Clothing brand Kain Pepe is defending its sexually explicit name, and boy, no one is buying the explanation.
Over the weekend, the brand earned the ire of a feminist group which said its name objectified women. For those not fluent in Filipino, kain means “to eat” while pepe means vagina.
Kain Pepe, therefore, sounds like a call to perform cunnilingus. While sex-positive people may think there’s nothing wrong with that so long as consent is involved, others may deem it offensive. At least that’s the position of the Gabriela Women’s Party, which said the company reduces “women to mere objects of sexual desire.”
“Women are not objects of pleasure and satisfaction,” it said. “This shameless advertising and display of merchandise that degrade, objectify and hypersexualize young girls contribute to gender stereotypes that trivialize violence against women and children.”
Gabriela also offered to provide gender sensitivity training to the owners of the brand “to heighten their awareness of gender concerns and be willing to respond to gender issues.”
But the offensive clothing brand said there’s nothing wrong with its name, despite the blatant sexual message. In fact, it said rather cheekily, it’s all about the health of young people. In a now-deleted statement published online, Kain Pepe said the real reason for choosing the name was wanting young people to “EAT PROPERLY” (Yes, in all caps).
“It was named that way so it would catch people’s attention easily. Most teenagers nowadays lack proper nutrition because of gadgets and social media which causes them sometimes to miss a meal. Through the shirts, they are at least reminded to also pay attention to their nutrition,” they said.
“That’s what we really want to convey. Objectifying woman (sic) is definitely not the intention,” it added.
THE KAIN PEPE BRAND aims to encourage teenager’s to eat properly
yow wtf is this?? Whattaa lame excuse bruhCTTO pic.twitter.com/7ekB7d7Yrz
— AHSHELEY (@ENORMOUSKNIGHT) January 24, 2020
As expected, netizens were aghast at the excuse, with Twitter user @Enormousknight saying, “[L]ame excuse bruh.”
Do you think the brand should change its name? Tell us by leaving a comment below or tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
Read more Coconuts Manila articles here.
Reader Interactions