The following is a response that one of the SE&X course participants made to questions about 2 particular tshirts. Very interesting reading
"You know, there are so many people out there with t-shirts like the first and I think they are being sold and worn without people thinking about the impacts of them which is quite sad.
Recently in the news they told a story of a parents group that banned a t-shirt for babies saying 'they shake me' because of the negative message in which it sent about physical abuse. I don't see why the message on this t-shirt shouldn't be treated any differently as it can be viewed as sexual abuse where the message is unwanted by viewers.
In addition 'future MILF' implies that a young girl/ woman is wearing the t-shirt setting up an expectation that a female is successful if she has a certain appearance and certain behaviours which deem her to be 'sexy' enough to have people run after her. Furthermore, it is another example of fashion trying to sexualise young people at a young age.
The second picture is humurous where I can imagine people laughing at it because it is unrealistic. Unfortunately however, in every joke there is some truth whereby the message does stick, potentially distorting the image of males for all.
If a young person was wearing one of these (i.e. someone I was in contact with because of my work) I would point out that it was an interesting t-shirt, ask where they purchased it and why they picked that one. It would be interesting to find out what they interpreted the message to be and discuss further.
The impact of the slogan depends on the slogan itself I think. There are some slogans on t-shirts which really makes someone think and/ or re-evaluate their own values and attitudes towards a particular topic. However, the use of other slogans such as the featured through mediums such as fashion I believe can have a negative effect. We already know the impacts that the media have on body image and self-esteem and fashion is just another form of media. The more we are surrounded by messages such as these, the more they become acceptable and believable which can be a dangerous path for our concept of body and self image.
As a final note for some personal reflection - if I was usually confronted by these t-shirts in a shop or on a friend I'd probably have a bit of a laugh. It's not until you really think about the impacts that you realise that they are not so funny. Good activity."
"You know, there are so many people out there with t-shirts like the first and I think they are being sold and worn without people thinking about the impacts of them which is quite sad.
Recently in the news they told a story of a parents group that banned a t-shirt for babies saying 'they shake me' because of the negative message in which it sent about physical abuse. I don't see why the message on this t-shirt shouldn't be treated any differently as it can be viewed as sexual abuse where the message is unwanted by viewers.
In addition 'future MILF' implies that a young girl/ woman is wearing the t-shirt setting up an expectation that a female is successful if she has a certain appearance and certain behaviours which deem her to be 'sexy' enough to have people run after her. Furthermore, it is another example of fashion trying to sexualise young people at a young age.
The second picture is humurous where I can imagine people laughing at it because it is unrealistic. Unfortunately however, in every joke there is some truth whereby the message does stick, potentially distorting the image of males for all.
If a young person was wearing one of these (i.e. someone I was in contact with because of my work) I would point out that it was an interesting t-shirt, ask where they purchased it and why they picked that one. It would be interesting to find out what they interpreted the message to be and discuss further.
The impact of the slogan depends on the slogan itself I think. There are some slogans on t-shirts which really makes someone think and/ or re-evaluate their own values and attitudes towards a particular topic. However, the use of other slogans such as the featured through mediums such as fashion I believe can have a negative effect. We already know the impacts that the media have on body image and self-esteem and fashion is just another form of media. The more we are surrounded by messages such as these, the more they become acceptable and believable which can be a dangerous path for our concept of body and self image.
As a final note for some personal reflection - if I was usually confronted by these t-shirts in a shop or on a friend I'd probably have a bit of a laugh. It's not until you really think about the impacts that you realise that they are not so funny. Good activity."
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