All I Got Was This Raunchy T-Shirt

Being a teenager means having an overwhelming desire to express who you think you are at that time in your life — even if that means being a walking bumper sticker or a driving bumper sticker. My car was covered with them: Why be normal?, God is coming and is she pissed, Love animals. Don't eat them. You get the idea. I don't really remember wearing any "attitude" T-shirts though. Concert t-shirts were big in my scene, especially if they were for a classic rock or metal act (think: Black Sabbath), and were of course old and ratty and belonged to a guy.

It seems that today's teens are not so much wearing T-shirts that scream who they are or what they believe, but are being "ironic" about the raunchy shirts they choose to wear. Or for teens who aren't smart enough to be ironic, they are wearing Ts with sexually charged slogans that actually contradict their own behavior — meaning the Ts say, I'm a sexually active flirt, when the reality may be, I just want to push the limits of good taste in what is written on my chest but would never reallydo what it says.

The Washington Post, reg. required, has a funny article about this, and about how school administrators are literally having to judge every sexual message on these Ts on a case by case basis to decide what is appropriate for a school environment. From the article:

"Sexually suggestive T-shirts often fall into a gray area that requires officials to evaluate one shirt at a time. Some messages are considered harmless — 'Single and Ready to Mingle' or 'My Boyfriend Is a Good Kisser.' Others are not.

'We try not to make a huge deal out of it, but we also want to be protecting the school environment,' said Rick Mondloch, an associate principal at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax County, who recently ordered a 'Pimps' shirt turned inside out. 'These shirts are more risque than they were even five years ago and probably a little more blunt, so you have to be attuned to it.'

Robynne Prince, an assistant principal at Eleanor Roosevelt, said: 'If there are shirts with obvious sexual connotations, then we know exactly what we're going to do, but there are some students who push the envelope.'"

What's funny are the parents who are struggling to pick their battles — and for some of them, forbidding teens to wear these Ts is not one of them:

"Most parents interviewed said that they would rather not see their kids wear the racy shirts but that they sometimes give in. Rosa Pulley tried to order her daughter Keana, 17, a Gar-Field senior, to return a T-shirt that says, 'yes, but not with u!' But Keana insisted. 'I have to pick my battles,' the mother said. 'Okay, I don't like it. She's wearing it, but it could be something worse.'"

What's fascinating about this is that teens are literally embodying the paradox so prevalent in our culture right now: Increased conservatism (waiting to have sex, abstinence, etc.) along with an increase in blatantly sexual content from "tasteful" to "pornified"). As they sang in "Grease," "They go together like…." So teens are now walking contradicitions. I think I prefer the obvious: Love animals. Don't eat them. Even if it was just a phase…

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.