Hey, everyone! I’m happy you’re here, because it’s time for another episode of What Were They Thinking: Target Edition .
On this week’s episode, we’re going to be telling you about a lovely collection of t-shirts someone recently came across in one of the retail giant’s stores. Now, you’re probably thinking, “Why should we care about a couple of t-shirts Target is selling?” That’s fair. I get how that may not seem very pressing or exciting, so let me explain this a little bit further.
We’re going to be telling you about a lovely collection of sexist t-shirts someone recently came across while they were shopping at Target. Makes a bit more sense now, right? Okay, so let’s jump in and see what we’re dealing with here.
Last week, Twitter user Becky Tallent was shopping at Target when she saw some t-shirts that immediately set off alarm bells in her head.
After snapping a few shots of the shirts, she posted them on Twitter with the caption: “Seriously @Target??? I’m a female-type person that loves and regularly watches football. Didn’t see these shirts in the men’s section…”
The t-shirts Target was selling had messages on them insinuating that women have no interest in football, aren’t smart enough to know the difference between football and baseball, and would only watch the Super Bowl to see the halftime show.
I think Becky summed up what anyone with even a hint of sense would feel after reading these t-shirts: SERIOUSLY?!
And what’s worse are the comments being left on Becky’s post!
“Then don’t buy the shirts. Calm down.”
“Men don’t make these jokes. Women make them on the regular.”
“People are such babies.”
Listen up, people! There are plenty of women out there who love sports, and there are plenty of men out there who don’t.
It’s 2018! The idea that women don’t belong in sports or that you aren’t a real man if you don’t enjoy sports shouldn’t even be a thing.
And I get that there are individuals out there who know nothing about sports, and there are also people who love commercials and musical performances over them.
The problem is that the shirts and their messages were only marketed towards women.
Like Becky said, why wasn’t there a collection of these “hilarious” shirts in the men’s section?
I don’t care if you love commercials or halftime shows more than an actual game of football — you do you.
What I do care about is throwing women together into one basket and assuming they all prefer the same thing.
I know a lot of men who couldn’t care less about sports, but they’ll watch the Super Bowl just to get a laugh or two out of the multi-million dollar commercials.
I also know a lot of women who can run circles around their friends and family when it comes to sports knowledge and athleticism, and who look forward to every minute of every game.
I honestly can’t believe we’re still having to explain basic things like this to anyone, let alone major retailers like Target.
It really isn’t that hard to figure out, but judging by these t-shirts and the comments Becky received for putting them in the spotlight, we still have a lot of work to do.
The goods news is, Target took notice of Becky’s concern.
We’ll just have to wait and see if they choose to do something about these shirts, and also consider putting a bit more thought into their design and marketing decisions going forward.
And I get how some of you may see these shirts and think this isn’t something worth getting upset over — I see you, “snowflake” comments.
We should be saving our outrage for bigger issues, right? But the reality is, it’s seemingly small and insignificant issues like this that are fueling a bigger problem — one that has been around for far too long. That’s why stuff like this should matter to everyone.
What do you think about these t-shirts and who the target audience was (pun intended)?
Let us know in the COMMENTS, and then SHARE this story with others.
