Please, people. How is this so hard to understand?
Don't call France, or any person who cosplays him, a rapist, because it is really offensive.
I mean, really goddamn rude and respectless. Both towards the character, the cosplayer, and towards any person who actually has been raped. It is not something fun, it is not a joke.
I have been through this so many times now, with people joking about France being a rapist, and it's so tiring.
First of all, this character represents a nation. A country where people live and it's not fun hearing such things about your country. I am not french but I still find this so offensive. Have some respect. (The same goes for any character in Hetalia who is being put in a bad light, such as being called a pedophile, a nazi or be represented as the maffia. Think about what you are doing.) Sure, it is all a joke and only for fun, you mean nothing serious with it, but people might just take it seriously and offensive. We're talking about peoples' homes, where they live their life, where they go to school and work and have their families and friends. To have your nation being represented as the worst kind of all people, is not something I could imagine anyone would enjoy.
Secondly, being called a rapist is probably the worst insult one can get. I mean, people, think about it, think about what rape actually means. It is not a joking matter, and it is certainly not something you go around and call people. It is repulsive.
I knew a person who had been raped when she was younger, and it still haunts her every day. The rapist never got accused for it and is still out there, walking freely as any other man while she has to live with this disgust and shame every single day for the rest of her life.
I honestly do not understand how anyone can joke about rape. I feel sick when I read comments/signs such as "France raped England", "haha, france has such a rapeface", "free hugs, free rape" and similar things.
Having a girlfriend who cosplays France, this is something we get to see often, and it slowly breaks one down. To have to see this everywhere is so tiring. It is disgusting, how easily people throw around words like that.

This isn't only about Hetalia. This is for any fandom or any situation where people use the word 'rape' too freely, using it as a joke.

Joke about it with your friends, with those you know will not be offended, but don't go and call people it in public or on the net, because you never know what the person has been through.

So I am asking every one of you, please don't call France or anyone else a rapist. Have some respect.