Friday, March 16, 2007

Misogyny: It's elementary

So last week, a friend of mine goes to some springtime event at her oldest children's elementary school, and while she's there, she observes a man in a Harley-Davidson t-shirt. Which was no big deal, until he turned around. The back of the shirt had this to say:

If you can read this, the bitch fell off.


This is wrong on so very many levels, that it leaves one almost sputtering with rage.

The fact that this "gentleman" thought it an appropriate shirt to wear to an elementary school event is actually the least offensive aspect of the shirt. The basic misogyny, the disrespect of women as a whole, and the utter tastelessness and lack of humor involved in wearing this shirt--there are just so many levels of offensiveness.

Overall, I think the wearer of that shirt was utterly unaware of the subtitle that most people probably thought once the shock of the shirt wore off:

I'm not with stupid. I am stupid.


At least, that's what the shirt says to me.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm....perhaps sexism education should accompany sex education? Like from 1970?

Gender Blank said...

What he probably doesn't realize is that he's doing everyone a huge favor by advertising his misogyny from afar. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone came with a similar warning system? I would waste so much less time if I knew upfront that certain people were assholes.

If only his advertisement didn't encourage others...

Unknown said...

Cue a troll to tell us ladies to get a sense of humor and not to get our panties in a bunch all in the same breath.

It is amazing how casually violent our society is towards women.

Craig R. said...

It *should* be "amazing," but it's not

Bitey said...

Isn't it interesting that the ones who wear their cocks on their sleeves like that are usually the ones most femininsts wouldn't spend two seconds on anyway? It's the "nice guys" you have to watch.

Anonymous said...

Yes, that is very cute, all right. I am sorry that he would go to a school event wearing a shirt like that. It makes me feel bad.
I know a couple of feminists, though, who have ended up with men like that, because at some level they approve of their beaus' asshole behavior. I don't understand why.

. said...

I'm just imagining what I would say to such a fellow. "Hey, good work with that shirt. Yeah, I know I'm always thinking, 'I really wish I had more articles of clothing with the word "bitch" on it so I could wear them to elementary school functions...Yeah, that's good for the kids...It's a nice conversation they can have with their mothers."

Cassandra Says said...

At a recent concert I spotted a Dad escorting his 12 or 13 year old daughter. He was wearing a shirt with the words "Sluts Love Me" printed on the chest.
Way to bring your daughter up to think well of herself, dude.
No surprises that the guy turned out to be a gigantic jackass. Sad to say the kid was pretty unpleasant too, though it's hard to blame her with that kind of parental influence.
My personal favourite of the "hello, I'm an idiot" shirts is the one that says "suck me". I have an annoying tendency to point at them and start laughing. In the street, in Starbucks...it is fun to watch the idiot's face when you laugh at him and everyone turns and stares, then laughs with you and even other men start muttering "loser".