Thursday, November 7, 2013

Introducing the world's first anti-rape pants

This is wrong on so many levels

Telegraph

- Take a look at them here, via indiegogo.com, the crowdfunding website which enables entrepreneurs to appeal to the world for funding for their big ideas. Two New York women called Ruth and Yuval – who only go by their first names, but don't let's judge – have formed a company called AR Wear (AR for Anti-Rape), which aims to produce "confidence and protection that can be worn".

These items of underwear, feature cut-resistant fabrics, a "reinforced skeletal structure" around the crotch, and combination locks around the thighs and waist which are intended to allow women to "feel safer" whether "on a first date", "clubbing", or "out for an evening run".

In their sales pitch, Ruth and Yuval are quick to point out that "rape is about as wrong as it gets" (thanks for that), and that "the only one responsible for a rape is the rapist". But, they argue, a woman will feel safer if she is wearing pants that are "very difficult for someone else to remove by either force or stealth (in situations where the victim cannot resist because she has had too much to drink, was drugged, or is asleep)".

The bizarre fundraising video – which looks like a cutesy Apple advert combined with, well, pants that are impossible to remove – includes shots of women smiling and having a boogie alongside footage of a man trying unsuccessfully to cut through the pants with a dagger. There's even a bit where a group of white women in mini-skirts walk confidently past a black man. But I'm going to gloss over that.

According to indiegogo, AR Wear has raised almost $35,000 so far, from about 1,700 individually funders. They have more than two weeks left, and seem certain to meet their goal of $50,000, which will see these pants become a reality. So not everybody thinks this the epitome of absurdity, then.

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