I'm Too Pretty To Do Homework!!!!!!

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I want a t-shirt that says "I'm too sexy for my shirt" Oh wait.. nm.

Go away. LOL.

Now if a child had on that shirt....

[SWTXBelle]

http://blog.pigtailpals.com/2011/08/...to-do-with-it/

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by thetaj

I don't want the damn shirt, people.

lol lol
Hilarious!!!

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Yes.

Just like I don't think adults wear tshirts that they absolutely disagree with. If you wear a shirt that says "I'm with stupid," you are wearing it not only because you find it funny (you could see it on someone else and just laugh) but because it resonates with you enough to wear it. People need to stop bullshitting and acting as though life is way more complex than it is. When adults act naive and stupid we can't be shocked when younger generations learn how to be naive and stupid.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Words have meaning. There's the literal meaning, and there's the meta message. In the case of this t-shirt, both are awful. Yes, JCP was trying to make money. You don't do that by perpetuating negative stereotypes which offend your target market. The shirt is pulled; the market has spoken.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

I don't think it's that big of a deal. I mean, it's funny how people thought it was sexist and were offended by it, to the point where JC Penny's had to pull it, but the revealing clothing for teens are still for sale.

It is sexist and perpetuates a sexist message.
Not solving all problems doesn't mean that you don't solve any.

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I'm not a fan of censoring clothing like this. I'm sure that someone out there thinks that shirt is witty, so why should the public have the ability to tell that person s/he can't buy it?

That being said, I think it would've been more effective if it said "...I make my brother do it" as opposed to "...so my brother has to do it for me."

Not censorship. If anything it's the free market at work so to speak. It does make sense to try and influence our world to make it be the way we want it to and we do it all the time.

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Yeah imagine a world where there are instances when individual outcomes are surpassed by aggregate outcomes. We should all just chill in our own little huts and let other humans fend for themselves, especially when we're talking about what mainstream retailers are selling.

I can't wait to see those awesome "I'm a baaaaaad bitch" and "ISUCKYODICK" tshirts for K-12. Those who don't like those shirts can just not buy them. Let everyone else do as they choose. And, yes, I consider an "I'm too pretty" shirt to not only be dumb but to be offensive gender jargon.

Societies are awesome.

I heart you.

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Dude, if a girl was "too pretty to do homework," then wouldn't she be able to get guys who weren't her brother to do it for her? Guess she's not that pretty after all!

This is not a 'part of the solution' comment, this is totally a 'part of the problem' comment.

Originally Posted by thetaj

I don't want the damn shirt, people.

Good because you can't have it as it's not for sale and it's ugly anyway so you really shouldn't want it. That and not supporting messages that tell young girls that pretty > smart.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Not censorship. If anything it's the free market at work so to speak. It does make sense to try and influence our world to make it be the way we want it to and we do it all the time.

I posted this earlier in the thread:

Originally Posted by thetaj

LOL @
---
3) Whoever didn't want to buy it so much that they made it so no one else could buy it

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

@ SWTXBelle

The above is what I was getting at in my post.

Censorship was the wrong word. I just shift in my seat with the WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN mentality when it's so easy to not buy the item. I think Ed Hardy shirts look like shit, but I won't petition to have them removed from a store.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

This is not a 'part of the solution' comment, this is totally a 'part of the problem' comment.

If your brother's doing stuff for you because you're pretty, that's a whole 'nother problem right there. Maybe this shirt is part of the VC Andrews collection.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I posted this earlier in the thread:

Censorship was the wrong word. I just shift in my seat with the WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN mentality when it's so easy to not buy the item. I think Ed Hardy shirts look like shit, but I won't petition to have them removed from a store.

We influence how our society is at all times. This isn't about keeping porn away from children or keeping them from learning about sex education in schools or protecting them from things that they don't need protecting from. This is kind of exactly what young girls need protection from. This message tells them pretty > smart.

All that said, JCPenny is the one who made it available and the one who took it off their shelves so blame them not the people who complained about it. Because the idea that we should just shut up and not complain is another message we should protect young girls from. There's no reason to support a store selling a message we don't like. Just like when Christians protest Disney (or whatever) for Gay Days. They're well within their rights to do it. And the pro-equality crowd supports Disney (or whatever) for it. So Disney, goes with a) what it thinks is right or more likely b) what will be the most financially beneficial idea.

JCP did the same thing, and apparently no one was supporting the idea that this shirt was a GOOD message for girls. So guess which way they decided.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If your brother's doing stuff for you because you're pretty, that's a whole 'nother problem right there. Maybe this shirt is part of the VC Andrews collection.

I refuse to finish reading those books, I. just. no.

The wording reads more to me like brother's made to or brother has to because otherwise she fails. But yeah that'd be creeptastic.

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

There's no reason to support a store selling a message we don't like. Just like when Christians protest Disney (or whatever) for Gay Days. They're well within their rights to do it. And the pro-equality crowd supports Disney (or whatever) for it. So Disney, goes with a) what it thinks is right or more likely b) what will be the most financially beneficial idea.

JCP did the same thing, and apparently no one was supporting the idea that this shirt was a GOOD message for girls. So guess which way they decided.

As an aside - because this drives me crazy - Disney does not sponsor Gay Days - various and sundry QUILTBAG groups organize it and go to the parks, just like any other group. It drives me crazy when Christians don't do their homework and boycott Disney because an outside group goes to the parks. I guess some might argue that Disney should somehow use gaydar to refuse admittance to those there for Gay Days, but those people are what I like to call stupid.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

We influence how our society is at all times. This isn't about keeping porn away from children or keeping them from learning about sex education in schools or protecting them from things that they don't need protecting from. This is kind of exactly what young girls need protection from. This message tells them pretty > smart.

At the risk of dragging this on...

That's really not JCP's job. This is a time where I feel that a parent should step in and say "Wow, Susie, this shirt is stupid. I hope you don't ever feel that pretty > smart." rather than "I WANT A MANAGER. WHO SELLS THINGS LIKE THIS??"

It was obviously meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Should we petition malls to remove Spencers since teen girls have to walk past the store to get to their destinations?

All that said, JCPenny is the one who made it available and the one who took it off their shelves so blame them not the people who complained about it.

They took it down because of the complaints. Multiple people (buyers, web designers, managers, etc) saw the item without incident but it didn't become an issue until that petition was started.

Because the idea that we should just shut up and not complain is another message we should protect young girls from. There's no reason to support a store selling a message we don't like. Just like when Christians protest Disney (or whatever) for Gay Days. They're well within their rights to do it. And the pro-equality crowd supports Disney (or whatever) for it. So Disney, goes with a) what it thinks is right or more likely b) what will be the most financially beneficial idea.

@ the bold - That's my point. If I don't support that shirt, I won't buy it. If I don't support that store, I don't shop there. knight_shadow is not representative of the masses, so just because it doesn't suit ME doesn't mean that there isn't someone else out there who likes it.

JCP did the same thing, and apparently no one was supporting the idea that this shirt was a GOOD message for girls. So guess which way they decided.

I understand why JCP did what they did. My issue, again, was with the petitioners.

[SWTXBelle]

It's a shirt that perpetuates a negative stereotype.
Whether or not my daughter has that shirt, she has to deal with the type of culture it represents and perpetuates.
I will always protest anything which denigrates women and their intellectual ability.

After all , I'm a sorority woman; I am the product of an organization founded by women who were told they were too weak intellectually to succeed at the college level. They fought in 1874, I'm still fighting in 2011. I am the mother of two daughters, and I've had to raise them in a culture that even in this day and age will try to sexualize them and teach them their worth is bound up in their appeal to the opposite sex. Nope, not doing it.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I just shift in my seat with the WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN mentality when it's so easy to not buy the item.

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I think Ed Hardy shirts look like shit, but I won't petition to have them removed from a store.

Do you really think this is comparable? If so, it is no surprise that you disagree.

[SigKapSweetie]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Should we petition malls to remove Spencers since teen girls have to walk past the store to get to their destinations?

That's the best part - if you wanted to petition them, you could, and if they felt that having Spencers in their mall outweighed having your business, they'd tell you to take a flying leap. That's the beauty of a free market (and a free country). I have petitioned, written letters, and protested against things that I find offensive. I do it as much to exercise my right to free speech as I do because I think it might make a difference.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

As an aside - because this drives me crazy - Disney does not sponsor Gay Days - various and sundry QUILTBAG groups organize it and go to the parks, just like any other group. It drives me crazy when Christians don't do their homework and boycott Disney because an outside group goes to the parks. I guess some might argue that Disney should somehow use gaydar to refuse admittance to those there for Gay Days, but those people are what I like to call stupid.

I was just looking at the Gay Days site - apparently they have a parade down the Main Street of Disney? I don't think you could say that's "like any other group."

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

As an aside - because this drives me crazy - Disney does not sponsor Gay Days - various and sundry QUILTBAG groups organize it and go to the parks, just like any other group. It drives me crazy when Christians don't do their homework and boycott Disney because an outside group goes to the parks. I guess some might argue that Disney should somehow use gaydar to refuse admittance to those there for Gay Days, but those people are what I like to call stupid.

Yeah it was just the only thing I could think of that involved a boycott so I made the point stretch because well, I don't care what Christians boycott?

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

At the risk of dragging this on...

That's really not JCP's job. This is a time where I feel that a parent should step in and say "Wow, Susie, this shirt is stupid. I hope you don't ever feel that pretty > smart." rather than "I WANT A MANAGER. WHO SELLS THINGS LIKE THIS??"

Your imagining is far more dramatic than mine, but ok. What about writing an email or letter complaining or posting the picture on your blog and complaining. Why is that something that should be done in private and not in public.

It was obviously meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Should we petition malls to remove Spencers since teen girls have to walk past the store to get to their destinations?

Not really comparable. But you could if you wanted to.
And tongue-in-cheek can exist without sexism (or racism. God could you imagine if someone had made the racist equivalent to this shirt).

They took it down because of the complaints. Multiple people (buyers, web designers, managers, etc) saw the item without incident but it didn't become an issue until that petition was started.

They took it down though, it isn't the 'fault' of any one complainer. Shockingly we live in a sexist society and we don't know what was in the designer's head, but odds are web designers and store managers don't get much of an opinion.

And yet if you look on line there are tons of offensive shirts sold by companies who don't give a fuck. So obviously the company gives a fuck about the support of its customers.

@ the bold - That's my point. If I don't support that shirt, I won't buy it. If I don't support that store, I don't shop there. knight_shadow is not representative of the masses, so just because it doesn't suit ME doesn't mean that there isn't someone else out there who likes it.

Sure, but it wasn't one person who got this pulled. It was one person who showed friends who thought it was also offensive who posted it on sites that talk about sexism and where commenters ALSO thought it was offensive and on and on. That's how this works.

I understand why JCP did what they did. My issue, again, was with the petitioners.

The idea that women should shut up and not make a big old public fuss is another sexist idea that keeps getting shoved down women's throats. If we're offended there's not a damn thing wrong with speaking up about it. That's all this is, speech.

Originally Posted by SigKapSweetie

That's the best part - if you wanted to petition them, you could, and if they felt that having Spencers in their mall outweighed having your business, they'd tell you to take a flying leap. That's the beauty of a free market (and a free country). I have petitioned, written letters, and protested against things that I find offensive. I do it as much to exercise my right to free speech as I do because I think it might make a difference.

Preach on my sister.