Sexism for Sale

[General disclaimer: this post will contain ideologically sensitive material and explicit language]

Will nobody think of the children?

This past week, I had the opportunity/luck/happy occurrence to be able to travel to Galveston, TX, for eight days on a work-related trip. I was travelling with one of my coworkers (a mentor and role model) and six lovely young ladies. On the agenda were many diverting activities, including beach days, visiting the Moody Gardens, and shopping/walking around in the Historic District. During our shopping, a particular (and unpleasant) thing stuck out to me.
     We were in one of the many tourist-trap shops along the Strand, the kind that sells flip flops, printed mugs, henna tattoos, and t-shirts (all for rather-inflated prices). I'd forgotten to bring my shopping money with me that day, so I was wandering around the shop, amusing myself by looking at the (many many many) t-shirts they had hanging on the walls. Now, if you've ever been to a shop like this, or a gun-show, or a concert, or a tourist-targeted shopping area in another country, (etc etc etc), I'm sure you won't be surprised by what I saw.

     Some were not so bad. I know the picture quality isn't the greatest, so I'll write what they say. Top pink shirt: "REAL WOMEN LOVE POLICE OFFICERS. The rest marry firefighters". Bottom pink shirt: "REAL WOMEN LOVE FIREFIGHTERS. The rest marry cops." While the blue shirt says, "REAL MEN FIGHT FIRES. The rest write parking tickets." Ooh, haha, I see! It's a joke, about the rivalry of police officers and firefighters. Well, the male ones, anyway. I guess having two X chromosomes means a person simply cannnot be a firefighter or a police officer; a person with two X chromosomes can only hope to marry such a hero.
     Pardon me while I spit. Both of my parents were volunteer firefighters, and I've known many women who were involved in firefighting in one capacity or another. Granted, women are a minority in both firefighting and law-enforcing, but it's stupid to imply they don't exist. I also just love the implication that a woman's "true" womanhood comes from marrying a certain type of man. "Hey, honey, I know you've always doubted your femininity, but this shirt says it's all okay because I'm a cop!"
     It got worse.

Class embodied.

     Pictured, Marilyn Monroe, wearing a Confederate battle-flag-emblazoned hat and a camo bikini, with a tattoo of a deer hoof on her right breast, a deer in the background, and the caption, "Nice Rack GALVESTON ISLAND, TX".............there are so many questions raised by this shirt. Is it meant to be worn by a woman or a man? What does Marilyn Monroe have to do with the Confederacy, or deer-hunting for that matter? What connection does Marilyn have with Galveston, TX? Are the deer in the background and the camouflage bikini meant to imply that Marilyn is deer-hunting? If so, who wears a bikini to hunt? Why does she have a deer-hoof tattoo on her boob? 

     The thing is, she has nothing to do with Texas, or Galveston, or hunting, or the Confederacy. And it doesn't matter that she doesn't because that's not the point. The point is, "Hey, let's put some boobs on a t-shirt." and we're supposed to let it slide. Well, more than that, we're supposed to spend $20 on the stupid thing.

     Then, it got even worse.

"IT AIN'T GONNA LICK ITSELF"

"NOT MR. RIGHT BUT I'LL FUCK YOU UNTIL HE COMES ALONG"

.....................................................

     We have a joke about forcing a person (ie: "woman") to perform oral sex on a man (this is also known as "rape", ladies and gents) and an offensive shirt about women's expectations vs. the "reality" of men's desires/actions. 

     I continued to see shirts like this all day.

     These shirts were for sale in a "family" store that also sold flip flops for toddlers and cups that said "Best Mom" on them. There were no warnings about the language on the shirts or the pictures displayed. I could have taken more pictures, "I got da' NUTS and I'm ALL IN" "Liquor up front Poker in the rear"(with a picture of a woman in a thong on it), but I really didn't want to. The point I'm making is this, the store was an "everyone" store. The shirts are "everyone" shirts. They were not considered too offensive to be displayed where a child might see them. They are "normal". It is considered normal to minimalize women, sexually harass them, and to proposition them with explicit language. It's considered normal for children to walk into a store and to see these messages. 

     Let's take a moment to talk about capitalism. It works through supply and demand. Where there is a demand, money can be made by supplying. If there is no demand, there is no profit, and the supply cuts off. A demand for these shirts exists; therefore, they are sold. 

     Why is it considered "okay" to sell these shirts? Why were there no shirts that said, "BIG COCKS ONLY" or "REAL MEN MARRY FIREFIGHTERS the rest marry cops" in the women's section? 

     And it's not just the blatantly nasty shirts that are the problem. It's the ones sold in JC Penny's to teenage boys that show a pixelated smiling bride and frowning groom with the caption "game over"; it's all the shirts that end in some variation of "make me a sandwich". It's the baby onesies that say "training to be superman" on the blue ones "training to be superman's wife" on the pink ones.

     For now, I suppose we can say, "Well, at least you know which people to avoid" in regards to the question, "Who buys these?", but that doesn't change the utter bullshit it is that we live in a society where people would buy them. The other lesson is this; capitalism responds to consumers, so if this sort of thing bugs you, don't shop where sexism is for sale.