Apparently, Encouraging People to Stand Up for Themselves Is ‘Rape Culture’

Clothing retailer Forever 21 has vowed to stop selling a T-shirt that says “Don’t say maybe if you want to say no” and apologized for having ever sold it after people freaked out that it was a display of “rape culture” and “victim-blaming.” 

The tweets people posted slamming the shirt were insane:

https://twitter.com/consentproject/status/709444232403144704

and

https://twitter.com/Emmalayyy_/status/709459884551626752

and

Of course, as is the case any time anyone gets upset about anything — no matter how ridiculous it is — Forever 21 rushed to apologize:

Forever 21 strives to exemplify the highest ethical standards and takes feedback and product concerns very seriously. With regards to the t-shirt in question, upon receiving feedback from our customers, we took immediate action to have it removed from our website.  We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by the product.

#share#Um. Just one question: Why is anyone assuming “Don’t say maybe if you want to say no” would be referring a question about sex in the first place? 

For me, I think it could be useful advice to remember next time I’m asked “Do you want to go to brunch 100 blocks uptown?” or “Do you have time to edit my thesis?” or “Is it okay if we watch Gilmore Girls?” No doubt, it would be better to just flat-out say “no” rather than to give my friends false hope that I might be down to do something so awful. 

#related#Honestly, the advice on the T-shirt could apply to any one of approximately 9 million scenarios. Why do people automatically jump to assuming that it’s about rape and victim-blaming?

Because social-justice warriors are so hell-bent on looking for offensiveness in everything that they see — you know, for their latest tweet or hot-fire blog post — that there really is no room left in their brains for anything else.