Article

Parents Think THAT Tee Shirt is Offensive?

JC Penney removed a line of Forever 21 tee shirts due to complaints.

Did you read about Forever 21 and JC Penney?

Don't you just love MSN Homepage? So many interesting things to read and discuss with your hubby and friends! It is also a good place to find fodder for articles. Once you can stop the hysterical laughing that ensues, that is.

This morning was one of those mornings. Poor JC Penney took a big hit with parents. A big enough hit to make them remove an entire line of clothing! Granted, that line of clothing was only tee shirts and only teenage girls tee shirts at that, still...

I love JC Penney. It is the only credit card I still dream of holding in my hand again. No, really. I still have an application for one in my underwear drawer! Every now and then, when I am feeling really sad, I will take it into the bathroom, shut the door and run my finger along the lines as I read every word. Sigh, sniffle, blow my nose.

But I will not fill it out.

It is still blank.

To fill it out would be a disaster.

Because I react to that store as I do to Moolinium Crunch Ice Cream.

Right.

Gone, baby, so gone.

How many tee shirts have you worn that upset other people?

How many tee shirts have people you loved worn that upset you?

When I think of all the tee shirts I have worn my mind tries to warp. When I think of all the ones I have worn with logos, my mind goes into meltdown. I got to the point in time where the only place I wore certain tee shirts was to sleep. That was a stepping stone of time! Now the only tee shirts I pay any attention to are the ones in my zazzle shop and really, mugs and magnets are much more fun, don't you think?

I don't think I ever had a tee shirt that got my parents so upset they didn't want me to wear it. Well, there was the tye dye one that had "Down With Established Morality" on it in magic marker but like I told my Dad, it was probably on the shirt BEFORE I tye dyed it...probably. Daddy stumped me, though with "What exactly does that mean, Boo?"

The parents curse came home with a vengence though on that one.

(Do you love cliche's? I do. I have to use them all up in one place sometimes, just to get rid of the urge to use them. Otherwise, my stuff would be peppered with them all the time! This way is better, all stuck in one place like partridges in pear trees.)

When our daughter was a teenager the band, and I use that term loosely, she adored was Marylyn Manson.

I know. Really, I assure you there isn't anything you can say that we didn't say first and much louder! We tried to give her good rock and roll. Her Dad took her to see Tool in concert and an outside one to boot. Well, Tool usually does outdoor venues anyway but you get the idea. She loved that but she still wore her favorite tee shirt to see Maynard.

I hate that shirt. When she came home with it, bought it with her own money, I read it and burst into tears. Bless her heart, she was not so teenaged jaded at that time that she ignored my distress. She hugged me and comforted me but still ended up looking puzzled and said "But, Mom, it doesn't have anything to do with me loving you!" She was so teenage jaded though that she continued to wear it!

Want to know what it said? OK, let me see if I can get through this without bawling...

The tee shirt is overlarge and black, like, duh, is there any other kind of tee shirt for a teenager to wear? And there is a picture of Manson, may he burn...sorry, carried away, on the front. On the back is one sentence.

"This is the world in which we grow and in which we will grow to hate you."

Finally...

I could go on and on with logos that have offended or even just given everyone a laugh but what made me stop in my tracks (once the laughing calmed to mere hiccups) was the thought that this is a sign of the times for sure.

What does that mean?

I fear our society is moving towards a place where everyone will be the same, thinking, acting, working, believing the very same way. A society of perfection, so to speak. A place where only things sanctioned by the higher good will be allowed. Eventually, very few people will have an original thought and if they are, they will be promptly stopped. One way or the other.

Do we really want that to happen? Even with the heartache I still feel whenever I think about the Manson tee shirt, I still wouldn't want it eradicated. Every daughter and son, every person deserves to display whatever saying or picture or logo they desire. That right should be a like, duh, thought.

I disagree with JC Penney removing their Forever 21 line. I think they should have stood their ground, no matter how sakey the ecoomy is, no matter how much they would stand to lose. They should have said:

"You must be joking. This is staying. You don't like it, don't buy it. But if your kids have your money or their own money they will be welcome in this store!"

Matter of fact, I think I will dig out my last favorite tee shirt and wear it just to watch people's reaction!

It says "Still runs with scissors!"

Gets a bigger eyebrow raise when I put my embroidery scissors in the left hand top pocket!

What did you think about the "allergic to algebra" logo?

Did the "too pretty for homework so my brother does it for me" make you laugh or make you angry?

2 votes

http://thelook.today.com/_news/2011/09/12/7730480-forever...

http://www.cafepress.com/+offensive+t-shirts

Updated September 13, 2011

Comments

barbarabOct 28, 2011

Good Morning Pinkchic 18!! I could have gone on for a while here as well! Thanks for the stop by!!

Pinkchic18Oct 27, 2011

This article made me smile, you have a way with writing! Kudos :) I enjoyed this article, and I do think there is a fine line between acceptable shirts and 'unacceptable' shirts out there. I could go into this for a long time, but I think you raise a great point here!