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Lingerie brand tells women: You should know what to expect when a man asks you over for a movie

Melbourne underwear company Kayser Lingerie is facing calls calls for a consumer boycott after it posted an ill-conceived Tweet which suggested a movie date equated to a sexual encounter.

The Twittesphere erupted last night with writers saying the brand had implied that women should expect to be sexually assaulted, or that they should be prepared to have sex, if they went on a movie date with a man.

A senior female account director for Melbourne agency Get Glossy, which handles the brand’s social media postings, wrote “#KayserMaleInsider If a guy invites you over to watch a movie, you should know what they’re expecting” just before noon yesterday.

It was then posted by an intern, a Get Glossy spokesman told Mumbrella today.

“It was meant to be a girl-to-girl thing, something fun and it’s a shame it was taken by some people to mean something it was never intended to be,” the spokesman said.

“When we saw the reactions we took it down and posted an apology  – and we will certainly be more careful in the future.”

The reaction on Twitter was severe, with one writer saying women should seek a new lingerie brand. Helen Razer wrote “I will never again purchase your garments. And baby, I go through hosiery like there’s no tomorrow.”

Clementine Ford said: “And if you’d decided to have sex with your friend, you know… she should have expected that.”

“Seriously. This insane. DO you believe that women have no sexual agency and men cannot articulate their own desires?” was another post.

Another user @kedjie wrote “It’s really disappointing @kayserlingerie have stopped to sexist crap like that. Ladies, any tips on finding a new bra company.”

The brand later posted: “Hi all, in reference to our earlier Tweet, in hindsight it was inappropriately  worded & we’re sorry for how it came across.”

But that wasn’t accepted some, including Jessica Alice who wrote “inferring women should expect sexual assault is probably a bit different to ‘inappropriately wording’ something.”

The Get Glossy spokesman said the agency stood by the account director who wrote the offending item.

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