The lovely Mia Freedman has posted about The Divided Heart on her massively popular blog, mamamia. She has described it as a “book that changed her life”, which has made me feel quite overwhelmed. Thank you Mia!
But equally overwhelming (for very different reasons) was her next post about clothing label Cotton On's tasteless new line of kidswear sporting 'slogans' like "I'm a tits man", "I like big boobs and i cannot lie", "I'm living proof my mum is easy" and - no, I'm not joking (though they think they are) - "They shake me"!
There is no excuse (not even "we're just being funny") for turning children into platforms for sick adult jokes and sexual innuendo.
So, so not on.
14 comments:
1. Woo and awesome. (And deserved.)
2. Boo and hiss and sad.
Hi Rachel,
Well done on the MamaMia promo. So well deserved.
Glad too because it reminded me that I have been meaning to come over here for a while and say hi and how much I enjoyed the book and interviewing you for Nthn Star that time (was a while back now)
Hope new book research is coming along well for you too.
Can't add much abt cotton on - just wrong.
x
Megan
Extraordinary wasteful turnover of stock. Poorly made clothing. Now this. Really, what's to like about the store.
Those shirts were really upsetting. I wouldn't have thought any children's wear manufacturer could stoop so low.
Thank you all.
And hello Megan--I remember you well as one of my very favourite interviews!! I have been checking out your gorgeous blog occasionally and will make a mental note to do so more often, as it always makes me smile.
And Katie, I couldn't agree more--poor practices all round.
I'm surprised by how much I like Mia Freedman, who I thought I should hate when her column began appearing (snobbery reasons, I think - I thought of her as a Cosmo airhead). But no, she's really very good, and I find myself agreeing with her often. Congrats.
And boo hiss to those tee shirts. I hate that stuff. It's such poor taste. My son's grandmother (his Dad's mother) bought him a tee shirt that says 'Tantrum Alert' that I also hated, though it's not as bad as these ones. I hated it because it seemed to suggest I found bad behaviour cute and funny. It's the same concept - using adult humour to make kids a tasteless object of amusement.
I so agree with you Ariel! When you write to Cotton On to complain, they send back a letter defending themselves with the statement that they also have kidswear lines with slogans like 'my dad my hero' and 'it's not easy being a princess' on them -- as if that's meant offer us some comfort!!
Yes, I followed your link to Mia's website and read her article on the topic too (liking her even more now), with that 'explanation' from Cotton On. Don't get me started on the problem with labelling a baby girl as a 'princess' in the making either ...
Having said this, Helen Razer's op-ed on the hypocrisy was good...
Yes, Razor's onto something there--kids are used as status symbols and billboards of one kind or another all the time--though I suspect a pretty tiny percentage of Mia's readers can afford to dress their babies in Prada. Personally, as someone whose kids are dressed almost entirely by the local op-shop and were wheeled around in a rust-bucket hand-me-down pram (park it anywhere and know it will still be there when you get back!), I feel myself personally exempt form the "comfortable parent" tag--and I still think the Cotton On shirts were a new low.
Yep. We funky op-shop folk are exempt from Helen's piss-taking. (Now I've said it.)
Speaking of which, have a look at this.
(Sorry, I deleted the last comment 'cause the link buggered up.)
I don't have anything original to add but I wholeheartedly agree those T-shirts are terrible. The real shame is that there are people out there who do think it is funny and actually buy them. Sure blame the shop but the consumers are the ones who actually perpetuate it or accept it by buying them.
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