Local T-shirts perpetuating sexist expectations

By Mia Dexter

A friend of mine was out shopping at Scheels, a sporting goods store, and she noticed something a little unsettling in the clothing department. She noticed that many of the veterans’ T-shirts in the men’s department say “I served” or “Tattooed Veteran” while the shirts in the women’s department say “Proud army wife” or “Being a veteran’s wife is a privilege.”

It’s like the store doesn’t know that women are in the military or something. It also sends a message that women aren’t strong enough or smart enough to be in the armed forces. They’re one of the many stores that sell clothing with sexist messages on their clothes.

If you can remember all the  way back to 2011, there was a huge controversy when JC Penney sold a shirt that read: “I’m too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me.” It sends a terrible message to young impressionable girls that they’re not smart enough to do their own homework and that boys are smarter than girls.

It’s 2016, not 1916. A seven-year-old girl should never be told that the only thing that matters is their looks and being pretty, and that boys are smarter than girls. We need to be teaching girls that they are independent and intelligent and can serve equally instead of destroy their self-esteem with sexist logos and limitations.