TodayDon't encourage hurtful T-shirts
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Article RatingA boy doesn't have too much to worry about if a girl throws rocks at him because he'd only say, "She throws like a girl."
That's the facetious reply of a twenty-something about the current uproar about T-shirts and pajamas marketed to girls that have sayings such as: "Boys Are Stupid — Throw Rocks At Them" and "Boys Are Smelly — Throw Garbage Cans At Them."
David & Goliath, a T-shirt company based in Clearwater, Fla.," is taking heat over its "Boys Are Stupid" line from a fathers-rights talk show host who has pressured three retail chains into dropping the merchandise.
Is this all being blown out of proportion? Or is it a legitimate beef?
Lots of T-shirts in the marketplace are worse. Some, in fact, are so offensive they can make the most liberal-minded wince. But most of them at least are worn by adults — not kids.
And you butt up against the free speech issue in complaining too much about them, which isn't something The Sentinel is likely to do.
The fifty-something crowd, however, doesn't agree with the twenty-something view that the kids' angle on the T-shirts is being blown out of proportion.
They say kids don't fully understand the impact of such insults. With teachers and parents trying to teach them not to bully or be bullied, they believe that allowing kids to sport these sayings only can send a mixed message to children.
The T-shirts do echo assertions made by both male and female youngsters that "Girls are stupid" or "Boys are stupid." But those fifty-somethings contend that's the kind of thing to be stopped — not promoted.
The graphics have been around for about two years and only recently came to the attention of commentator Glenn Sacks, who hosts "His Side," a weekly radio show out of Los Angeles that is sympathetic to men's rights and often at odds with feminists.
So the opposition to the "Stupid" line isn't what could be called academically or psychologically pure. That doesn't mean the criticism can be ignored.
The marketplace influences everyone. To have children wearing these sayings is the same as telling them it's OK to disparage other people because of gender. Once they get that in mind, they have to question why it can't be fun to disparage people for their race, religion or national origin.
It's a mindset that shouldn't be encouraged if children are to learn to be kinder and gentler to each other.
