This composite image of several ads from a campaign by Men Can Stop Rape has been going around Tumblr lately. On the one hand, I'm an enthusiastic supporter of anti-rape ads like these, which are targeted specifically at men (for another example, see here). On the other, a couple of things about them bothered me. The tones of "cookies for basic human decency", for one. As X put it:
Woman: "Thank you for not raping me! *swoon*"
Dude: Oh yeah, I'm awesome for not raping you
I also have a more generalized discomfort towards the idea of rebranding masculine strength as a tactic. I know it's about expediency, but my knowledge of the history of men's movements makes me nervous about these kinds of attempts, which seem to risk reinforcing gender differences (men = strong, women not) rather than really questioning or deconstructing them.
That said, I do really like these posters and want to see more like them.
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