lily
09-28-2006, 12:42 AM
Link (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/26/AR2006092601489.html?referrer=email)
Teens' T-Shirts Make Educators Squirm
Suggestive Messages Challenge Dress Codes
By Ian Shapira
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 27, 2006; Page A01
Ashli Walker rifled through a rack of designer T-shirts one recent
afternoon, pondering which one she should buy and wear the next day to
Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George's County. The big black one
that read, "TRUST ME..I'M SINGLE"? Or the snug white T-shirt emblazoned
with, "I KNOW WHAT BOYS WANT"?
They're blatantly sexual, occasionally clever and often loaded with double
meanings, forcing school administrators and other students to read
provocations stripped across the chest, such as "yes, but not with u!,"
"Your Boyfriend Is a Good Kisser" and "two boys for every girl." Such
T-shirts also are emblematic of the kind of sleazy-chic culture some
teenagers now inhabit, in which status can be defined by images of sexual
promiscuity that previous generations might have considered unhip.
The T-shirts, which school officials say are racier than ever, are posing
dress-code dilemmas on Washington area campuses. School systems typically
ban clothing that expresses vulgarity, obscenity or lewdness or that
promotes cigarettes, alcohol, drugs or weapons. For instance, T-shirts
advertising Budweiser or the movie "Scarface," with Al Pacino holding a
tommy gun, are taboo.
But 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."
For teenagers who chafe at clothing rules for midriffs and cleavage,
"attitude" shirts offer a chance to show some skin, without showing skin.
"We have so many dress codes or whatever, so the T-shirts are like us
rebelling against the teachers and principals because we can't wear what we
want," said Ashli, 17, a junior at Eleanor Roosevelt, in Greenbelt, who said
she does not want to have sex until she is married. "I think most girls and
boys get the T-shirts because they're funny and they draw attention to you.
I don't really care what guys say."
Her mother, Yakini Ajanaku, does not mind her daughter's T-shirts because
she said Ashli wears them to be ironic. "I know she's a sweet girl, and I
know that she's very conservative and is not sexually active," Ajanaku said.
"Other people would probably get the wrong message, but I am pretty much
like, 'Who cares what they think?' "
In a culture that bombards teenagers with sexual imagery -- think of rapper
50 Cent's song "Candy Shop," about the pleasures of consuming lollipops --
the T-shirts are just another way to revel in raunchy entertainment, without
necessarily getting physical, according to students interviewed for this
story.
"It gives me a little edge, but it's just to get a rise out of people,
because people know me," said Allison Wynn, 17, a senior at Osbourn Park
High School in Prince William County. "They're just like in every ad you see
in magazines, people wearing these clothes or they're always making out.
It's how you want to be. My boyfriend thinks it's funny." She said she is
fond of wearing a shirt that says, "Don't Call Me a Cowgirl Until You See Me
Ride."
Joanne Wynn said her daughter's shirts are humorous. "If it's not in good
taste, I don't let [her] wear it," she said.
The T-shirts highlight a paradox about this generation: Even as more
teenagers absorb ubiquitous sexual messages, federal data show that they
report having less sex than their predecessors.
Although a recent National Center for Health Statistics survey found that
more than half of all teenagers engage in oral sex, teen pregnancy rates
have plummeted since the early 1990s. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the percentage of high school students who reported
having sexual intercourse dropped from 54 percent in 1991 to 47 percent in
2005.
"It's a puzzling picture," said Sarah Brown, director of the National
Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy in the District. "When someone sees a
girl or boy in provocative clothing, they make a lot of assumptions about
what's going on, which may or may not be true -- which really is the point,
isn't it?"
Suggestive T-shirts have been around for years. A decade ago, some teenagers
sported shirts that featured Coed Naked sporting events or Mr. Zog's Sex
Wax. But school officials now are dealing with shirts that are much more
blunt. It's up to them to determine what's innocuous, what's mildly
suggestive and what, frankly, is truly awful.
At Potomac Senior High School in Prince William, a girl recently wore a
black T-shirt parodying the "Got Milk?" ad, with sexual slang replacing the
word "milk." Steve Bryson, the school's administrative assistant, brought
the girl into his office. "I asked her, 'Why would you wear something like
that?' And she said: 'I don't know. My dad knows that I have it,'" he
recalled. "So I called the dad, and, of course, he had no idea. He said,
'Throw it away.' "
One popular merchant of suggestive shirts is Hollister Co., a chain owned by
Abercrombie & Fitch. Its shirts say such things as "two boys for every girl"
and "FLIRTING MY WAY TO THE TOP."
Larissa Olson, 20, a Hollister employee at Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge,
said she wonders why girls buy them. "I'm like, 'She has no respect for
herself.' "
Asked about the messages his company markets to teenagers, Thomas D. Lennox,
Abercrombie & Fitch's vice president of corporate communications, said, "Our
T-shirts are sometimes controversial, which we're fine with." He declined to
elaborate.
When students are caught with shirts that cross the line, they are usually
given a school T-shirt or asked to turn theirs inside out. Administrators
said evaluating the shirts can be awkward because the words are usually
printed right over a student's chest. Sometimes students stride quickly past
or take other evasive maneuvers to conceal a questionable T-shirt.
"It's almost like a live-action Pac-Man game. You see them coming through
the hall, and they're trying to avoid you," said Myca Gray, an assistant
principal at Gar-Field Senior High School in Prince William.
At Eleanor Roosevelt, students caught with over-the-line shirts sometimes
must wear school shirts that mark them as "dress code violators." One day,
Assistant Principal LaTanya Catron saw sophomore Paula Akanni wearing a
tight black T-shirt that said, "I AM TOO HOT TO HANDLE." The word "Hot" had
gold studs on the letters.
"Are you too hot to handle?" Catron asked with a smile. "Is that for the
boys?
"It's for nobody," Akanni replied, walking away.
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."
Keana said her shirt's message was ambiguous. "It could mean, 'Yes, I want
to go to the movies, but not with you,' " she said. "If I wanted to be sexy,
like on MTV, I would just buy low-cut tight shirts."
The T-shirt trend appears to have no racial or ethnic boundaries. Girls
appear to wear them more often. Guys say there is nothing confusing about
the messages. "When I see a T-shirt that says, '100% single,' then you're
compelled to go up and talk to them," said Paul Barrett, 17, a senior at
Osbourn Park. "But if they're not single, it'd kind of [tick] me off, like
they're a tease. I wouldn't let my girlfriend wear that."
At the boutique in Prince George's, Ashli decided what she would wear to
school. Back to the rack went "TRUST ME..I'M SINGLE." She took "I KNOW WHAT
BOYS WANT" and headed the register.
"I like this one," she said, "because I have shoes to go with it."
Teens' T-Shirts Make Educators Squirm
Suggestive Messages Challenge Dress Codes
By Ian Shapira
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 27, 2006; Page A01
Ashli Walker rifled through a rack of designer T-shirts one recent
afternoon, pondering which one she should buy and wear the next day to
Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George's County. The big black one
that read, "TRUST ME..I'M SINGLE"? Or the snug white T-shirt emblazoned
with, "I KNOW WHAT BOYS WANT"?
They're blatantly sexual, occasionally clever and often loaded with double
meanings, forcing school administrators and other students to read
provocations stripped across the chest, such as "yes, but not with u!,"
"Your Boyfriend Is a Good Kisser" and "two boys for every girl." Such
T-shirts also are emblematic of the kind of sleazy-chic culture some
teenagers now inhabit, in which status can be defined by images of sexual
promiscuity that previous generations might have considered unhip.
The T-shirts, which school officials say are racier than ever, are posing
dress-code dilemmas on Washington area campuses. School systems typically
ban clothing that expresses vulgarity, obscenity or lewdness or that
promotes cigarettes, alcohol, drugs or weapons. For instance, T-shirts
advertising Budweiser or the movie "Scarface," with Al Pacino holding a
tommy gun, are taboo.
But 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."
For teenagers who chafe at clothing rules for midriffs and cleavage,
"attitude" shirts offer a chance to show some skin, without showing skin.
"We have so many dress codes or whatever, so the T-shirts are like us
rebelling against the teachers and principals because we can't wear what we
want," said Ashli, 17, a junior at Eleanor Roosevelt, in Greenbelt, who said
she does not want to have sex until she is married. "I think most girls and
boys get the T-shirts because they're funny and they draw attention to you.
I don't really care what guys say."
Her mother, Yakini Ajanaku, does not mind her daughter's T-shirts because
she said Ashli wears them to be ironic. "I know she's a sweet girl, and I
know that she's very conservative and is not sexually active," Ajanaku said.
"Other people would probably get the wrong message, but I am pretty much
like, 'Who cares what they think?' "
In a culture that bombards teenagers with sexual imagery -- think of rapper
50 Cent's song "Candy Shop," about the pleasures of consuming lollipops --
the T-shirts are just another way to revel in raunchy entertainment, without
necessarily getting physical, according to students interviewed for this
story.
"It gives me a little edge, but it's just to get a rise out of people,
because people know me," said Allison Wynn, 17, a senior at Osbourn Park
High School in Prince William County. "They're just like in every ad you see
in magazines, people wearing these clothes or they're always making out.
It's how you want to be. My boyfriend thinks it's funny." She said she is
fond of wearing a shirt that says, "Don't Call Me a Cowgirl Until You See Me
Ride."
Joanne Wynn said her daughter's shirts are humorous. "If it's not in good
taste, I don't let [her] wear it," she said.
The T-shirts highlight a paradox about this generation: Even as more
teenagers absorb ubiquitous sexual messages, federal data show that they
report having less sex than their predecessors.
Although a recent National Center for Health Statistics survey found that
more than half of all teenagers engage in oral sex, teen pregnancy rates
have plummeted since the early 1990s. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the percentage of high school students who reported
having sexual intercourse dropped from 54 percent in 1991 to 47 percent in
2005.
"It's a puzzling picture," said Sarah Brown, director of the National
Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy in the District. "When someone sees a
girl or boy in provocative clothing, they make a lot of assumptions about
what's going on, which may or may not be true -- which really is the point,
isn't it?"
Suggestive T-shirts have been around for years. A decade ago, some teenagers
sported shirts that featured Coed Naked sporting events or Mr. Zog's Sex
Wax. But school officials now are dealing with shirts that are much more
blunt. It's up to them to determine what's innocuous, what's mildly
suggestive and what, frankly, is truly awful.
At Potomac Senior High School in Prince William, a girl recently wore a
black T-shirt parodying the "Got Milk?" ad, with sexual slang replacing the
word "milk." Steve Bryson, the school's administrative assistant, brought
the girl into his office. "I asked her, 'Why would you wear something like
that?' And she said: 'I don't know. My dad knows that I have it,'" he
recalled. "So I called the dad, and, of course, he had no idea. He said,
'Throw it away.' "
One popular merchant of suggestive shirts is Hollister Co., a chain owned by
Abercrombie & Fitch. Its shirts say such things as "two boys for every girl"
and "FLIRTING MY WAY TO THE TOP."
Larissa Olson, 20, a Hollister employee at Potomac Mills Mall in Woodbridge,
said she wonders why girls buy them. "I'm like, 'She has no respect for
herself.' "
Asked about the messages his company markets to teenagers, Thomas D. Lennox,
Abercrombie & Fitch's vice president of corporate communications, said, "Our
T-shirts are sometimes controversial, which we're fine with." He declined to
elaborate.
When students are caught with shirts that cross the line, they are usually
given a school T-shirt or asked to turn theirs inside out. Administrators
said evaluating the shirts can be awkward because the words are usually
printed right over a student's chest. Sometimes students stride quickly past
or take other evasive maneuvers to conceal a questionable T-shirt.
"It's almost like a live-action Pac-Man game. You see them coming through
the hall, and they're trying to avoid you," said Myca Gray, an assistant
principal at Gar-Field Senior High School in Prince William.
At Eleanor Roosevelt, students caught with over-the-line shirts sometimes
must wear school shirts that mark them as "dress code violators." One day,
Assistant Principal LaTanya Catron saw sophomore Paula Akanni wearing a
tight black T-shirt that said, "I AM TOO HOT TO HANDLE." The word "Hot" had
gold studs on the letters.
"Are you too hot to handle?" Catron asked with a smile. "Is that for the
boys?
"It's for nobody," Akanni replied, walking away.
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."
Keana said her shirt's message was ambiguous. "It could mean, 'Yes, I want
to go to the movies, but not with you,' " she said. "If I wanted to be sexy,
like on MTV, I would just buy low-cut tight shirts."
The T-shirt trend appears to have no racial or ethnic boundaries. Girls
appear to wear them more often. Guys say there is nothing confusing about
the messages. "When I see a T-shirt that says, '100% single,' then you're
compelled to go up and talk to them," said Paul Barrett, 17, a senior at
Osbourn Park. "But if they're not single, it'd kind of [tick] me off, like
they're a tease. I wouldn't let my girlfriend wear that."
At the boutique in Prince George's, Ashli decided what she would wear to
school. Back to the rack went "TRUST ME..I'M SINGLE." She took "I KNOW WHAT
BOYS WANT" and headed the register.
"I like this one," she said, "because I have shoes to go with it."