Etsy “Halloween” costume .Grim. Warning , graphic and gruesome.

[SirVixofVixHall]

I was browsing Etsy for Halloween things with dd, 11. Up popped this. I quickly scrolled on and made light of it as she was shocked, but bloody hell how is this acceptable on a mainstream site ? The picture of the man wearing it is particularly horrible.
I’m complaining, am I over reacting ? I found it pretty disturbing and upsetting. www.etsy.com/uk/listing/293740761/replica-skinned-breast-vest-human

It's utterly vile. Really shocking. Is there any way of complaining?

You are not overreacting. Although it can be reported it doesnt seem to break Etsys rules about listings.

Uncomfortable not pleasant. But to be honest a lot of Halloween stuff upsets me. And I cant go near London Dungeon for example. And I complained to Madame Tussauds re the dead bodies lying under their ride at Baker Street and they told me where to go! So I dont think I am the typical Ms Public

At the bottom of the page theres a report link.

I am not at all squeamish, but when this has been actually done to women, and looks fetishistic rather than cartoony gruesome, then I feel it crosses a line. We were looking at things like crochet pumpkins, then up popped this...

I actually know the maker of this item. He's a special effects/ prosthetics artist.

This is a replica of the vest Ed Gein made out of one if his victims. Gein used to wear it (and human skin leggings) and dance in the moonlight outside his home, beating a drum made from human skin with a human jawbone. He was the inspiration behind some of the most famous fictional serial killers. Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs were all based on aspects of Gein.

Given his nocturnal habits, I wonder if he'd fall under Stonewall's huge umbrella these days?

People have complained about this item before, it has been taken down but Etsy have reinstated it, mainly because the artist has pointed out hundreds of T shirts and other items on Etsy glorifying serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer being sold on their platform.

In the interests of balance, he also sells replica rotten severed penises which are quite popular around this time of year.

There's a lot of creepy stuff around for Halloween. I'm more bothered by the misogynist badges, stickers etc. Try putting "T**F" (banned term) in the etsy search bar. Lots of stuff like this
www.etsy.com/uk/listing/615275167/anti-terf-sticker?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=terf&ref=sr_gallery-1-22&organic_search_click=1

Replica rotten severed penises are popular ... this time of year.

I ...

I'm lost for words.

I came on to say the seller also makes rotted penises so we shouldn't judge him from a feminist perspective, but I see lots of back ground has already been supplied.

They've censored the nipples. Because they're the obscene bits, right?

Rotted penises ? I thought they were fingers, unless I saw a different image.
The difference being that women don’t wear fake severed penises in homage to someone who murdered and skinned men.

I complained a while ago about “terf stomper” badges with a large boot image on them, heard nothing.

It's been taken down. Do I want someone to describe it to me?

I’m also lost for words that anyone would wear a T shirt glorifying a serial killer.
Wearing a copy of Ed Gein’s skinned women “vest” is beyond that though, I don’t have the words actually, to express how vile this is. Would Etsy be ok with garments made to replicate the bodies of actual murdered children, or is it just women that are fair game ?

It appears to be "No longer available" (nor is the picture).

Thank goodness for that.
Howard- quite. Although the nipples weren’t covered on any of the other pics.

Philomena - I will if you like, but it was shocking.

He sells fingers and penises. As far as I can tell, his customers tend to be people running adult haunted house events for Halloween- especially in the US, where they really go to town on the gory things, and people who need props for horror films.

I can understand why people find it horrible and offensive though!

I’m also lost for words that anyone would wear a T shirt glorifying a serial killer.
How about a t shirt depicting a murderous drug baron who corrupted an entire country depicted as the sacred heart Jesus?
T shirts like that are for the edgy. Bestgore.com bores them by now, and swearing or sex on t shirts is so passé.