Friday 2 November 2018

Domestic violence meets takeaways.

A fish and chips shop may seem like one of the last things capable of sparking controversy in Australia, but this week one such business in Innisfail, Queensland has done just that. Poor service? No. Something strange or unhygienic found in a customer's meal? No. It has to do with the name...

Image result for the battered wife shop

No explanation necessary. This business' owner, Carolyn Kerr, has inevitably received strong backlash from locals and even several Queensland politicians demanding her to change its name because they see it as condoning violence against women. Now, I don't often reject the "political correctness gone crazy" sentiment (despite having quite a provocative sense of humour), but I must say I do here. Ms. Kerr, a former policewoman, is herself a survivor of a DV situation (and nobody at all is even pretending that's acceptable) and so I think is entitled in a reclaimed sense to try to poke fun at that. It's also an effort at making a witty pun and shows clever business acumen because for better or worse, provocatively named businesses achieve attention and thus revenue. Just consider Holy Sheet, Coon Cheese and the former Spastic Welfare League et al.

Ms. Kerr's choice of name for her shop has also renewed the national conversation quite rapidly around this issue, which is very vital. Plus she has nailed many of her critics to the wall with this assessment of their behaviour (referenced here: https://www.news.com.au/finance/small-business/the-battered-wife-fish-and-chip-shop-owner-stands-by-name/news-story/963befadb73c8ec6b05e0a760d1530e8): "It is disappointing that the mentality of the people who have thrown this at me is that they condemn the violence. They condemn domestic violence but they are using that same intimidation and abusive tactics… they are no better than anyone else."  Preach it, sister!

So obviously, I personally say she should be saluted for her courage and stubbornness and be allowed to call her business anything she likes. And to everybody else getting their knickers in a knot over this, move on and instead make a conscious effort, like Ms. Kerr has here, to contribute publicly and successfully to ending domestic violence in general.






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