Several ads for men's tank tops remain on Amazon's Canadian website, despite an Ad Standards Council ruling that the phrase used to describe them — "wife beater" — is offensive, trivializes domestic violence and violates Canada's advertising code.
The slang term refers to a certain style of tight-fitting tank tops introduced in the 1930s as a men's undershirt. The shirt entered into popular culture in 1951, when Marlon Brando wore one while playing the hard-edged, violent Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Amazon's continued acceptance of the slang term and Canada's inability to force the retailer to remove it have angered some women's rights advocates.
"We should be aiming to live in a culture that respects women," said Harmy Mendoza, executive director of WomanACT, an advocacy group that works to end intimate partner violence. "Wife beater is a term that offends, [and] insults not only women but survivors."
American actor Marlon Brando plays Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire.
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