Sexist Topman Tshirts - Does Topman not like women?

by Magda Knight

Topman has just brought out a new line of Tshirts that seems to assume its male customers are idiots. Sexist, racist AND potentially pro domestic abuse - oh my!

We've normally got no problem with Topman; hey, it's nice for boys to dress up. But it took our breath away when Topman decided to bring out a range of T-shirts that were, quite frankly, risible in their sexist attitudes.

Sexism 101: Exhibit A

Nice new girlfriend... What breed is she?

Oh, this is really classy. It's almost Wildean in its rapier-like wit. It's clearly referring to the girlfriend as a 'bitch', as both a woman and a dog. Ho, ho, ho! We'd expect this low level of humour from a bunch of self-printed T-shirts sold by a dimwit out of a cardboard box on a high street before being asked to move on. Did the sixties even happen for Topman?

On another level, it's got feeble-minded racist connotations. Pointing a finger at mixed-race, perhaps, or hapless women being asked if they are Japanese/Chinese or Cuban/Indian.

Basically, any boy wearing this is begging you to ask him if he's just being sexist, or throwing in a bit of racism while he's at it.

Sexism 101: Exhibit B

I'm so sorry, but...

We've seen "I was wearing beer goggles" T-shirts before and we didn't bother raising the feminist flag for those. The sentiments were too weak and silly. But this T-shirt is not only offensive but coming darn close to the same-old same-old excuses raised by the perpetrators of domestic violence.

To the boys who bought these sexist Topman T-shirts and may be wondering if they should wear them

A piece of advice: Don't. We'll put it down to a momentary aberration of taste and say no more about it. Pop it in the bin, feel a bit sheepish and pretend it never happened. Okay? Okay.

Boys with girlfriends: Your girlfriend will probably not be impressed with these T-shirts. Enough said.

Single boys: Publicly stating "I'm definitely sexist and not averse to ironically condoning racism/abuse, too" is not the best way to get laid and let a fabulous one night stand blossom into a glorious meaningful relationship that makes all your mates jealous.

We're just saying.

And the whole world said...

We'd like to say that boys would never buy these T-shirts and that Topman has made a huge mistake in assuming its male customers are idiots.

At the time of writing these T-shirts were out of stock. Which was a concern. But it's okay - sort of. The T-shirts weren't sold out - Topman removed them by choice. So Topman's customers aren't idiots, and Topman came to its senses. A happy ending, of sorts.

Think these T-shirts are a tad unfeminist? A tad... misguided?

Why not politely thank Topman for rethinking its policy and removing the T-shirts from sale?.

Show them that adopting a feminist attitude (albeit a slightly delayed one) gains you kudos and respect.

Disclaimer: We're not totally mad keen on girls walking around with slogans saying 'boys are stupid' with nobody batting an eyelid, either. What can we learn from this? That, um, the world is a dick. Tell you what. Let's make the world less stupid... one T-shirt at a time.

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