The Trouble with T-shirts
I tweeted about this earlier, but I’m still mad about the t-shirt I saw FOR TODDLERS that said, “Lock up your daughters!”
Available starting at size 12M! No thank you.
I am aware that it is supposed to be funny. The supposed humor behind the shirt rests on at least one of the following two premises:
- There is a double standard wherein it is okay for men to be sexually active, but not for women.
- The implied sexual contact is not consensual.
I am not about to support either of those premises, nor am I ready or able to explain any of this to MY TWO-YEAR-OLD. I kind of can’t believe this shirt exists — who really thinks that a kid needs a shirt with this kind of message? (The same people who buy the princess shirts for their daughters? But I think this is a step worse than the preponderance of princess stuff for girls.)
I’m working on another post about how hyper-gendered toys hurts boys, too, but clearly there are some pretty vile messages aimed at boys from a very young age.
(Huh, still mad. Looks like it’s time to shoot off a letter to Hybrid Tees.)
