Has the US gotten so thin skinned it allows fun, tongue-in-cheek t-shirts rile many people up?

You know what? When I get paid as much as my male counterparts, when my boss quits saying “she’s a lesbian” anytime a woman has a strong opinion, when legislators quit telling doctors they have to stick a wand up the vagina of a woman as punishment for having sex, when no one questions that I have the right to decide when and how many children to have, when my 12 year old niece quits worrying that she’s fat (she’s not) because every image on television and in print tells her that she has no self worth if she’s not thin and attractive….then we can talk about whether or not stupid slogans do any harm.

Those phrases are not harmless. They are nut funny. They are not cute. And if you think they are, then you probably think things like this and this are just hilarious.

To tolerate such bullshit is to tacitly condone misogyny and sexism.

You call it “tongue-in-cheek.” I call it insulting and stupid and just one more manifestation of the continuing dumbing down of American culture.

I agree with @Syz, it’s not about thin or thick skin, it’s about female empowerment and equality. Too many girls believe that garbage. (My 14 yr old niece thinks anything other than skin over bones is fat.)

This is barely on topic but my professor of philosophy said to the whole class in intro to philosophy that he graduated by supplying pot to his professor. He also had in class a phrase in Latin; “Don’t let the bastards grind you down Illegitimi non carborundum .”

I don’t personally mind any of the t-shirts philosophies you mentioned.

I draw the line at someone wearing a shirt that says “F*ck You”. That person should have the crap slapped out of them and then their mother should be hunted down and slapped as well.

I also had a shirt saying “I used to be schizophrenic, but we are much better now” I was asked to burn the shirt and I tossed it into the trash.

They’re just words. Whether they are funny or not is a matter of opinion and taste.

I am one seriously fucked up individual and even I realize that words on a t-shirt are neither written law nor serious social doctrine.

In fact, so does my nine year old daughter. She would refer to a shirt like that as “stupid” and then move on to something else.

@syz And if you think they are, then you probably think things like this and this are just hilarious.
The 1st shirt was humorous but not hilarious. The 2nd shirt was not close enough to read what might have been around the word to know what context it was used, so I cannot comment on it. The first I see no more harmful than the men I say in the past that had a ”B.Y.O.B. Bring you own bong” tee shirt, or ”A friend with weed is a friend indeed”, or that bumper sticker ”Ass, gas, or grass; no one rides for free”. Because I was not getting in that person’s grill about his short because I was acquiescing to people sitting around getting stoned, I think not. If he wants to blow all of his money and fry his brain cells smoking grass all of the time, so long as he is not on the road way where he can be a danger to me, what should I care? None of the shirts were advocating anorexia, so it is hardly a comparison to bring up. If anything, the 1st shirt you presented as well as those shirts in question are more satirical to me, hardly worth getting bent out of shape for. Because someone wears them it will not cost me anything, however, gassing up a vehicle can leave me short of a lot of money, same as with everyone else. If I am going to get indignant about something, it will be about something substantive that affects the bottom line, not just hurt my feelings.

Well, the manufacturers can make what they like, but any parent that buys such things for their daughters should be slapped.

@Seek_Kolinahr Get I line! I got first slap!

I agree that people are too easily offended.

I don’t think any of those t-shirt slogans are particularly funny, but I’m not offended by them either.

Awhile back, someone asked a question that was basically a rant about these types of shirts being sold at Spencer’s. My favorite was, “I have a penis. I make the rules” and the one geared for women reading, “I have a vagina. I make the rules.” Those gave me a little chuckle.

I saw a shirt once that said “Rainbows are gay!”. I thought that was pretty funny. Those shirts are all pretty trashy, but their existence doesn’t offend me. I honestly think they appeal to a pretty low common denominator…

I have a problem with those shirts. I don’t find them funny. The reason it bothers me is because I am so sick of people thinking girls get things because they put out. When I was a teenager classmates thought I got my job at a jean store because I slept with the boss. Totally ridiculous. I was a virgin, I was 14, I was great at my job.

Get laid and have a daughter. Then refresh and see how you feel.

Thin skinned, PC, only words or whatever you want to call it, people are indeed affected by this sort of thing and they promote bad attitudes. As @Blondesjon says, even his nine year old daughter can see that there is something wrong there. Stupid is a rather weak word for it, but tells the story accurately enough.

Why do we say stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. And, then say verbal abuse can be worse than physical abuse. Think about it. Words do matter.

only if you let them

@Seek_Kolinahr Well, the manufacturers can make what they like, but any parent that buys such things for their daughters should be slapped.
Who says the parents would buy them? They will just give the kid an allowance or money and let them buy it themselves, less they (the parents) be blamed for their youngster being called a dork because they were wearing the wrong clothes. Many parents do not want to be draconian and dictate what their kids wear or how they wear it for fear of no longer being their child’s friend and maybe getting de-friended on Facebook.

@JLeslie Maybe we should STOP teaching kids that names will never hurt them. That they can and WILLP be injured by insults even if no one lays a glove on them.

@JLeslie Why do we say stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me That (nonsense) saying was invented to try to help children who were he subject of bullying, but it never has worked. The truth is words do hurt and everyone knows it.

News Flash: Whether it is a t-shirt slogan or Mein Kampf, words have power.

@YARNLADY That (nonsense) saying was invented to try to help children who were he subject of bullying, but it never has worked.
Do you believe uniforms ever cut down bullying? Just asking…....

it always comes back to hitler.

@Hypocrisy_Central Yes, I believe having uniforms does cut down on the excuses or reasons for some students. In my grandson’s school, the students are proud of their uniforms and their school.

On an individual case by case basis, some people still need counseling to overcome bullying.

@gailcalled Words only have power if we allow them to.

@Blondesjon Godwin’s law :P

I always thought those T shirts were serious commentary…

The US has not gotten thin-skinned. People who have historically been the butt of jokes are of late feeling more comfortable pointing out when people are acting like dicks. It is a positive development, unless you are a dick.

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought I resemble that remark!

I’m lost in your pronoun jungle.

“Has it come down to people [being as you described] ...”
Has what come down to people [being as you described]?

” Why do they go after clothes outfitters to pull such apparel from the shelves and not use that ferocity against the oil company rooking them with high fuel prices?”
Who are the “they” and “them” in that sentence?

Who is mounting this campaign of clothing censorship? School administrators (guessing from your earlier question)? Or shoppers? If it’s school administrators, well good on them. If it’s shoppers and parents, then that’s even better.

Someone ought to pay more attention to what’s between the covers of a few books, and less attention to the ‘literature’ on T-shirts, I think. That someone is you, kiddo.

@uberbatman @Blondesjon Words only have power if we allow them to. Very few young people have developed the ability to control their feelings and reactions to the onslaught of detrimental language. In fact, very few adults know how.

If what you say were true, there would be no such thing as vulgar languare or swearing. People would make do with ordinary words, but they don’t. They set aside some words specifically for emphasis.

@YARNLADY I don’t know, I mean I get what you’re getting at but there is just something about the word fuck. It’s really versatile and is phonetically pleasing imo. That said, I can’t say I’ve ever been offended by any word. To me, curse words are mostly just interjections

Thin-skin? No. Look at the massive sale volume and profits for these t-shirts. Clearly, it is only a small group of people that have a problem with the t’s.

Why do they have a problem with the t-shirts? They think freedom of speech should only conform to their views.

Do I understand that you think it’s perfectly OK to teach a little girl that Higher the skirt, higher the grades? Or maybe every little girl already knows this is only tongue in cheek. I do not think so.

What does my opinion have to do with the law? Nothing. It is none of my business nor yours. They’re not my kids nor yours.

Parents can teach whatever values they want to their kids as long as there is no physical violence. They’re protected by the first amendment.

@CWOTUS I’m lost in your pronoun jungle.
Let’s catch you up to speed then.

Here are the players:
• You have clothing manufactures and vendors that have t-shirts, etc, with slogans on them some find offensive.
• You have people, shoppers, and parents, and I guess some work in schools, who complain to the vender because they sell the apparel. They (the shopper/complainers) hope a large enough stink will get them (the venders, and or them the manufacturers) to pull them from the shelves and or stop producing them.
• They (the shopper/complainer) would do themselves more justice by getting angry at the other them (Big Oil) who is raking them over the coals with high fuel cost.

To sum it all up, you have shopper/complainers getting their panties in a bunch over words on a t-shirt that is not costing them (the shopper/complainer) any money and acquiescing the fact that Big Oil is overcharging them and not using that indignation towards the party that is in actuality doing them (the shopper/complainers) the most harm.

Hope that got you up to speed. ;-)

I think all shirts should be one neutral color and no words allowed so no one will ever be offended.~

Also @YARNLADY, following your logic, we should ban all homosexual t-shirts because it might influence religious children in to thinking homosexuality is ok when the bible clearly says its not. All evolution t-shirts too.

Let us ban every form of speech that parents see as a negative influence to small children.

That is actually what Putin did. He banned homosexuals from expressing themselves because minors were present and might potentially be influenced.

@annabee I think what it boils down to is that we all live in the same world, same society, and it is not just all fun and games. There are responsibilities that go along with the freedoms. As a good friend of mine is fond of saying “your right to swing your arms ends where my nose begins”.

You have the right to be a dick, but you have the responsibility not to be.

Did @annabel just invent the Putin version of Godwin’s law?

@rojo

Yeah, but just because you think someone is being irresponsible, doesn’t mean they’re. They might think you’re irresponsible. They might think you’re the dick.

Different strokes for different folks. There is nothing to boil down to.

@rojo, is that friend me? That’s one of my favorite expressions.

@Seek_Kolinahr Can be! I’m amenable.

So, we have already degenerated to the Pee Wee Herman level of debate.

@rojo

That is actually what it might boil down to.

Thank you for that explanation, @Hypocrisy_Central. In case you don’t realize it, that type of boycotting action would work for oil, gasoline and other petroleum products.

Go ahead! By all means organize a boycott of high-priced fuels and oil stocks (including the manufactured products, including fertilizer, plastics and at least the transportation, if not the actual manufacture, of nearly everything else you own) and stop buying shit. Stop driving to work and to play. Stop watching movies and television. Turn off the lights in your house. Read a book by candlelight and go to bed early.

The high prices of petroleum products, other fuels and energy sources you decry would come down, most assuredly. If you organized the boycott well enough and got enough people to agree with you – which I doubt very much, but it could happen, this being Earth and all – then you might even drive those products from existence altogether.

It’s called voluntary organizing when customers organize to protest and resist purchases, and responding to market incentives when producers pull the products, reduce the price and focus on other business in response to those dissatisfied customers.

Free markets, the nearest thing to magic on this planet.

Like I said, I doubt that it’ll happen with petroleum and other energy products, but it is possible.

Don’t forget to make it a beeswax candle. Otherwise the candle is an oil product, too.

I prefer to use the I don’t buy it method. If others showed a sense of responsibility, this wouldn’t be an issue.

@Seek_Kolinahr

Putins’ collary to Godwins law?

I have but three words to say, Frankie Says…Relax!

Growing up, my parents never bought me tshirts with sayings on them because my mom thinks they’re tacky.
As an adult, I still don’t wear them because, well, some of them are pretty tacky. lol

I don’t get offended by them, but very rarely do I see one that I find amusing.

My ex husband wore them all the time. He told me I was snobby because I wouldn’t. I just didn’t feel the need to wear a shirt that said “I love dicks” or whatever.
I will admit however, that I did buy one that said “I love sparkly vampires”, just to piss him off. It was a huge success.

@Katniss – Bahhahaha! That is awesome.

I have few t-shirts with words on them, and I feel like I spend way too much time explaining them. Like my “Keep Calm and Don’t Blink” Doctor Who shirt.

Band tees are much easier. The reactions are either “yeah! Goatwhore!” or a somewhat offended glance in the opposite direction.

@Seek_Kolinahr I actually like Goatwhore! lol

@CWOTUS Stop driving to work and to play. Stop watching movies and television. Turn off the lights in your house. Read a book by candlelight and go to bed early.
Just about 98.5% of the places I go or shop I am on my Flintstone horse (bka mountain bike), I hardly ever use lights, I read during the day and by natural light 98% of the time, and by the time the sun sets I am in bed or 30 minutes from it. Now I do this for my personal self, but if I were doing it to protest Big Oil, I would be pretty much alone; most other people are too lazy to get around on a bike (if they weren’t why are the roads so clogged with petro burning vehicles usually with a single driver), and out clubbing in the evening, etc, instead of hitting the bricks at 9–9pm. When they are not watching TV, at the movies, eating out late, they are protesting silly slogans on shirts that don’t take a dime out of their pocket, and complain but do nothing about the robbers who are.

The high prices of petroleum products, other fuels and energy sources you decry would come down, most assuredly.
Just petro fuel which is way too expensive, we in the US should have gone methane decades ago. As you say, it will never happen, how can they think of the high cost of fuel when they are driving down to the mall to complain about a shirt their kid is not wearing or they are not wearing themselves.

@Hypocrisy_Central I hardly ever use lights

For some reason that makes me laugh, haha.

When a grown woman wears a tee shirt that says {whatever} we tolerate it because she is old enough to make her own decisions, right or wrong. But if a little girl wears a shirt with that slogan, that is a completely different story and the public will rightly demand that the stores remove such shirts from their shelves. We also consider that slogans on adult shirts are billboards educating the youngsters, so we demand that adults not wear inappropriate clothing where children might be influenced by seeing them. These things are just a matter of parental responsibility.