Language Matters: Why Amazon Must Remove "Wife Beater" From its Product Descriptions
TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2025 /CNW/ - Every word we use carries meaning. Language reflects culture, shapes attitudes, and it can either reinforce or dismantle the norms that allow intimate partner violence (IPV) to persist. That is why WomanACT has launched a petition calling on Amazon to remove the term "wife beater" from its product descriptions of men's under-shirts.
It is tempting to dismiss this as "commonly understood," "harmless slang" or "just a joke." But language that makes violence a punchline normalizes and trivializes it. Words reveal what – or whom – we value. When violence against women is embedded in everyday speech, it signals indifference to their safety and lives.
The reality is stark: in Canada, on average, a woman is killed by her intimate partner every six days. 45% of Canadian teens report experiencing dating violence. IPV is woven into the fabric of our society, sustained not only by actions but also by the language and humour that desensitize us to abuse.
Research has found that exposure to these kinds of sexist "jokes" can embolden men to perpetrate violence and desensitizes us to the severity of abuse. When violence is used as humour or indifference for marketing it normalizes abuse and undermines efforts to end IPV.
Survivors tell us that encountering this type of language is painful. Each time "wife beater" appears in a product listing, it tells survivors their trauma is trivial-- and even marketable. Companies should not profit from language that perpetuates violence.
Amazon's policies already prohibit hate speech and derogatory content. Yet, "wife beater" remains. Amazon has the technology and capacity to remove the term. The question is whether it has the will.
The Canadian government has made commitments through the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. If these commitments are to mean anything, they must extend to the spaces – on and offline – where people live out their daily lives.
We are urging Amazon to act responsibly and remove this term. And we are calling on government to hold corporations accountable for the words they use. The fight against IPV is too urgent--and the cost to women, families, and communities too high--to allow harmful language to continue unchecked.
Language matters. It has the power to reinforce harm, or to help dismantle it. The choice lies with Amazon--and with all of us.
SOURCE WomanACT
Media Contact: Harmy Mendoza, Executive Director, WomanACT , [email protected]
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