Math is Hard - t-shirt (!)

Heard on CFRB 1010 radio this afternoon of the backlash as a result of a t-shirt for girls: Math is Hard. It's amazing that people will still be proud not to be good at math - yet how many people will be proud not to be literate. Glad the t-shirt has been removed. Mathematics is so important and we need high expectations for all students.

I found the following on the Internet: http://consumerist.com/2013/08/05/the-childrens-place-shirt-dont-worry-if-you-arent-good-at-math-theres-always-shopping/

The Children’s Place Shirt: Don’t Worry If You Aren’t Good At Math — There’s Always Shopping

By Mary Beth Quirk August 5, 2013

(via Facebook)

We understand that there are plenty of demands on a little girl’s time, and that she can’t possibly be expected to excel at every subject in the school of life. But hey, according to The Children’s Place (henceforth to be referred to as TCP), it’s okay because her best subjects of Shopping, Music and Dancing are all covered. As for math? Nobody’s perfect, so don’t worry about checking off that subject.

We’ve seen these kinds of messages in the past, and it appears that TCP hasn’t learned the lesson other retailers have that marketing clothing to girls with the message that “math is hard” is a questionable move. Especially when compared to the messages communicated by TCP about boys activities: The boys are surfing, playing the drums, being an athlete and a rebel, while the girls are “all about glitter” and “born to wear diamonds.”

Also, to be a good shopper, math skills would, in fact, be very useful. Just sayin’.

Some of TCP’s customers aren’t pleased by the “Best Subjects” shirt, either, as noted on thestore’s Facebook page:

NOT cute, Children’s Place. This is not 1953. Stop making it fashionable for girls to be dumb. Parents are sick of this garbage.

Another:

I dropped by one of your stores over the weekend and was really disgusted by the sexist approach to girls’ clothing. It’s bad enough that so much of it is pink and purple, but the “best subjects” t-shirt is pretty terrible so is the “this princess is no drama queen” one. What, boys get to have aspirations to do things and girls are supposed to be materialistic wannabe princesses angling to catch a man before third grade? I have a son and haven’t paid much attention to your girl clothes before this, but I was hoping to purchase a gift. Not only did I leave empty-handed, but I won’t be returning.

And there’s more:

I’m disgusted with the “my best subjects” shirt. I have always loved children’s place, the clothes, the backpacks; but I can not support a company financially that thinks a shirt like that is okay. As the mother of four daughters I want them to value education. Shame on you.

We’ve reached out to The Children’s Place for comment regarding customers’ concerns, and will update this post as soon as we hear anything back.

The Children’s Place Selling Some Seriously Wack Shirts to Children [Jezebel]