subjects. Don't let this deter you or keep you away, keep coming back and stay with the discussions.

This is not directed towards one person, but towards everyone. This has been one of those threads that has brought out a great deal of feelings in many of us; some of us have problems or history with this kind of thing. No matter what your history or feelings are on such a subject as this, input from everyone is important, no one person's experience or opinion is worse or better than that of another person.

I don't see where apologies are in order from anyone, we all have very strong feelings towards this and we all basically agree that the very idea of wife beating, domestic violence, and child abuse is so very wrong. The idea that this person could actually market such a thing is appalling to us as a group.

Whether you have been invloved in a violent act in relation to this is not important. My reaction was not planned, it just happened. Would I do it again, if I could, yes. Would I be proud of doing it? No. It is unlikely that we would know what we would do in any given situation, some of us are just made different than others, that's all.

That's all I think I have to say at the moment.

Blue

[Earth Walker]

I have suffered violence at the hands of men,
but my opinions are not against all men, but those
who use violence against any person because the
patriarchal "bible" and "god" says that it is okay to do
so. I am a lesbian, but there are small groups of radical
who espouse hatred to ALL men, and they cannot
understand that I can have male friends.
Oh well, C'est le Vie.


Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.:crazy:
---Isaac Asimov - Foundation

[gunner]

i don't think we have to apologise to each other, we're in agreement that abuse, mental or physical, is evil and wrong, not to be condoned or made a cheap joke of as the t-shirts that provoked this thread do. and this kind of abuse does arouse a deep and abiding anger in any decent man against the kind of swine that commits it but i saw nothing said here i would take offense at personally because i'm not the kind of "man"(?) the ladies anger was directed at and i'm certain the other gentlemen present agree with me. (and mystique, i think a better choice of words might have been "disagree" rather than "argue" on your sig line, but don't change it, you have a right to make your point.) with respect and love.