Bah, these shirts are made because the person wearing them wants to provoke a reaction, so that they can feel holier-than-thou. The most minute negative reaction they get from the shirt will, in later tellings, be turned into “A bunch of slack-jawed, right-wing zealots were throwing feces at me and calling me a whore just because of my shirt!”
Big difference between a shirt that says “Vote pro-choice” and that piece of filth.
But yeah, if you had some ardent Pro-Lifer who was wearing a shirt with a picture of an aborted fetus, etc., etc., they would be an immature asshole too.
Personally, I look at it this way-no one should feel ashamed about having had an abortion-but it’s still personal. Just because something is personal doesn’t make it shameful. Masturbation is personal. Does that mean it’s shameful? Shall we wear shirts saying, “WOOHOO-I am masturbating like a mother fuck!” (Come to think of it, that might be a pretty good idea!)
Now, if one wants to wear one of these shirts, that’s fine. I think they’re kind of tacky, but then, there are a lot of t-shirts out there that are way worse than this one. I would caution the wearer that she might get a reaction she didn’t want. I don’t mean the whole blame the rape on a short skirt. I mean considering what a volatile issue abortion is (people are literally slaughtering each other over it), I would not feel comfortable wearing such a shirt.
That being said, I could see someone wearing this shirt just for shits and giggles. Hell, I think it would be pretty funny if a man wore one. Might make people go :eek:
This shirt is not everyday wear. It’s intended for specific situations that are about visibility and expression.
Does a woman holding a sign that says “I regret my abortion” offend you? Is the sign a “piece of filth?” Would it be different if she wore her message on a T-shirt? Both women are making a simple statement about something that’s both intensely personal and unavoidably political. Neither of them are going to bust it out at Disneyland, dude.
Abortion is different. This shirt is not like ones I have seen that say, “I am a survivor of rape”, or similar proclamations. Like it or not, many millions of people hold the honest conviction that abortion is murder. That is not just a catch phrase. They really believe that abortion is the senseless killing of utterly innocent human beings. So to see the issue taken in such a flippant manner is terribly insulting, rude, and immature.
How about a shirt that is supportive of the Iraq war? Millions of people believe that the invasion of Iraq represented the senseless killing of utterly innocent human beings (a ridiculously over the top characterization of abortion, btw). Would a pro war shirt be a “piece of filth?”
Although the design of the shirt is simple, its use will end up being, not to simply express support, but to provoke.
So yes, if someone wore a pro-Iraq-war shirt, that was designed to provoke people who did not support the war, it to would be a piece of filth, and the wearer an immature asshole.
Then they need to get over themselves. Not everybody holds the same opinion about abortion, duh.
Just because some people see it as “senseless killing” does not mean that everyone else’s free speech should be held to that (possibly erroneous) belief.
I never said that they should not be allowed to wear the shirt. I just said that they are most likely immature assholes looking to provoke other people so that they can feel superior and persecuted. What does freedom of speech have to do with this? Am I not allowed to criticize a person for what they say?
