[trigger warning: discusses violence against women]
At the NRA's annual convention in Houston, a company called Zombie Industries offered a selection of "Life-sized tactical mannequins," shooting targets that bleed when shot (yes, you read that right). But what makes this news particularly gruesome is that among the selection is an "Ex girlfriend" target. It was initially listed as simply "The Ex," but has been renamed "Alexa." In addition there there is a "Terrorist"/"Taliban" dummy which is disgustingly racist, as well as the "Rocky" target dummy which was pulled from the selection for looking too much like President Obama.
Violence against women is a very prevalent issue in the United States. The Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA) website states that, "Domestic violence is a gender-based crime with women being more likely to experience domestic violence than men. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS) about 1.5 million women are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually. [...] Women also report suffering more severe physical violence than men." The page goes on to say that, "In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by an intimate partner, while 440 men were killed by an intimate partner." Knowing that violence against women is such a serious problem, it baffles me why Zombie Industries and the NRA thought it would be in good taste to promote shooting an "Ex Girlfriend."
If it was about inclusivity as they claim, why wouldn't they put an Ex Boyfriend, and why wouldn't they put a female soldier or just a regular female zombie? The company website stated that, "In addition to the Ex Girlfriend Zombie, we currently sell 15 male zombies, 5 animal zombies & 2 aliens… to discriminate against Women by not having them represented in our product selection would be just plain sexist."
This is so disturbing! You're right, this is in extremely poor taste. I'm not sure who would think this is acceptable, but it absolutely is not.
ReplyDeleteSuch products just encourage violence and create a careless attitude towards the power and potential danger of guns.
ReplyDelete