Action – Go to your favorite online marketplaces and flag and report misogynistic terms used on wearable and decorative items.
We had no idea how much clothing was being sold with the “H” word as a misogynistic slur against Vice President Kamala Harris, an incredibly accomplished woman.
(NewYork) Misogyny Is About Power “Donald Trump’s supporters in search of apparel have no shortage of options. On Etsy, for example, they can choose from a variety of T-shirt designs, some with a crude message. “Say No to the Hoe,” a few say, featuring Vice-President Kamala Harris’s face inside a circle with a line drawn through it. “Jo and the Ho Gotta Go,” decrees another, out-of-date option, which True Patriot Supply also offers in multiple colors. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that many Trump supporters had taken to wearing “Joe and the Hoe” shirts at the former president’s rallies. That Trump’s supporters are misogynistic will come as no surprise to anyone on the left; much of Trump’s appeal is based in part on a backlash to progress, including progress for women.
We looked at Etsy’s offerings first. Holy smokes! WTH, Etsy?!
We then looked to see if they had a policy against hate speech. Yes, they do! And on every listing page, there is a flag that sends you to a short series of reporting pages.
They then invite you to add more details. We used some version of this.
“Ho” in regards to women is hateful, no matter how its spelled. It should not appear on Etsy, any more than the “N-word” for Black people or the “K-word” for Jewish people. Etsy has already wandered far from being the friendly outlet for artists and craftspeople it used to be. At the very least, you could follow your own “Discrimination and Hateful Content Policy!” I’m definitely rethinking supporting your platform in the future.
We’ve sent a number of messages so far. No response. The stuff is still there. Apparently they need A LOT OF ENCOURAGEMENT!
Then we looked through Amazon. They have a policy against hate speech as well. Though there were no t-shirts, but there are a couple of lawn flags and hats, using “Joe and the HOA.” We’re pretty certain that they aren’t referring to any home owners’ association run by a guy named Joe Biden. We flagged the items and added a similar statement. Some has been pulled. Some not.
- Target: We could not find ANY political gear at Target.
- Walmart: We found these pages at Walmart – lots of appreciation for felons and guns, but no overt misogyny.
- Ebay: Ebay is selling “Boats and Hoes” shirts described as “Mens Funny T Shirts Boats And Hoes 2024 Sarcastic Election Graphic Novelty Tee” from Crazy Dog T-Shirts, which is disappointing, as that company has some great women-supporting merch. Feedback here. Ebay policy here, which is really interesting. Nazi stuff is apparently a big problem for them.
Disclaimer for those men AND women who already own stuff like this and are mad for being called out… HEY! WE’RE NOT COMING FOR YOUR WARDROBE OR YOUR FLAGS! YOU DO YOU! Make your own choices! But own the damage you do the the girls and women you love.
Deeper Dive
Both Christian Nationalism and White Supremacy normalize misogyny, as women land below men on their patriarchal ladder. Even as joke-y t-shirts, this toxic culture contributes to making the lives of wives, sisters, daughters and granddaughters more dangerous. That’s just a fact. Girls learn early that, despite all the encouragement they get to strive for the stars from their families and teachers, sexual slurs await them in the “real world” if they compete against men. Those same families then have to teach their older daughters to hold their keys out while walking to their cars and to travel in groups. It’s no surprise that the meme about whether women would rather meet a bear in the woods, over some random man, has gone viral.
(Note: there has been a recent exception…)
A repressive environment can lead to Internalized misogyny, which keeps girls and women from even trying to succeed. Their fear and anger limits self-expression and even causes hateful behavior towards other women who seem to defy the boundaries they’ve been taught they must abide by.
Misogyny needs to be stopped at every level. Nasty slurs on t-shirts seem a small thing, but it’s a start.
(from video) “If the Everyday Sexism Project has shown anything, it’s that this is a continuum. All of these things are connected. The same ideas and attitudes about women that underlie those more “minor” incidents of sexism and harassment, that we’re often told to brush off and not make a fuss about, are the same ideas and attitudes about women, that underlie the more serious incidents of assault and rape. [US statistics here] What that means is that by helping to contribute to a cultural shift in the way women are perceived – whether it’s in the media, in the professional sphere, in the social or economic sphere – we help to shift the way that they’re perceived and treated in the other spheres as well.
…Be part of the change. Be the cool aunt or uncle who buys a chemistry set for their niece, or a play cooker for their nephew. Be the teenager that tells his friends that actually it’s not okay or funny to refer to women as sluts or whores…Be the person at the bus stop that steps in when they see a woman being harassed. Or be the person on the bus that stands up and says it isn’t okay. Because our voices are the loudest when we raise them together.”
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 