By
The Associated Press
Dallas- A Web site that sells so-called "wife beater" T-shirts has come under attack by domestic abuse agencies who say the retailer encourages violence against women.
"We're highly offended," said Leigh Edgar, spokeswoman for the Genesis Women's Shelter in Dallas, one of several groups critical of the Web site. She said the group wants the site taken off the Internet.
The creator of the Dallas-based Web site said he's just using humor to sell the shirts and accuses women's rights groups of overreacting.
"It's a joke, and I understand that a lot of the women's groups are upset about it,'' James Doolin told The Dallas Morning News. ''I can't do nothing for them.''
The Web site offers $20 sleeveless shirts embroidered with the words ''Wife Beater.'' Doolin said convicted wife beaters get a discount - if they buy one T-shirt, they get the second for half price with proof of their conviction.
Edgar called that promotion insulting. ''To say that you get something for actually abusing a woman ... it's just a tragedy,'' she said.
Doolin said he got the idea for the shirts after watching the television show ''Cops,'' which he said often shows people in sleeveless T-shirts being arrested for domestic violence. ''I just decided to do it before somebody else did,'' he said.
