Horrified by the "I was Raped" T-Shirt

Feminist writer and t-shirt designer Jennifer Baumgardener has created a t-shirt with the words "I was raped" splashed across the front. This t-shirt was created to get rape victims talking to each other and sharing their experiences. A special designed symbol would have been better, and then those awful words that no raped victim wants to admit.

I was raped. What was the designer thinking as she created this t-shirt?

This t-shirt is meant to empower those who have been raped or sexuality assaulted. However, Jennifer Baumgardener missed the mark by light years, in my humble opinion. I think it will bring unwanted attention and comments to rape victims, neither of which rape victims need.

The t-shirt has the very words that most rape victims have a hard time expressing and certainly not something we wish to advertise. For the life of me, I cannot fathom why anyone would want wear this t-shirt proclaiming "I was raped."

That is like wearing a t-shirt that says, "I was the victim of a horrible crime. Come and do it to me again."

No thanks Jennifer Baumgardener. I will not be purchasing your t-shirt with the heinous words "I was raped." To do so would mean I condone the creep who raped me.

There is no way I could condone his actions or yours, Jennifer Baumgardener, as your t-shirt lacks the class one must have in this delicate situation. You surely cannot proclaim "I was raped," for if you did, you sure would not want it splash crossed your chest. Being raped is a very serious issued for those of us who have been unwillingly put in that group, and it is not anything we are proud of by any means.

By splashing "I was raped" across a t-shirt implies to me that rape is something to do for fun, and I beg to differ. Most t-shirts with sayings are meant to be funny with either images or the words. That is primarily what t-shirts are for, and advertising an event or business. There is nothing funny proclaiming I was raped, nor is it an event I wish to advertise.