A five-piece street punk band in St. Catharines, ON have caused quite a stir with women's rights activists due to their band name: Sexual Assault. To make matters worse, a recent flyer for the group showed a woman with her legs spread open, and the band's name sprawled across her nether regions.
As Punknews reports, the Feminist Action Collective has started a campaign to have the posters removed, and to eventually get the band to change their name. In an interview with the Welland Tribune, the FAC's Julia Kerr said, "I was really appalled by the imagery that was used, as well as that youth in our community think calling a band Sexual Assault is appropriate."
According to Sexual Assault-er Alex Andrews, "There's been bands for 30 years now who have had offensive names. I think the idea of punk is to try and break the taboos, right? To be out there and offensive, so to speak. That's the whole image of punk."
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this story is the fact that anyone took this band seriously to begin with. A quick perusal of their MySpace page shows what we're dealing with: a guy chugging beer from a Doc Marten boot, a photo album called "gaylords" with two members pretending to kiss and a song played by adults called "Emo Sucks." It's not exactly a portrait of progressive human thought.
As Punknews reports, the Feminist Action Collective has started a campaign to have the posters removed, and to eventually get the band to change their name. In an interview with the Welland Tribune, the FAC's Julia Kerr said, "I was really appalled by the imagery that was used, as well as that youth in our community think calling a band Sexual Assault is appropriate."
According to Sexual Assault-er Alex Andrews, "There's been bands for 30 years now who have had offensive names. I think the idea of punk is to try and break the taboos, right? To be out there and offensive, so to speak. That's the whole image of punk."
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this story is the fact that anyone took this band seriously to begin with. A quick perusal of their MySpace page shows what we're dealing with: a guy chugging beer from a Doc Marten boot, a photo album called "gaylords" with two members pretending to kiss and a song played by adults called "Emo Sucks." It's not exactly a portrait of progressive human thought.
