Outraged parents want Jay Jays to pull ‘lewd’ t-shirts
January 14, 2008 – 8:32 pmLet’s not forget in these crazy times of Internet censorship that the moral crusaders haven’t given up roaming our streets, fighting the good fight, and trying censor anything that doesn’t coincide with what they think is acceptable.
The Australian Childhood Foundation is demanding retail fashion chain Jay Jays withdraw their line of Little Losers clothing, claiming they send the wrong message to impressionable tweens and teens.
The shirts which are a play on the Mr Men characters, feature slogans such as Miss Bitch, Mr Asshole, Mr Well Hung, Miss Floozy and Mr Drunk.
“This (label) is being promoted as cool and trendy but also promotes unhealthy identities,” Dr Tucci said. “The company has to take responsibility, as people are influenced by a trend. These messages are powerful if they (are) popular.”
But are Jay Jays really marketing their products to ‘tweens.’ The company uses female and male models that are clearly teenagers (some possibly in their early twentys) and the store advertisers in magazines read by teenagers and young adults. There is no evidence to suggest they are in fact marketing to tweens.
Australian Women Online is also calling for Jay Jays to “do the right thing” and pull the t-shirts from sale.
Clothing manufacturers will try to convince us that they are just reflecting cultural trends and the time honoured tradition of teenage rebellion. But what they are really doing is exploiting deviant behaviours for profit.
I think Dr Sara Fine sums up the attitudes of those expressing their outrage here best in her 1996 article, How the Mind of a Censor Works - The Psychology of Censorship. She writes:
Censorship is more strongly motivated by the fear of losing control over children than a concern for their moral development, and books which portray young people who defy parental values may especially outrage authoritarian personalities.
One has to ask those who support such a ban: Why not just restrict your own kids from wearing them? Why discipline other peoples children when their parents are quite capable themselves of making the appropriate decision for their family?
- Mr Can Decide for Himself
Update 15/01/2008: I’ve been asked whether I personally think the shirts are obscene, lewd, lame, unGodly etc. I think the joke is a little tired and I don’t find them to be funny. Does that mean I should try and restrict others from wearing them? Hell no. Plenty of people think they are great and those people have every right to be able to walk into a Jay Jays store and buy one, two or six.
7 Responses to “Outraged parents want Jay Jays to pull ‘lewd’ t-shirts”
I know of at least 6 other popular blogs based in Australia who are calling for these t-shirts to be pulled from sale and some of these are much more active in calling for the boycott than I am. I guess I should be flattered that whenever there is a censorship issue now, people look to me for comment and quotes. But I’d prefer not be in this position.
We are concerned about the messages these slogans send to teenagers and pre-teens. For years, advertisers have marketed the raunch culture to teenagers and parents have had enough. If you don’t like it, dont’ read what we write.
By Deborah Robinson on Jan 14, 2008
Hi Deb,
It’s not an issue of not liking what you write, just a matter of having differing opinions.
I think there is more than just a censorship issue here, one to do with parenting as well. Therefore, I think Aus Women Online is an appropriate source to link to as no doubt many mothers visit your site.
If you don’t like the shirt, don’t let your child wear it. If someone else wants to let their child wear it, you can disagree, but you certainly shouldn’t try to make the choice for them.
By Mike on Jan 14, 2008
Thank you Mike. But it must be remembered that only government can “censor” anything. We are acting as private citizens complaining to a private company. It is not “censorship” when a private citizen complains about product on sale. Just thought I’d clear that up. If you don’t believe me, look up the word in the dictionary.
Thanks for the discussion. To your credit, you discussed the issue calmly and rationally with me and I thank you for that.
By Deborah Robinson on Jan 14, 2008
Actually, anybody or group can censor something. It is not an action reliant on Government. Corporate censorship, religious censorship are just a couple of other types of censorship. There are many and yes, one person can censor something.
Cheers and thanks for the comments, Deb.
By Mike on Jan 14, 2008
Hi Mike (and Deb)
it is Imaginif that has organised the call for a peaceful parent boycott of all Jay Jays stores until the Little Losers line has been pulled from sale and Jay Jays has displayed corporate social responsibility toward their target customers.
I agree with you on the wider censorship issue - we reside in a country where we can do what motives us and what we are interested in. However, I operate from child protection principles which come before personal views on politics or censorship.
My view of the messages on the Tees is that they dumb our kids down and slide them into a dysfunctional culture. We know teens sometimes drink, get drunk, have sex, take drugs, etc. This is not a moral crusade against the teen culture. It is a call for a peaceful boycott against Jay Jays.
The fashion dollar has decided the slogans, not popular teen culture (although the slogans have been taken from the language of teen culture). It is the fashion dollar that is making complete fools of adults who buy the Tees, of our kids and overtly sexualising them at the same time.
In a time of increased teen suicide, high rates of sexual assault and family violence, it is irresponsible for a large and influential company to work against emotional intelligence. You can read more of this focus over at my original blog on the topic.
I wonder if Jason Murray (Managing director) would attend a news conference in a Mr Drunk Tee? Probably not.
My organisation of the boycott is not against teens wearing the shirts - it is against Jay Jays selling negative and dysfunction labels to an easily exploited group of young people.
By Megan over at Imaginif on Jan 15, 2008