These shirts have bothered me since the first time I saw them. I would never buy one for my daughter, but she hasn’t asked. She’s too smart to think they are clever instead of what they are: demeaning and sending the wrong message.
Girl Power Gone too Far?Dana Williams, Staff Writer for Tolerance.org, explores the issue:
Marilyn Quisenberry, a school psychologist at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills, CA. does not see the trend as a “feminist” plot against pre-teen boys or even as intolerance of boys. Instead, it points to a general acceptance in society of inappropriate behaviors, she said.
Heather Johnston Nicholson, research director for Girls Inc. said, “I think it’s funny when people take the ‘Hooters’ shirts and turn them around in ways that bring attention to stereotypes that demean women,” she said. “But name calling isn’t funny or acceptable no matter what group it’s targeted at. These shirts are simply substituting one power message for another.”
Besides my daughter I have three boys I love very much and I wouldn’t want them to be hurt by these shirts. It just seems stupid.