Recently J. C. Penney came under fire for selling girls ages 7-16 a t-shirt which read, “I’m too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me.” After meeting public outrage the company removed the item from its site, but likely not before many of said shirts had already been purchased and/or viewed.
I don’t know anyone who actually enjoys doing homework, but I think the shirt’s implied message is insulting to young girls. While J.C. Penney is a store and not a self-esteem manual, the company should at the very least have considered the negative slant behind the shirt’s slogan. A girl isn’t just a bobble-headed Barbie doll; she’s an intelligent person with thoughts, feelings, and convictions.
Then again, maybe Barbie is to blame and J. C. Penney is simply falling in line with a host of other companies, marketing strategists, and the media, all of whom appeal to women’s looks rather than their minds. Are we all so brainwashed now that we’ve become a bit desensitized? The makeup commercials, Victoria’s Secret models and fashion magazines all demonstrate to girls that it’s their physical appearance that matters most.
Better get some of that Cover Girl concealer to hide those pimples!
And while you’re at it, get one of those push-up bras to show off your assets.
Don’t forget your Spanx for that muffin top. It’s important to look as thin as all those famous people in Vogue.
With all of that to worry about, who has time for studying, right?
We think we’ve come so far: we can vote, we’re fierce competitors in the workplace, and we juggle careers and family life. So why are we still sending these offensive messages to our young girls?
What do you think about all of this? Who started it, how can we stop it, and when? It seems like we have a long way to go, what with all of our efforts focused on looking pretty instead of doing our homework.
About Erin Margolin
JC Penney needs a spanking.
YEAH!!!!!
Twitter Name: erinmargolin
I just don’t get the logic behind selling a shirt like that, even moreso the parents who bought the shirts for their girls thinking it was a good idea.
Twitter Name: DExtraordinaire
Perhaps the moms buying them are the same women that married a man that could “take care of them” and anticipate their uneducated daughters will follow in their footsteps?
Twitter Name: Erin (Another one)
Heather,
I’m horrified by the idea that some parents actually bought the shirts for their girls!! ack!
Twitter Name: erinmargolin
I think the shirt was done tongue and cheek and quite obviously was a joke or something silly. What I don’t understand is why there was such outrage over something so mundane. There are several retailers selling similar shirts and most of them tend to be more profane and offensive than something like this one. I think people need to relax and take things the way they are intended. For me this is much ado about nothing. Parents are willing to spend more time complaining about a shirt like this rather than making sure, indeed, their daughters are doing their homework. Get a grip people.
Twitter Name: Melissa E Rodriguez
It’s not about the shirt, it’s about the message. And the 10,000 similar messages we’re all bombarded with every day.
I know of no shirt that says, “I’m too handsome for homework so my sister has to do it for me.”
Perhaps I could go along with the tongue and cheek aspect of this if the shirt said that her sister had to do it for her or that she paid someone to do it for her…
Twitter Name: msmegan
Megan,
Agreed! It’s the message. And the way it comes across. You’re spot on. Thanks for stopping by to read!
Twitter Name: erinmargolin
Melissa,
Thanks so much for stopping by to read.
Twitter Name: erinmargolin
Wow, way to be dismissive of someone who doesn’t see things your way. If this is how you treat all your readers who don’t agree with you, I won’t be back. What about having a discussion with apposing points of view? Just wow.
Twitter Name: msbatman
Becky,
I am sorry to hear you won’t be back. I simply prefer not to engage with people who tell me to “get a grip” about something I think is pretty serious. But I wanted to acknowledge her comment and I do appreciate her coming by to read, as I do you.
Twitter Name: erinmargolin
“I am only one, But still I am one. I cannot do everything, But still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” (Edward Everett Hale)
That’s why you get upset about this one thing. Small, insidious steps remove our daughter’s power. If we stop it every time just imagine the world that will open up for them.
THANK YOU, JENNIFER! You said it. You’re spot on and I am giving you a standing ovation over here!
There’s a reason it’s girls who are suffering more from stuff than the boys. I agree w/ the commenter above who also pointed out the lack of a shirt saying the opposite. About a brother paying his SISTER to do his homework.
Thank you so much for saying this here. We’ve let too many things slip by already. I won’t get off this soapbox!
xoxo
Twitter Name: erinmargolin
I agree with all of the above posters, except Melissa. I don’t think the people complaining about this shirt need to get a grip, but rather the stores selling them need to create a new reality…A reality where women and men are treated equally and women are not judged by their appearance but the contributions they make to society. I think that these stores begin selling young girls shirts like this in a bid to turn them into insecure young adults who spend their allowances trying to look prettier with goods from their stores, and then into grown woman who spend their paychecks buying clothes, cosmetics, etc to look “more attractive” (again, from these same stores that promoted their insecurities as children) because society is conditioned to make females feel inadequate.
In short, it disgusts me. As do the comments that males make about the appearances of Hillary Clinton and other females in power. You do NOT see men being judged on their looks in the same way women are. The day my future daughter(if I ever have one) tells me she is too pretty for homework is the day she’ll get an ass kicking she will never forget.
Twitter Name: Erin (Another one)
Yeah I was going to post an opposing point of view and say the brewhaha being made of this shirt is a bit ridiculous. It’s just a shirt for Pete’s sake, but I saw how Melissa was summarily dismissed for voicing her opinion that varies from the author and I think I’ll just cancel my subscription to this blog altogether. If you can’t be open to a discussion with opposing points of view, I don’t need to be here.
Twitter Name: msbatman
Sorry to see you go, Becky. I replied to your previous comment above. It’s just a personal preference of mine not to engage with people who imply I’ve got my panties in a wad over something I happen to think is really important. I did acknowledge her comment and I do appreciate the fact that you both stopped by to read. I respect the fact that this isn’t the place for you and that I’ve disappointed you.
Twitter Name: erinmargolin
I was visiting my mom and she told my daughter not to do something because only ugly girls do that. Of course, I had to stop it right then and there and my mom was so exasperated with me.
Twitter Name: Unknown Mami
UnknownMami,
Oy vey. God only knows how much therapy I’ll have to pay for when my girls get older. I’m sure I’m screwing them up left and right despite my disapproval of this shirt. ;-)
Twitter Name: erinmargolin
Preach on, Erin. Of course this is outrageous.
Nancy,
Thanks, sister friend! I love you! xoxox
Twitter Name: erinmargolin