FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture

Pillow Talk! Get consensual in bed AND support FORCE....

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:40:27 -0400

Pillow Talk! Get consensual in bed AND support FORCE. http://kck.st/ZME5ZG

CONSENT UNDIES AVAILABLE

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:44:39 -0400

Its the moment you have all been waiting for…. CONSENT UNDIES are available, for a limited time only, on our kickstarter. Pledge to own!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/230742001/force-upsetting-rape-culture

We Need a National Monument to Survivors of Sexual Violence | Bitch Media

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:42:28 -0400

We Need a National Monument to Survivors of Sexual Violence | Bitch Media:

Here’s why.

Our country knows how to publicly shame survivors. We don’t know how to publicly support them.

Read more of our reasons for campaigning to build a national monument to survivors of rape and abuse at Bitch!

Support FORCE's biggest project to date! END RAPE!

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:44:44 -0400

Yesterday, we launched a Kickstarter to fund The Monument Project:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/230742001/force-upsetting-rape-culture

The Monument Project is a call to create a national monument to survivors of rape and abuse. We believe in building a national monument because our country needs public and supportive spaces for survivors to heal. We believe a monument will symbolize that rape can and must end.

As an art and activist campaign, FORCE is installing temporary monuments to survivors of rape and abuse on the national mall as a call to create a permanent monument. Next summer, we plan to install a large-scale quilt containing stories from survivors. This quilt will be a GIANT Picnic Blanket that invites the public to sit, eat and talk. For one weekend, our picnic will occupy the mall, like the historic installations of the AIDS quilt. The installation will create a public and highly visible cultural space in which survivors’ stories are honored and respected instead of silenced and shamed. The picnic and conversations will create the public understanding that will make a permanent monument possible.

To create this picnic blanket, we need your support. Today, we launched a Kickstarter campaign, with which we are hoping to raise enough money to buy the materials needed to create a quilt of survivors’ stories. Please consider donating to the project and help make this historic demonstration possible.

To Donate click here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/230742001/force-upsetting-rape-culture

Because its Kickstarter, in addition to helping FORCE, you also get awesome prizes like temporary tattoos, consent-themed pillow cases, and even a creative consultation with the brainiacs behind the Victoria’s Secret Culture Jam! And don’t forget to tell your friends and spread the word! Sharing this email with friends and family or posting about it on facebook will also help us reach our goal!

FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture is an artistic and activist effort to upset the culture of rape and promote a counter-culture based on consent. We believe that a more difficult and honest conversation needs to happen in America to face the realities of sexual violence, and we envision a world where sex is empowering and pleasurable rather than coercive and violent. To promote this needed conversation, we create art actions to generate media attention and get millions of people talking. According to the Huffington Post, “Force is doing a good and creative job with a hard-to-digest topic, capturing the public imagination with their tactics.”

Thank you,

From the bottom of our consent-themed hearts,

FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture
upsettingrapeculture.com

Meet Us On the Street! Sunday, Dupont Circle, 2-4pm

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:31:05 -0400

FORCE will be participating in the kick off event for Meet Us On the Street, an international week of action to end street harassment, this Sunday, April 7 @ Dupont Circle from 2-4pm. There will be anti-street harassment sidewalk chalking! Join FORCE and participate in our new project, This Is Consent, and Rape Will End When….

And join in on all of the great events happening in DC next week! More info here below…

44 giant letters spell rape survivor’s poem and call for a...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:01:13 -0500

44 giant letters spell rape survivor’s poem and call for a national memorial. Tell us what you think at mourningandrage.com

I CAN’T FORGET WHAT HAPPENED BUT NO ONE ELSE REMEMBERS...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 07:38:27 -0500

I CAN’T FORGET WHAT HAPPENED BUT NO ONE ELSE REMEMBERS floats in the reflecting pool as call to create national memorial to survivors of rape and abuse. upsettingrapeculture.com mourningandrage.com

GIANT LETTERS FLOAT IN REFLECTION POOL TO SPELL CALL FOR NATIONAL MEMORIAL TO SURVIVORS OF RAPE AND ABUSE.

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 07:36:22 -0500

GIANT LETTERS FLOAT IN REFLECTION POOL TO SPELL CALL FOR NATIONAL MEMORIAL TO SURVIVORS OF RAPE AND ABUSE.

Giant styrofoam letters state “I CAN’T FORGET WHAT HAPPENED BUT NO ONE ELSE REMEMBERS” in the national reflecting pool. The poem, written by a survivor, highlights the isolating and silencing experience of rape in the United States. The action is a call to create a permanent memorial to survivors of rape and abuse.

FORCE, the group behind the action states, “We want to build a national memorial to survivors, because we want to live in a country that holds public and supportive space for survivors to heal. We want to build a national memorial to survivors because we want to live in a country that believes rape can and must end.”

The call to build the permanent memorial started on a warm February day with about 20 volunteers unloading enormous letters from a rented U-HAUL van. The red letters were strapped together to create a giant raft. After gathering for a photo on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the group pushed the poem into the reflecting pool among cheers, cameras, and a crowd of curious tourists.

“I’ve never seen anything like that floating in the reflecting pool and I’ve lived in or around DC my whole life,” said one observer. “So I was very drawn to it. It was a beautiful message and it was a haunting message.”

Two friends, visiting from Utica, NY, paused to look at the letters and talk to the people putting them together. “Its a topic that sometimes gets swept under the rug, so I think bringing it to terms, doing what you’re doing with making a memorial, helps bring awareness to rape and sexual abuse,” said one man. “Getting it out there and making sure that those people aren’t alone: everyone has a heart for that.”

His friend stated, “It shows that we can all come together and be one nation and do what we have to do to get everybody aware of what’s going on in the world.”

“The most compelling part for me was watching the tourists react,” said a volunteer down from Baltimore to help for the day. “All these people were taking photos. Families talked about it. This man on a rented bicycle stopped and asked questions. For about an hour and and a half, it was part of people’s regular visit to the mall. I could kind of see how such a thing would work. I think people would really respect it.”

Recently, rape has dominated the headlines. News stories have covered the Penn State trials, the off-color comments of politicians (see Todd Akin’s legitimate rape statement), a gang rape and ensuing protests in India, and the social-media documented rape and repeated sexual assault of a 16-year old girl in Steubenville, Ohio. It seems like a lot of people are talking about rape. Is our country and even the world ready for a more open conversation about what many consider to be a long-silenced topic?

“We are in a special cultural moment where rape is getting a lot of media attention,” says FORCE. “It is important that we use this attention to not just talk about rape, but end it. ”

The author of the poem “I CAN’T FORGET WHAT HAPPENED, BUT NO ONE ELSE REMEMBERS” says this about the need for a permanent memorial: “There are no safe places to talk about my experience. People look at me with pity, or they associate what happened to me with the choices I made, when I do tell my story. I know I am not alone in my inability to define my experiences and even now, I do not completely understand them. A lot of my healing process has been internal. A public memorial would create both a physical space and a psychological space that does not exist in our culture- one where survivors are not blamed or judged, but rather are honored and respected for their ability to survive and thrive through trauma and shame, where they do not need to learn to live with part of their identity hidden, and where their character is not judged by their assault.”

The floating poem is not the first stunt carried off by FORCE. They recently received international attention for their panty prank “PINK loves CONSENT”. “PINK loves CONSENT” was a fake website pretending to be Victoria’s Secret promoting the practice of consent to customers with underwear slogans stating “ASK FIRST” and “NO MEANS NO”. Before pretending to be Victoria’s Secret, FORCE also projected RAPE is RAPE unto the US Capitol Building. The group exists, as they put it, “to upset the culture of rape and promote a culture of consent.”

FORCE launched the campaign for a permanent memorial for rape survivors as part of an international day of protest- 1 Billion Rising- the 15th anniversary of V-Day. V-Day is a movement begun by Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler. This year, V-Day organized 1 billion people to dance in solidarity and symbolism for the 1 billion women worldwide that have been raped or beaten in their lifetime.

The organizers claim a national memorial to survivors of rape and abuse is needed in the United States because, “In a country where 30-45% of women and 13-16% of men experience sexual violence in their lifetime, most of them by the age of 18, rape is not just a national problem. Rape is an epidemic.”

Many of the rape statistics in the United States are alarming. American women are twice as likely to experience rape in their lifetime than breast cancer. An estimated 65 million Americans are living with a history of rape or sexual abuse. Meanwhile, rape remains one of the most under-reported crimes.

“The sad truth is that these statistics are old news,” says Rebecca Nagle, organizer of the project. “We are quoting the same statistics that were used in the 1970’s. Nothing has changed. We all know that rape is happening. We all agree that rape is wrong. So what the missing link? Why haven’t rape statistics change in 40 plus years?”

“Rape is treated like it is inevitable. Rape and sexual violence have not been treated in our culture like a cause for outrage, but rather as just the way things are. The missing link in ending rape is the basic belief that rape can end. A national public memorial would be a symbol for our country to ground the vision of a day without rape and carry it forward for future generations. If we don’t create a culture that believes rape can end, then without a doubt we will be quoting the same statistics in 2050. And by then three more generation of Americans will have experienced the same rates of violence and trauma.”

But on the national mall? Amidst the monuments and marble pillars that tell the best version of our nation’s history, wouldn’t a memorial to such a violent and personal tragedy feel out of place?

“I don’t think so,” said a tourist from North Carolina who walked by as the poem was being pulled out of the pool. “Not all of our history as a country is easy. And there is space for that here. Just look at the Vietnam War Memorial.”

Indeed, if you were to walk a mere 300 yards north of FORCE’s temporary memorial you would encounter a granite wall engraved with the names of the 58,272 Americans who lost their lives fighting in the Vietnam War. The politics of the Vietnam War left our country divided, creating a difficult home-coming for returning soldiers and a feeling of shame for families grieving lost loved ones. Without taking a side on the divisive politics of the War, the wall honors the dead. The creation of such a wall was organized by a group of veterans, who saw the need for a public symbol to honor their fallen friends. While Americans may still argue the rights and wrongs of the Vietnam War, our country now holds public space to honor and grieve the war’s American casualties. The wall receives daily visits from veterans, families and tourists learning perhaps a less glorified version of American history.

“Memorials create a platform for individuals and communities to grieve trauma,” says Hannah Brancato, FORCE organizer. “The existing memorials on the national mall are places to honor the heroes of our history, to grieve the losses of violence, and for society to remember. When our nation remembers difficult parts of our history, we are better able to prevent injustice and atrocities from repeating. This process has not happened with sexual violence.”

The connection between veterans and survivors of rape was made by author and psychologist Judith Herman in her work Trauma and Recovery. After explaining the healing effects of war memorials for veterans, Herman states, “The most common trauma of women remains confined to the sphere of private life, without formal recognition or restitution from the community. There is no public monument for rape survivors.”

FORCE says, “One of this first steps on the road to healing from sexual violence and PTSD is telling the story of what happened. As long as the telling of such stories is forbidden in our culture we are hindering the process for millions of survivors to heal.”

While the group is rallying for a physical memorial on the mall, they are building a virtual memorial on tumblr. At mourningandrage.com survivors and allies are posting their stories, their anger, and their support for a memorial. As one survivor stated on the tumblr, “We need a memorial so that survivors have at least one place to look where they can say, ‘This wasn’t my fault. I am not alone.’”

You can contribute to the online memorial by posting at mourningandrage.com or tweeting what you think about a permenant memorial with #mourningandrage.

Will FORCE’s effort to create a national memorial to survivors succeed? Building a national memorial requires congressional support, financial resources and the will of the American public. While carrying the 44 giant letters up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial was no small feet, gaining the congressional and public support needed for a permanent memorial is a much larger undertaking. “We’re in it for the long haul,” says FORCE. “Today was the first day of a long journey. We’re just getting started.”

Check out the action underway. The Big Surprise of where the...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:49:24 -0500

Check out the action underway. The Big Surprise of where the letters floated coming soon….

In Mourning and In Rage

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:47:12 -0500

We are gearing up for today’s big action at the National Mall’s Lincoln Memorial in DC at 2pm! If you can join us, please do.

As part of today’s #1billionrising FORCE is carrying 44 giant, red styrofoam letters to the national mall in DC to write the poem “I CAN’T FORGET WHAT HAPPENED BUT NO ONE ELSE REMEMBERS.” The action is a call to create a national memorial to survivors of rape and abuse. Stay tuned for pics and details by following the action on facebook and twitter.

#InMourning and #InRage tell the nation why we need a memorial.

Share your memories; share your rage

I Can't Forget What Happened

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 09:18:00 -0500

The most common trauma of women remains confined to the sphere of private life, without formal recognition or restitution from the community. There is no public monument for rape survivors.
-Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery

On VDay this February, FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture is creating a public memorial for survivors and victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse and rape. During V-DAY’s 1 Billion Rising event, FORCE will float the words I can’t forget what happened but no one else remembers on the reflecting pool of the national mall. The statement, written by a survivor, reflects the isolating and traumatic experience of living with sexual violence. The temporary testament is a public call to create a permanent national monument to honor survivors. If we continue to forget the reality of rape, abuse and assault in a country where 30-45% of women and 13-16% of men are affected, how will we ever prevent it? As a nation, we need to honor the survivors living with sexual violence today, so that, for future generations, this violence may stop.

On V-Day we are calling on local supporters to gather on the national mall at 3pm to celebrate the unveiling of “I can’t forget what happened” and to rally for a permanent monument. We are also looking for volunteers who can join our team starting at noon to put the poem together.

Starting now and until the day a monument is created, we are looking for organizations that want to join and support the effort through petitions, contacting congress, and fundraising. If you or your organization is interested in joining a coalition of feminists and anti-rape activists working to make this idea a reality please contact FORCE at upsettingrapeculture@gmail.com.

More about the need for a public memorial:
Memorials create a platform for individuals and communities to grieve trauma. When our country undergoes a traumatic event, like a natural disaster or a war, memorials serve as a focal point for people to understand violent and alienating experiences. The existing memorials on the national mall are places to honor the important people of our history, to grieve the losses of violence, and for society to remember. When our nation remembers difficult parts of our history, we are better able to prevent injustice and atrocities from repeating.

This important public process has not happened with sexual violence. The statistics anti-rape activists were quoting 40 years ago are still being used today. One in four women have been raped. By the time Americans are 18, one in three women and one in six men will have been sexually abused as children. Women in the US are twice as likely to experience rape in their lifetime than breast cancer.

In the midst of an epidemic of sexual violence, our country has no public space for survivors to heal. There is no public process for survivors to rebuild a connection to their community that has been devastated by the violence and violation of rape. There is little national recognition of the overwhelming epidemic of rape and the need for our country to find an end. A history remembered is less likely to be repeated. An epidemic recognized is less likely to continue. We need to honor survivors living with the memory of sexual violence today, so that this violence will not be repeated in future generations. We would like to see our temporary gesture honoring survivors become a permanent monument, testament and promise to future generations, that, as a country, we are committed to ending rape.

More about FORCE:
FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture is a creative activist effort to upset the culture of rape and promote a culture of consent. We believe that a more difficult and honest conversation needs to happen in America to face the realities of sexual violence, and we envision a world where sex is empowering and pleasurable rather than coercive and violent. As activists, we are here to force the issue.

FORCE is most widely known for their most recent actions “PINK loves CONSENT” and “RAPE is RAPE”. “PINK loves CONSENT” was a web-based prank that made consent go viral and sparked an internet revolution. FORCE pretended to be Victoria’s Secret promoting a new line of consent-themed, anti-rape panties. The action and internet aftermath got millions of people talking about consent, rape culture, and the sexual empowerment of women. On the eve of the last presidential debate, FORCE projected “RAPE IS RAPE” onto the US Capitol Building along with stories of survivors. The text tells the experience of survivors, which in a national conversation about the politics of rape, have eerily been left out.

You can follow FORCE’s efforts at upsettingrapeculture.com. FORCE can be contacted at upsettingrapeculture@gmail.com.

Where to next?

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:24:26 -0500

First consent was all over the internet
then, consent was all over VS panty racks…

Where should consent go next??
Condom wrappers? Campus policies? Sex education? The cover of Cosmo Magazine….

YOU tell us. Send us your thoughts and pics to keep the CONSENT REVOLUTION spreading like wild fire! Reply here or at upsettingrapeculture@gmail.com. We’ll reblog your awesome thoughts

Thank you from the bottom of our consent-themed hearts

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:15:17 -0500

SHOUT OUT!
We would like to recognize all the lovely people that made the Love Consent campaign possible:

Web design by Dan Staples
Photography by Phillip Laubner
Sex Advice by Jacq Jones from Sugar the Sex Shop
Social Media Strategies by Sarah Lock
Targeted Tweeting by Casey McKeel
Hair by Darian
Make up by Michelle Faulkner

And the fiercely gorgeous faces of PINK loves CONSENT are:
Brittney-Elizabeth Williams
Ahleah Gavin
Jay Guiher
Jessica Long

AND we could NOT have done it without our amazing Feminist Facebook army who made PINK loves CONSENT go viral!! You know who you are ;) and also know that we love you!

heart, FORCE

More news on Operation Panty Drop, hitting Victoria's Secret stores this holiday season

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:26:50 -0500

More news on Operation Panty Drop, hitting Victoria's Secret stores this holiday season

National Consent Enthusiasts Leave A Panty Trail...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 10:35:00 -0500

…and the CONSENT REVOLUTION has just begun

What’s this?? An “Ask First” thong on Victoria’s Secret’s display rack? Did Victoria’s Secret get the message, join the revolution and start making consent-themed panties?

This “Ask First” thong showed up in this Victoria’s Secret in Miami

“Nope,” says FORCE, “It’s us.” Over the weekend international consent-enthusiasts teamed up with FORCE to deploy “operation panty drop” in over a dozen stores in North America and Europe.

It all started last Monday, when FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture borrowed the company’s trademark image to promote the satirical website pinklovesconsent.com. The site spoofs Victoria’s Secret “PINK” (an official line marketed at college and highschool students) as a way to promote consent and fight rape. Consent is a verbal agreement about how and when people are comfortable having sex. The fake site sports panties reading consent slogans, such as “Ask First” or “No means No.” On the “Then and Now” page, the parody says “Then we loves styles that were all about rape culture. Now we love styles that are all about consent. Catch changes hitting stores this holiday season!”

The organizers of PINK loves CONSENT believe the idea of consent should be as mainstream and common as wearing a condom. Just like pausing to put on a condom prevents STD’s, pausing to check in with your partner prevents unwanted sexual experiences. They say, “We need to create a culture where the sexual empowerment of women is more pervasive than the sexual violation. We want to see the practice of consent show up in the bedroom just as much as ‘V-string’ thongs.”

The panty prank got an overwhelmingly positive response. In two days, this site had over 200,000 hits. The stunt was written up in the Huffington Post, Jezebel, The Daily Beast and BUST to name a few. EVERYONE was talking about it on social media. High school and college aged students blogged and reblogged the story like crazy. International consent enthusiasts tweeted positive declarations about why they #loveconsent. On facebook, VS customers were wishing the consent campaign was real. And during the broadcast of the annual Fashion Show the #victoriassecret hashtag was successfully hi-jacked to promote #loveconsent more than the #vsfashionshow.

Where did this outpouring for consent come from?

FORCE says, “The flash attention the project got didn’t come from us. It came from somewhere deeper and more important. People agree that sexual violence is unacceptable and are starting to wake up to how pervasive it actually is. People are also starting to imagine a new world- a world without rape, where the sexual empowerment of women is more pervasive than sexual violation- where good communication replaces coercion and silence.”

With all of its humor, PINK loves CONSENT is a serious glimpse of that imagined world. The project opened up a way for people to express their desire and need for change. As one headline read, “Victoria’s Secret does not heart consent, but they should.”

After a week of viral internet action, consent has now gone analog. Not only has consent popped up in unexpected place on the internet, such as Victoria’s Secret’s twitter feeds and teenage fashion blogs, but consent is now showing up in the material world, namely in Victoria’s Secret stores.

“We wanted customers who hadn’t heard about PINK loves CONSENT on the internet to stumble upon it in stores. Last week, Victoria’s Secret had shut down pinklovesconsent.com and @loveconsent [both the website and twitter handle are back up after the group fought the take down] and we realized we need another method to spread the good news of consent. So, we cashed in our “Secret Rewards” card, printed up some con-sexy undies and shipped them out to supporters nationwide. We want the important message of consent to continue to reach a broader and broader audience.”

When one shopper found them in the store in Miami, FL, she said, “When I picked up this pair of underwear, it was fun because I knew that they had been planted in the store, because I knew about pinklovesconsent.com. I didn’t buy them, though- figured another shopper would appreciate the message and might join the consent revolution!”

Another shopper in Philadelphia, PA said she purchased a pair with the Ask First slogan, “…because if I am wearing sexy underwear, that doesn’t mean I am asking for anything. Ask me first!” She was not aware of PINK loves Consent prior to the purchase.

Lots of fans of the PINK loves CONSENT campaign are asking “Where do I buy these?” As one Jezebel journalist commented “My only complaint is that you can’t actually buy anything off the site, because now I kind of want some underwear that says “respect” on the crotch.” FORCE, the group behind the prank, is not able to sell the underwear because they would probably get sued.

“At this point, we can argue that the PINK Loves Consent project is protected under fair use, because we are spoofing the Victoria’s Secret brand to educate people about consent and to critique the company. They have already taken legal action to try and block our website. If we were also using their brand to sell underwear, we would probably be in court right now. There never was a plan to sell consent themed panties, just to create a consent revolution!”

Images from the “Panty Drop”

Before bemoaning that you missed the panty drop or that you can’t buy these undies online, check out FORCE’s guide: “Do It Yourself Consent Panties: Sharing Consent in the Material World.” The guide is a complete set of instructions on how to make-your-own consent inspired undies. For the experienced printer, there are images to shoot silk screens. And for the rest of us, there are instructions for using iron-ons or stencils. You can find the instructions of FORCE’s tumblr page or at the perma link upsettingrapeculture.com/diy.

“We can’t sell these but we would love for all the people who really, really, really want them to have them. Happy DIY-ing!”, says FORCE.

The other analog action the group is taking these days is a “PINK loves CONSENT Pocket Companion”. The guide provides readers with information about consent and how to practice it at home. You can view or download the guide at upsettingrapeculture.com/pocket .

“The pocket guide is a great way to keep spreading the good news of consent. And, it makes for excellent bedtime reading (wink, wink!). If you wished you had been in on the panty drop, we are sorry to say that we are out of undies. But, you can download the pocket guide, print it out and leave it wherever you see fit: your dorm room; your bed side table; the dining hall; even the pocket of some corporate lingerie store’s hoody. We think loving consent is the best way to add bling to this year’s holiday styles!”

Where will consent end up next? “Hopefully everywhere!” says FORCE. “We would love to see consent in sex education, college campus policies, anti-rape laws and on the cover of Cosmo Magazine. We live to see the day where sex-advice promotes good communication rather than ‘7 Ways to Tell What He’s Really Thinking.’ We live to see the day where communication and empowerment replace violence, coercion and silence.”

While the Victoria’s Secret parody was an excellent platform to spread the message of consent, you don’t need a pair of printed underwear to tell someone to “ask first”. Consent is more than a style. Consent is more than a product. Consent is a practice.

“While watching consent spread like wildfire on the internet is AWESOME, what we really need is for consent to take root in the bedroom. The best way for the consent revolution to take root is for us to all practice what we ‘tweet’ and practice consent.”

—

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FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture

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Do It Yourself CONSENT PANTIES: Sharing Consent in the Material World

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 09:08:49 -0500

Many of you were disappointed to find out that neither Victoria’s Secret or FORCE was actually making the consent underwear.

But, fear not! You can make your own by using our designs and a few easy steps. In the spirit of DIY, feel free to make as many pairs as you like, for yourself, for gifts, for panty drops, for anything.

There are a few ways to make your own panties using these consent designs. The easiest way is to use iron-on transfers. To do that, print your favorite consent slogan onto transfer paper, cut out the image, then iron onto your undies. You can buy iron-on transfers at most office supply stores, and each brand has its own particular instructions- so make sure you read them!

For instructions about making stencils and screen-printing, download our PDF here:

upsettingrapeculture.com/diy

Here are some of the designs, also available in the PDF:

The Consent Revolution Marches On: pinklovesconsent.com back up after Victoria's Secret tries to take it down

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:42:17 -0500

The Consent Revolution Marches On: pinklovesconsent.com back up after Victoria's Secret tries to take it down

Correction: Victoria’s Secret HATES consent Lingerie giant uses legal threats to take down pinklovesconsent.com

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 03:53:34 -0500

Correction: Victoria’s Secret HATES consent
Lingerie giant uses legal threats to take down pinklovesconsent.com

On Thursday, December 4, the hosting company for pinklovesconsent.com was contacted by lawyers from Victoria’s Secret’s and forced to take down the site. Victoria’s Secret complained that their trademark was being used to “confuse customers”. When initially contacted on Monday about pinklovesconsent.com an official Victoria’s Secret spokesperson with Limited Brands stated, “This is not an official PINK campaign. We are looking into it.” The company did more than “look into it”: they got lawyers. By sending legal threats, the corporate giant has shut down pinklovesconsent.com and is preventing hundreds of thousands of people getting information about consent. FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, the team behind PINK loves CONSENT, is fighting the ban. You can join them by signing this online petition.

PINK loves CONSENT is a campaign that parodied the Victoria’s Secret brand to make consent go viral. Consent is a verbal agreement about how and when people are comfortable having sex. The organizers of PINK loves CONSENT believe the idea of consent should be as mainstream and common as wearing a condom. Just like pausing to put on a condom prevents STD’s, pausing to check in with your partner prevents unwanted sexual experiences. They say, “We need to create a culture where the sexual empowerment of women is more pervasive than the sexual violation. We want to see the practice of consent show up in the bedroom just as much as ‘V-string’ thongs.”

So, how did these “confused customers” (as Victoria’s Secret called them) respond to PINK loves CONSENT? While customers were disappointed to learn that Victoria’s Secret is not behind the PINK loves CONSENT campaign, people quickly understood the parody and more importantly got the message. The campaign got an overwhelmingly positive response. In two days, this site had over 200,000 hits. The stunt was written up in the Huffington Post, Jezebel, New York Magazine, and BUST to name a few. EVERY ONE was talking about it on social media. High school and college aged students blogged and reblogged the story like crazy. International consent enthusiasts tweeted positive declarations about why they #loveconsent. On facebook, VS customers were wishing the consent campaign was real. And during the broadcast of the annual Fashion Show the #victoriassecret hashtag was successfully hi-jacked to promote #loveconsent more than the #vsfashionshow.

More importantly, people were having a NATIONAL and OPEN conversation about consent, female sexual empowerment, and creating a world without rape.

FORCE says, “The outpouring of support for Love Consent on facebook, twitter and tumblr wasn’t from “confused customers”. It was mostly from a lot of young women, like us, who know and are saying exactly what we want. We want a company and a culture that promotes health, safety, pleasure and real love for our bodies. We want to live in a world where sexual pleasure and empowerment displaces sexual violence and coercion. And we want to see the end of rape. If Victoria’s Secret does not get this message, perhaps they are the ones that are ‘confused’.”

Just as this national consent conversation was getting started, it was interrupted when Victoria’s Secret got cranky, got a lawyer and sent FORCE this message:
“The registrants are using the VICTORIA’S SECRET, PINK and Heart Logo Design all without permission, to create confusion and to promote the non-authorized, non-associated site Pinklovesconsent.com.”

Before pinklovesconsent.com was shut down by Victoria’s Secret, the consent campaign’s main twitter handle @loveconsent was also banned. The account is still suspended and its tweets have disappeared from the twitter feeds including #loveconsent and #victoriassecret. Twitter was contacted Tuesday night by FORCE about the suspension and, after two days, has yet to reply. Organizers aren’t sure why their account is suspended, “We were using @loveconsent to promote consent during the fashion show, and it was working. The handle was getting a lot of retweets and top tweets for the #victoriassecret hashtag. Perhaps it worked too well and Victoria’s Secret complained. We understand that its tricky territory because at first, we were pretending to be Victoria’s Secret. But since Monday, we have publicly declared that we are a parody. We believe that our message is important and that social media can be a tool for social change. We want to continue to use it to make the concept of consent go viral. Blocking our account is unnecessary and hindering this important conversation about consent.”

By shutting down pinklovesconsent.com, Victoria’s Secret is shutting down an important outlet for information about healthy sex. The thousands of people visiting the site hourly were not only seeing anti-rape panties but reading about how to practice consent. The site included information on check-ins, negotiating boundaries and “the sexy benefits of communication.” On the “Let’s Talk About Sex” advice column, users were invited to submit questions about sex. Force is worried, “We now have a pile of questions from people that need answers, and we have no place to answer them. In a culture where sexual violence is pervasive and sex education is not, people need resources. Women deserve to have information about how to enjoy sex in and for their bodies. Survivors deserve support. This website was a resource for a lot of people. We are sad to see it taken away from them.”

So what does the law have to say about all this? It is common knowledge that pinklovesconsent.com does NOT infringe on any copyright or trademark. Because the site is a parody and does not sell any underwear it is protected under fair use and free speech. According to the law, you are allowed to use a corporation’s trademark to criticize, parody or otherwise talk about the corporation. What you are clearly not allowed to do, under the law, is to sell a similar product. Since pinklovesconsent.com does not sell anything, the site is not in violation. For example, you can use the McDonald’s logo to talk about McDonald’s, but you can not use the McDonald’s logo to sell hamburgers.

Similar parody sites, like the Yes Men’s now famous GATT.ORG (pretending to be the World Trade Organization), have been protected and maintained for well over a decade. Victoria’s Secret has no legal ground for their claim. They have well-paid-enough lawyers to know that they have no legal ground. They also have well-paid-enough lawyers to create a pile of false copyright complaints that could possibly keep pinklovesconsent.com banned for some time to come and hinder the national conversation about consent that errupted from the inititial panty prank. FORCE, the group behind pinklovesconsent.com, has no lawyers. But they are fighting the ban.

Here is what you can do to help:

FORCE says “Don’t let Victoria’s Secret kill this important conversation. Tell them to use their power for good and keep the Consent Revolution alive!

Please sign our online petition. https://www.change.org/petitions/victoria-s-secret-pink-stop-fighting-the-consent-revolution

You can also use this form to demand that Victoria’s Secret allow the site to be re-instated. Just copy, paste, and email to their customer service department: http://www.victoriassecret.com/CustomerService/QuickHelp/ContactUs/CommentsQuestionsorSuggestions

Dear Victoria’s Secret,

FORCE created a website that started a desperately needed national conversation about consent. The site promoted what we really need: health, safety, pleasure and real love for our bodies. We know it makes you cranky, but they haven’t broken any laws and are not selling anything on the site. Their website is legal under fair use and parody laws (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html).

We know that it is legal. You know that it is legal. We know that you know that it is legal. We also that you have enough money, power, and lawyers to shut down the Love Consent campaign, even if its just temporarily. Use your power for good. Don’t fight pinklovesconsent.com. Join us in the consent revolution!

Victoria's Secret shuts down PINKlovesconsent.com

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 23:20:46 -0500

VIctoria’s Secret’s lawyers force the removal of pinklovesconsent.com

Today the hosting company for pinklovesconsent.com (the campaign that parrodied Victoria’s Secret to raise awareness about consent) was contacted by Victoria’s Secret’s lawyers and forced to take down the site. Victoria’s Secret complained that their trademark was being used to “confuse customers”. FORCE, the team behind PINK loves CONSENT, is fighting the ban. Stay tuned to find out how you can join the fight and keep the CONSENT revolution alive!

#victoriassecret tweets #loveconsent more than #vsfashionshow

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:22:14 -0500

Consent goes viral via Victoria Secret’s Fashion Show

An interesting trend cropped up on twitter last night during the annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show and it wasn’t about Justin Bieber or angel wings.

During the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (which garners 10 million viewers and is the mega-company’s biggest promotional event) one would think most people tweeting about #victoriassecret would be tweeting about the #vsfashionshow. Not so!

Last night feminist and anti-rape activists were joined by young women, VS customers and consent enthusiasts from across the country to hi-jack Goliath’s social media outlet. And it worked. During the broadcast the #1 related hashtag to #victoriassecret wasn’t the #vsfashionshow, it was #loveconsent.

It all started on Monday, when FORCE borrowed the company’s trademark image to promote the fake site pinklovesconsent.com. The site pretends to be a Victoria’s Secret “PINK” (an official line marketed at college and highschool students) campaign to promote consent and fight rape. Consent is a verbal agreement about how and when people are comfortable having sex. The fake site sports new panties reading consent slogans, “Ask First” or “No means No”. PINK loves CONSENT, posing as Victoria’s Secret, also promises to change its ways. On the “Then and Now” page the parody says “Then we loves styles that were all about rape culture. Now we love styles that are all about consent. Catch changes hitting stores this holiday season!”

Monday and Tuesday PINKlovesCONSENT.com went VIRAL! In the first 24 hours the site had over 200,000 hits. The stunt was written up in the Huffington Post, Jezebel, New York Magazine, and BUST to name a few. And EVERYONE was talking about it on social media. High school and college aged students blogged and reblogged the story like crazy. Twitter users were loving Victoria’s Secret’s new look. On facebook VS customers were wishing that it was real. One tumblr post got reblogged 20,000 times.

After revealing early Tuesday morning that pinklovesconsent.com came from a living room not a board room, organizers asked supporters to, “Tell #victoriassecret why you #loveconsent” during the fashion show broadcast.

“We want people to learn about consent,” FORCE says. “We need to create a culture where the sexual empowerment of women is more pervasive than the sexual violation. We want to see the practice of consent show up in the bedroom just as much as ‘V-string’ thongs.”

So what are people telling #victoriassecret about why they #loveconsent?
They were saying a lot. Here are some of our favorites:

“I #loveconsent b’cos empowerment is the sexiest thing a woman can wear! #victoriassecret #vsfashionshow “

“#VSFashionShow @VictoriasSecret I #loveconsent because college should be a safe place for everyone. http://pinklovesconsent.com “

“Preach. RT “@LoveConsent: I #loveconsent because feeling good sex is better than looking like good sex #victoriassecret #vsfashionshow”

I love consent because I’m a bossypants. Or should I say a bossyunderpants. #loveconsent #victoriassecret #vsfashionshow

I started wanting to wear #VictoriasSecret to be “sexy” before I had even kissed anyone. I could have used a #LoveConsent line of panties

As one of the endless number of women who’s experienced sexual assault, I can’t say how inspiring #loveconsent is. Thanks@victoriassecret

@VictoriasSecret I’d much rather wear panties that say “Ask First” instead of “Unwrap Me.” I am not a new iPhone. #loveconsent

I #loveconsent because consent feels good. Push up bras do not. @victoriassecret #victoriassecret

Tuesday night, all of the #loveconsent tweets rolling in were a chorus of people professing their love for women’s bodies, sex, healthy relationships, empowerment and a day when rape is not the norm in American culture.

The #victoriassecret tweets had a slightly different feeling. An overwhelming amount of the tweets were about how women should or do feel insecure when watching the Angels strut down the catwalk.

“When someone tells a fat girl she could be a #victoriassecret model. It’s so hard not to laugh

Sexiest, hottest, most depressing hour of my life. #victoriassecret #vsfashionshow

If anyone needs me i’ll be doing sit ups and lunges for the rest of my life :( #vsfashionshow

If you listen really carefully… you can hear the sound of millions of girls puking. #vsfashionshow

The #loveconsent crowd felt sad seeing these tweets! And they tweeted back words of encouragement about self love and body love! “LOVE what you see when you look in the mirror. EVERY body is beautiful. #VSFashionShow #LoveConsent http://PinkLovesConsent.com,” tweeted Brittney-Elizabeth, a model for the paradoy campagin PINK loves CONSENT.

Others chimed in saying, “don’t hate yourself! love your body and #loveconsent #consentissexy #victoriassecret #VSfashionshow” and “Seeing tweets from women who feel less attractive thanks to the #VSFashionShow makes me so sad :( You are all beautiful! #LoveConsent”.

The slew of tweets coming from #victoriassecret about how women should and do feel insecure about their bodies are not surprising. Its normal for people to say insensitive things on the internet. It is normal for women to talk about how they need to diet. It is normal for women to feel like their bodies are inadequate or ugly when compared with the picture-perfect images of supermodels.

But what if it wasn’t normal? What if we worshiped all body types?

(PINK loves CONSENT’s I love my Body and Victoria’s Secret’s I Love My Body)

What if the “Love what you see in the mirror” message came from the poster girl for Victoria’s Secret, Miranda Kerr, instead of the poster girl for PINK loves CONSENT? What if women professed self love instead of self hate while watching the annual VS runway show? What if the dominant culture in America was as empowering and inspiring as culture of #loveconsent?

FORCE says, “I think the reason Pink loves Consent went so viral is because we want it so bad. The fake version of Victoria’s Secret is too good to be true. But, what a better world to live in! As a young woman in this country, I can’t imagine waking up to a major American corporation taking a stand against rape and professing the sexal empowerment of women. Our country needs a different broadcast, a different message, a different image. We need a culture that promotes health, safety, pleasure and real love for our bodies.”

Hopefully, “the powers that be” will notice the trend, read the love consent fan mail, feel the groundswell, and catch the virus.

As one tweet-er put it:
“@VictoriasSecret Make #loveconsent a real thing. Join the revolution!!”

______
During the fashion show the main twitter handle for the consent campaign @loveconsent was suspended. The account is still blocked and its tweets have disappeared from the twitter feeds including #loveconsent and #victoriassecret. Additionally a link at pinklovesconsent.com to let visiters tweet “Dear #victoriassecret I #loveconsent because” was blocked for most of the fashion show. Twitter was contacted Tuesday night by FORCE about the suspension and has yet to reply. Organizers aren’t sure why their account is suspended, “The @loveconsent handle was getting a lot of retweets and top tweets for the #victoriassecret hashtag. Maybe they complained. We’ve also heard from people that you can’t search for the page on facebook, that you can only get to it with a direct link (facebook.com/heartconsent). We understand that its tricky territory because at first, we were pretending to be Victoria’s Secret. But now the cat is out of the bag. On all our accounts we have tweeted and posted that we are a parody. We believe that social media can be a tool for social change. We want to continue to use it to make the concept of consent go viral. Blocking our account is hindering this necessary campaign.”

Despite the blocks, suspensions, missing tweets and empty searches, #loveconsent has gone viral. The internet is awash with positive feedback and support for PINK loves CONSENT. Perhaps the Consent revolution has begun. Even if it started with a parody and underwear.