The Rape T-Shirt: Courting Attention with Controversy

Last week, the New York Times profiled a writer who is using an entrepreneurial tactic to promote public consciousness about rape. She’s helping sell a t-shirt.

The shirt, whose image is shown here, features a safe unlocking with the small words– I was raped–coming out. The writer, Jennifer Baumgardner, plans to sell the shirt via a sex-education Web site and on college campuses. Proceeds benefit education about rape and the production of more shirts. Publicity around Ms. Baumgardner might also benefit her book sales.

T-shirt image from scarleteen.com.

The controversial shirt solicited more than 300 comments in a related Times blog post. A surprising number of the readers took Ms. Baumgardner to task. She hasn’t been sexually assaulted but says she has a sister who was. This all smacks of self-promotion to me, wrote one reader. Another person said: “This is a terrible, terrible, terrible idea. I was raped many years ago and prefer to ‘own the experience’ by living my life as a champion, not as a victim. This would place me squarely back into the victim camp.”

Others gave her kudos for trying to raise awareness by getting people to talk about rape, which she clearly is doing. Jennifer and others are trying to ‘take back the night’ and reclaim womens strength and dignity,” one reader wrote.

The backlash raises the question many entrepreneurs face when attempting to get attention through shock: Will the controversy overshadow the mission, be it sales, publicity or a message?

WSJ readers, what do you think about the t-shirt idea? Does it go too far? Does the shock value detract from the mission or are the critics missing the point?