Wednesday, August 31

In case you haven't seen it yet

In case you haven't seen it yet, this is JCPenny's idea of back-to-school fashion for girls still too young to try out for a spot on next season's 16 and Pregnant.
Yes, folks. You read that correctly. The shirt says: "I'm too pretty to do homework. So my brother has to do it for me."

Excuse me while I hurl.

After public outcry, the shirts have been pulled from store shelves. But seriously, how does this sort of train wreck happen?

Don't get me wrong: I have a sense of humor. (Um... hello. Read the blog title.) I am not on an anti-attractiveness campaign. (Seriously. I have a closet full of dresses, for when I'm not wearing running clothes, and I am a pedicure junkie.) But, as Cordelia Fine documents so thoroughly in Delusions of Gender, studies repeatedly show that gender priming results in real, measurable decreases in academic and athletic performance among women who would otherwise be smart and strong.

Is this really the message we want to broadcast to our little girls???

1 comment:

  1. Ug! That is so frustrating. Glad they removed the shirt but depressing that they purchased it in the first place.

    ReplyDelete

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