TRIGGER WARNING - Themes of rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and suicide. Please be advised.
How would you feel if kids and teens and families were advertised a product that promoted sexual harassment and rape culture? Would you want your kids to normalize that?
Repashy's fish food called "Morning Wood: Our Super Firm, Long Lasting Formula for Fish that Like to Suck Hard Wood" is an example of that. Repashy, a California company that makes food for reptiles and fish and is popular within the herpetology field, uses "locker room talk" to promote its fish food. Locker room talk IS rape culture. It is NOT funny. It normalizes rape culture, sexual harassment, gender discrimination and sexist attitudes toward women and girls.
Please share this petition on social media. Tell Repashy to rename its fish food.
Please identify attitudes such as "Locker room talk" and "Boys will be boys" as well as other forms of harassment and abuse that feed rape culture by using this update's Pyramid of Sexual Violence from The Equality Institute (https://www.equalityinstitute.org/about).
So how exactly do these attitudes hurt women and girls, and what does it have to do with fish food? Let's look at some examples.
Female Herpetologists Harassed by Male Colleagues
"Herpetology has historically had a 'macho, bro culture'," says the article, and one female scientist who was interviewed said, "she had routinely witnessed obscene photographs and sexual innuendos in herpetology talks, though she said it had become less common in recent years. Still, she said that culture had made her less inclined to attend professional herpetology conferences. Others who spoke out on social media said they, too, avoided such meetings or switched career paths." -- from the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/16/us/turtle-researcher-women-bikinis-richard-vogt.html
"Misogynistic culture at conferences jeopardizes TSA’s (Turtle Survival Alliance) core mission of promoting global conservation of turtles and tortoises; this culture has driven numerous women from herpetology." -- from Inclusive Herpetology https://inclusiveherpetology.wordpress.com/
How "Locker Room Talk" Feeds Rape Culture
"Rape doesn't happen in isolation -- it's the manifestation of gender inequality in a society. It all starts with unequal attitudes and behaviors, so don't ever say 'it was just a joke'." -- from The Equality Institute https://mobile.twitter.com/theeqi/status/961838320681615360
Rape Victims and Their Loved Ones Fight Back Against Rape Culture
Commenting on rape culture, Coleman talks about his sister, Daisy Coleman, and her rape at age 14 (that trauma eventually led to her suicide in 2020, followed by the suicide of their mother four months later). Coleman says in the video, "We see comments being made about women, saying, ‘Oh, it’s just locker room talk -- boys will be boys.’ That’s accepting the culture as it is and allowing it to grow. ...If there's one thing in this world that I think that young men need to learn to carry on through their lives is respect for another. Start by talking about, 'You have to respect this person', it's not about what she's wearing. If the kid comes home at thirteen years old and talking with his friends about, 'Oh my God! Did you see her butt today in social studies?', or the volleyball team will go on their daily run past the field and they'll be like, 'Oh my gosh! Those spandex!', kind of thing, it's...it's... People talk like that. It's actually more disgusting than we see it as. And it happens all too often because we haven't been taught. It is up to the parents, the role models, the older brothers, the older sisters to start putting these ideas in kids' heads that this is not a thing that's okay." -- from Teen Vogue https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=VzC_Ss5oO4Q
Locker room talk and sexual harassment is what forces women out of the field of herpetology, where they cannot study reptiles and amphibians in peace because men won't leave them alone. Locker room talk feeds rape crimes, such as the boys who raped Daisy Coleman -- and that rape eventually led to her suicide, which then led to her mother's suicide.
Words have consequences.
By stopping locker room talk in advertising, we can help build a safer culture for all. We cannot be blind to microaggressions -- normalizing sexual abuse and sexually aggressive language towards women and girls is NOT okay.
Even in something as seemingly harmless as a jar of fish food.
Thank you for your support. Please share this petition. Safety and respect for all.
CC Teal
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can seek help by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673). For more resources on sexual assault, visit RAINN, End Rape on Campus, Know Your IX, and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
If you or someone you care about is thinking about suicide there are ways to get help. For immediate assistance call 911. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800.273.TALK (8255) or chat online using the Lifeline Crisis Chat anytime, 24/7.