Here’s Why This Sexist, Misogynistic Game Of Thrones T-Shirt Is Just Plain Wrong

It will come as a surprise to no one that Game of Thrones has a tendency to be, well, a little sexist – and its non-stop misogyny has been called out more than once. It may come as a little comfort that the books are marginally less laced with gender-based violence than the show, but the biggest comfort of all is this: it’s not real. Westeros and its kingdoms are figments of George RR Martin’s imagination, and the dastardly goings-on in the show are exaggerated and embellished for TV’s sake.

That being said, gender-based violence is a very real, traumatic and horrific thing – in 2013, domestic violence helplines answered one call every 12 minutes, according to statistics from Safe Ireland. Which is why this this Game Of Thrones-themed tee, for sale on eBay made us do a double take.

Look, we get it: it’s fun to wear quotes from your favourite TV show on your T-shirt. (When you’re 14.) But of all of the quotes from GoT, would this really be top of your list? Wouldn’t you go for our fave Jon Snow-related, “You know nothing?” Or what about a Khaleesi-themed “Fire cannot kill a dragon?” You could even go for a bit of ominous Stark legend: “Winter is coming.”

The listing has been removed – presumably because of online outrage – but we’d be curious to know if anyone actually bought this T-shirt. What kind of man would go parade this “murdering women is funny” type garb around? Or are we over-reacting? Is it all just pop culture-related LOLZ?

Tags:

• domestic violence
• Game of Thrones
• misogyny
• Safe Ireland
• sexism

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