A member of online marketplace Etsy, which found itself in hot water last week over controversial greeting cards, has begun selling crocheted cat toys in the shape of foetuses, tampons and penises.
A seller called Meowadays has listed the items for sale along with tongue-in-cheek comments, writing: "Make every day that play time of the month" under the tampon toy and posting photos of cats chewing the toys.
Melinda Tankard Reist, a prominent blogger and advocate for women's rights, found some of the images of the cats chewing the toys — especially an image where a cat is photographed with a woolen penis in its mouth — "degrading" and "offensive".
“The image of the cat chewing on the penis toy suggests bestiality,” she said.
“It intimates that the cat is involved in a pornographic act. It’s degrading.”
Etsy, an online market for handmade and vintage products, has consistently stood by their sellers saying it wants to allow its members to express their own ideas.
Yet the site was forced to revise its prohibited items policy last week after women's rights campaigning brought attention to a so-called 'rape card'.
A seller called YouStupidBitch was selling a greeting card showing a woman holding her head in her hands with the caption: "Congratulations! You've been bad touched!"
The offensive greeting cards went on sale in October and also included ones making jokes about AIDS and Down Syndrome.
Ms Tankard Reist was involved in the international campaign against the Etsy seller who made the cards.
"Fortunately the campaign against Etsy was successful and they have changed their policies. But I wonder why we had to campaign against cards like that in the first place," she said.
In a statement released at the time, Etsy's CEO Adam Freed said "intense debate about what kinds of items should and shouldn't be allowed on Etsy" had forced them to review their selling policy.
Etsy said that its policies prohibited disparaging or promoting hate against people based on race or religion, but had not included gender, people with disabilities, or sexual orientation.
Etsy could not be reached for comment.
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