Usher‘s “Silence is consent” message was completely lost in translation because many of his fans felt the phrase perpetuates rape culture.
In a post on his Instagram page, the R&B superstar wrote:
Not using your voice to help impact change is criminal. Every single one of us can DO SOMETHING!!! share information, get to know someone from another culture, vote or volunteer #SilenceIsConsent
While the message is great, many of his fans took issue with the phrase.
One fan wrote, “You need to rephrase this @usher. “To stay silent is to condone” or something, instead. What you have on now is way too closely tied to rape culture and your point is being lost.”
Another fan explained, “I understand the message you’re trying to send with this shirt but it could be problematic because some might not know the meaning behind it. First glance it looks like its perpetrating rape culture. I know that’s not the intention but you might want to think about that.”
One fan simply wrote, “Bad choice of words.”
What are your thoughts on this?
