Sexist Shirts

I got this email last week with the subject line Tell JC Penney and Forever 21: Stop insulting girls' intelligence. You kind of have to read at least some of it before scrolling down for my comments.

Just this week, retailer Forever 21 began offering for sale a shirt for girls emblazoned with the slogan "Allergic to Algebra." And a few weeks ago, JC Penney offered similar girls' shirts with the slogan "I'm too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me."

Sexist slogans like these play into and perpetuate the incorrect stereotype that women are innately bad at math or being pretty is more important than being smart. By selling these shirts, the stores give their implicit support of these stereotypes to convince girls that, to be stylish and fit in, they must be bad at math or less interested than boys in academic achievement. Slogans like these are also harmful to boys and reinforce with them the stereotype that they are innately better than girls when it comes to math or that a girl's worth comes only from her looks.

After backlash from outraged customers, both shirts were pulled from the shelves and online stores.¹ But how did the sexist shirts get there in the first place? Clearly, something is totally broken within the corporate culture of these retailers. There is no effective review process for the clothing sold at JC Penney and Forever 21 if offensive clothing like this that demeans young girls makes it to their shelves.

Tell the CEOs of JC Penney and Forever 21 that you will hold them accountable for the clothing that is sold in their stores. Demand they make a public commitment to keep sexist clothing for girls from making it to their shelves in the future. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

These retailers are clearly sensitive to public pressure, as evidenced by how quickly they pulled the shirts after a public backlash arose. But that's not good enough. We must pressure JC Penney and Forever 21 to make the changes necessary at corporate headquarters to ensure sexist shirts like these never even come close to making it to the shelves.

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people at JC Penney and Forever 21 encountered these shirts before they were made available to the public. Why didn't employees of these retailers at some point say, "Hey, are we really going to sell shirts to young girls that say 'I'm too pretty for homework' or 'Allergic to Algebra'?"

It's obvious that these shirts perpetuate offensive and harmful stereotypes about the ability of women to achieve academically relative to men. Of course, many studies have confirmed that these stereotypes are baseless, and that women's minds are just as well suited to performing academically as men's.

But, because popular culture is so powerful, many women and girls will conform to negative stereotypes of what a woman is supposed to achieve if they are continually reinforced. Stores like JC Penney and Forever 21 help shape that culture through the clothing they sell.

It's clear that these stores listen to public pressure, but we must pressure JC Penney and Forever 21 to take concrete steps to ensure that clothing this sexist never even comes close to making it onto shelves again.

[end email]

First of all, the girls wearing these shirts are probably not good at math. Maybe they could be if they tried. But I could also be good at caring for children. I just have no desire to do that. "Allergic to bratty little 3 year olds" would be a fine slogan for my shirt.

We could make these shirts for guys too. Would that be a problem? The responsibility falls on the parents buying these shirts or the allowing their kids to buy these shirts. The market will take care of things by making bad designs lose money.

There is plenty of other sexist clothing in stores everywhere. Why don't they routinely carry thongs for men? Is that sexist? I guess it is because they're treating one gender different than the other. BUT it's not a problem and the market hasn't demanded that stores carry man thongs. There are special stores that cater to that market.

The too pretty for homework slogan is offensive, but so is "too rich for homework" or something along those lines, but other flashy displays of wealth and shirking of responsibilities are also encountered in retail stores. What about that app for the iPhone called I'm Rich?? You paid $1,000 for it to display a ruby on your phone. No other features. Just to show that you're rich. Apple did away with that app and they can do whatever they want, but people did buy it.

Even things that you don't like or you think are stupid might not be bad for other people. It's a slippery slope when you start deciding what people can and can't purchase with their own money. Let them decide not to buy the shirts.

Pick #259

G Love - "Free at Last" from Electric Mile

Is Obama a Keynesian? Is that an Inflammatory Question?

STOP Government Spending

Write to your elected officials.  Let them know that we can't just keep letting the government spend all this money.  What does AA+ mean to you?  To find your representative, go here.  To find your senator, go here.

I sent the following letter to Steve Southerland, Bill Nelson, and Marco Rubio:


I need you to stop government spending.  When we are in debt, we should save as much as possible.  Even when we run a surplus, historical evidence shows that government spending is not as great a boon to the economy as private sector spending.

In addition to spending less, I realize that the government needs to take in more money.  I'm not a fan of taxes.  I know they cause distortions in the market.  I never like paying taxes nor does anyone else.  We need to face the fact that tax revenues need to increase, but it's tricky to say whether that means we should raise or lower the tax rate.  Any adjustments should be made carefully.

Everyone understands that a household encumbered by credit card debt needs to pay it off as soon as possible and do whatever it can to avoid borrowing more until the original principal is paid off.  Why is it that we cannot scale this same logic up to the level of federal government?  The easiest way to stop borrowing is to stop spending.  Stop funding peanut festivals.  Stop pork barrel spending.  Stop giving away agricultural subsidies.  Stop fighting 3 wars.  Stop blindly giving "aid" money to the corrupt governments in developing countries.  Aid money would be better invested in microfinance firms where we could recoup the investment after a couple years and the aid would go directly to the people.  Simplify the tax code and get rid of 3/4 of the IRS.  Stop trying to save failing companies.  The market NEEDS bad businesses to go away in order to free up capital for more productive endeavors.  Cut your losses on the failing post office (sell the rights to a private company).  Stop the war on drugs.  Legalize pot & prostitution...there's some sources of revenue that would reduce expenditure on law enforcement and lower crime.  Give a pay cut to all elected officials to show real leadership.  Stop giving idiosyncratic tax breaks to big campaign contributors.  Close tax loopholes.  Don't put the burden on the shoulders of my generation and those who come after me.

Riding a Fixed Gear Does NOT Connect You to the Road

I hear fixed gear riders talk all the time about how they are so connected with the road. They talk about having ultimate control over the speed of their rear wheel like it matters. I think it's especially silly when they say that kind of stuff without being clipped in.

I feel connected to the road when I tune in to that feeling.  When I pay attention to the feedback that I get from the bike.  When I feel the uneven pavement beneath my tires.  It doesn't matter if I have a more complex drivetrain on my bike; I feel the same.  Don't get me wrong, each bike provides different kinds of feedback (for instance, the mountain bikes have a front suspension).  But beyond mechanical efficiency, there is no inherent superiority in a fixed drive system.

I've been riding a fixie for over a year now, so it's not that I'm so new to the bike that I can't connect.  I have 4 bikes now and each of them feels different.  I can appreciate those differences and hopefully use the bike that best suits my needs.  The Diamondback 26" is great for getting around, hauling small stuff, having fun, and light off-roading.  The Kona 29er is great for off-road and kind of a bear to push on pavement.  The Trek 1200 is my choice for long rides.  The KHS fixie is a great commuter.  Each bike works different leg muscles.  Each bike responds differently to flying down a hill.  Each bike has its own unique personality (although I'm still getting acquainted with the Kona).

If you want to feel connected to your bike, just ride it.  Ride it a lot.  Everywhere.  Every day.  You can connect with your cruiser, recumbent, hybrid, TT, road, mountain, fixed, single speed, or vintage bike.  You can get high on cycling while retaining the ability to coast.  I encourage you to do so.

What Happened to the Victory Garden?

Back in WWII, our country's debt to GDP ratio was around 120%, which is higher than even today although our current ratio of about 100% is nominally larger. We are fortunate that the government has not imposed on us a rationing system (other than the prices that serve to ration goods in a market system).

When the nation was in deep debt during WWII, residents were encouraged to grow their own food in a back yard "victory garden." The name comes from the idea that we'd be able to better feed our troops and domestic residents with the assistance of such gardens. I want to know why there's not a push for more victory gardens today.

Growing a substantial amount of one's own food encourages saving, which we will need to pay off some of this debt. There are also positive environmental effects of eating extremely locally. The country could save some on fuel costs from transporting produce. With more mouths fed at home, we could export more of our industrial agriculture, thus helping the balance of trade.

Overall, we would be more productive at home. We could have more household saving and use some of that to pay down our national debt. Victory gardening is something that you can do even if you're unemployed or lack the resources to save in other ways. All you need is a little bit of dirt and water.

Pick #258

Wale - "Mama Told Me" from Attention Deficit