Sexist Kids Clothing

[DallasApple]

Should such shirts be banned? Is it legitimate for parents to get companies to remove such merchandise, or should they simply be voting with their money?

I guess I don't see it as they were getting the company to remove the merchandise.I think it sounded more like people letting the company know they weren't going to be shopping there any longer because they found those kinds of messages personally offensive.

The company had the choice to say O.K fine don't come back in here .

If anything the ones who complained (explained why they will not shop their anymore)were doing the company a favor.If everyone who was insulted just simply stopped shopping there and there were enough of them ..and sales just declined they would have no idea why.

Interestingly one of our local grocers carried a deli /store made pico de gallo that was fresh and delicous.Great value for the buck too as far as price.Many times I specifically went to that store to get that ..so while I was there I bought other items too that we needed.Well all of the sudden they were always out.I would go back in a day or two and they were out..out out ..every time though I asked why ?No one knew.I stopped shopping there as much ..Anyway months later my husband went and saw they had it again.He inquired they said many people had complained.So they brought it back.

But I wouldn't say complaining about it was somehow forcing them to carry the item.I think they did themselves a favor listening to the customers.

 

[Alceste]

I guess I don't see it as they were getting the company to remove the merchandise.I think it sounded more like people letting the company know they weren't going to be shopping there any longer because they found those kinds of messages personally offensive.

The company had the choice to say O.K fine don't come back in here .

If anything the ones who complained (explained why they will not shop their anymore)were doing the company a favor.If everyone who was insulted just simply stopped shopping there and there were enough of them ..and sales just declined they would have no idea why.

Interestingly one of our local grocers carried a deli /store made pico de gallo that was fresh and delicous.Great value for the buck too as far as price.Many times I specifically went to that store to get that ..so while I was there I bought other items too that we needed.Well all of the sudden they were always out.I would go back in a day or two and they were out..out out ..every time though I asked why ?No one knew.I stopped shopping there as much ..Anyway months later my husband went and saw they had it again.He inquired they said many people had complained.So they brought it back.

But I wouldn't say complaining about it was somehow forcing them to carry the item.I think they did themselves a favor listening to the customers.

Exactly. Once I stiffed a waiter for a tip, but I left him a little note explaining my reasoning. He'd kicked out a homeless guy who wanted to buy a cup of coffee - the guy even had his money out on the table. My note said that being poor is not a crime. Without the note, he might have assumed I stiffed him for letting the homeless guy IN rather than for kicking him OUT.

 

[DallasApple]

Exactly. Once I stiffed a waiter for a tip, but I left him a little note explaining my reasoning. He'd kicked out a homeless guy who wanted to buy a cup of coffee - the guy even had his money out on the table. My note said that being poor is not a crime. Without the note, he might have assumed I stiffed him for letting the homeless guy IN rather than for kicking him OUT.

Right..or even that you were just cheap or tacky.

Anything but the fact he discriminated against a homeless guy.

 

[Penumbra]

After parental outrage, the Children's Place pulled two t-shirts, one with the slogan "Born to Wear Diamonds."

Here's the Article.

It also enumerates past examples of sexist children's clothing, with slogans that emphasize that girls are good at shopping but not good at school, or point out the prettiness of women in contrast to the smartness of boys.

I just wanted to get a feminist perspective on this. I can certainly see the sexism at play, and I wouldn't want my daughter wearing something that perpetuates these sorts of stereotypes.

But, after reading the comments, I also see the point of "If you don't like it, don't buy it!".

Should such shirts be banned? Is it legitimate for parents to get companies to remove such merchandise, or should they simply be voting with their money?

To clarify, how are you defining the word "ban" here? The article doesn't mention a ban, as in like a government ban- just people showing their displeasure to a retailer about the perceived social harmfulness of an item they sell. I would never be in favor of an actual ban for something like this, but I'm certainly in favor of customers making their thoughts known to the business, which is what happened.

In this context, there are two ways to vote with your money as far as a company is concerned. You can continue to do business with the company but not buy that specific product, or you can avoid that company that decided to provide and market that product altogether.

To supplement that, you can tell the company, and tell others, what you're doing, to get awareness out. It's not all that helpful to a company to just leave without explaining why. Retailers generally have a certain "image"- they can choose which products to carry and which ones not to. So in this case, parents expressed their disapproval, and some stated their intention to take their business from the company. The company responded to this portion of its customer base and decided to stop selling those items, and released a statement saying that they value their customer feedback and they also took the opportunity to point out that their CEO is a woman who is good at math, which is kind of a funny way to handle it. So through feedback and a decision between a portion of the customer base and company management, they corrected something that they apparently agreed was worth correcting.

I certainly think it's fair for parents to raise an issue when they believe companies are feeding stereotypes that they believe can negatively affect their children. They might not buy the shirt for their child, but the child might see another child at school with it. And of course they shouldn't ban other children or parents from making their own decisions, but it's perfectly fair to express disagreement with a company, give them a reality check, and say, "Is this how you wish to represent yourself? Is this the image you're going for? You want to sell thousands of these shirts? Because if so, I'm going to go to a different company."

I'm in the same "if you don't like it, don't buy it" camp. I don't like bans in general, it usually brings attention to something we wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

I'm not sure which type of ban you're referring to here. Parents voiced their opinion to the retailer and the retailer chose to stop selling certain items, and this has happened repeatedly in the past with other retailers as well. They sell a crappy product, people mock how crappy it is and/or state their anger or intention to take their business elsewhere, and the company decides it's not a good product to sell. So in this case and many others, attention was brought to it, and the item was no longer sold.

 

[Penumbra]

This is something I wanted to highlight. "Banning" really wasn't the word I should have used in the OP.

The consensus is overwhelmingly in favor of "voting with your money". But do people also resent people making a stink about it?

In other words:
Is the feeling that people should quietly be voting with their money, and that there is something wrong with these parents vocally voting with their money and getting others to do the same?

Ok I see this post now, elaborating on what you meant by ban. I absolutely think people should vote with their money and, if the issue is important enough to them, to explain to others and the company precisely how they are voting with their money. If I was running a business and people started leaving, I'd like them to tell me why so that I can see if it's a problem I can correct and keep their business.

 

[DallasApple]

To clarify, how are you defining the word "ban" here? The article doesn't mention a ban, as in like a government ban- just people showing their displeasure to a retailer about the perceived social harmfulness of an item they sell. I would never be in favor of an actual ban for something like this, but I'm certainly in favor of customers making their thoughts known to the business, which is what happened.

Right .It wasn't a ban.Its more like if the clientele is opposed to your products or service and they say so? Its kind of smart to do something about that.

 

[beenie]

While I agree with the first half of your second sentence, the second half leaves me a little perplexed.

Isn't consciousness-raising the whole point of boycotts and the like? It's to shake people out of their collective apathy or habit and realize that something just ain't right.

Not boycotts, banning in general. Of course people should protest what they don't like.

 

[beenie]

Ok I see this post now, elaborating on what you meant by ban. I absolutely think people should vote with their money and, if the issue is important enough to them, to explain to others and the company precisely how they are voting with their money. If I was running a business and people started leaving, I'd like them to tell me why so that I can see if it's a problem I can correct and keep their business.

Exactly. I see the discussion about "banning" now.