Are You What You Wear?
Posted by truegenius on December 12, 2006
“HOT.” “Spoiled Rotten.” “Pimp.” “Boob Man.” You many guess that these are some of the latest and greatest phrases in message t-shirts for Hollywood’s bad girls and bad boys. You would guess wrong. They are part of the latest and growing trend of message t-shirts for our children from infant on up.
As parents, should we be bothered by this growing trend of sassy and derogatory messages that are splashed across the chest or the backside of children across America? That’s for you to decide. To some these messages are funny and are used as an outlet for not taking life too seriously. To others, they are derogatory and label kids in a negative light.
Over the past few months, I have met dozens of parents who express a growing concern for how we are dressing our children. Many believe that we are internalizing in our children a negative self-image and are giving them license to act out by dressing them in negative and derogatory clothing. In fact, I have not met one parent who does not feel this way.
Today, peer pressure is at its greatest. Children as young as age five are becoming increasingly concerned with what image they portray at school and with their peers. They are demanding life styles that fit in to the “in” crowd.
Take a trip to any shopping mall across America and sit and watch how parents interact with their children. You may see a young mom and her young daughter wearing matching sweat outfits with “HOT” splashed across their bottom backside. You may see a child with a message t-shirt reading “Spoiled Rotten” having a tantrum to get what she wants. You may see a little boy at the children’s play area with “Playground Pimp” splashed across his chest bumping and pushing kids out of his way. What you will see are many parents giving in to the demands of their children. Parents want their children to fit in and sometimes this means choosing for their child to be the bully rather than the bullied, or to be considered “HOT” rather than smart.
There is an old and popular expression “you are what you eat.” It can also hold true for fashion, “you are what you wear.” Message t-shirts are a very popular fashion statement. They allow you to express to the world who you are.
As a parent, I choose to dress my son in designs that fit his personality and help express the little genius that he truly is. I choose for my son to build his self-esteem through encouraging him to learn and explore – and to have a whole lot of fun doing it. I choose for my son to express to the world that though he may be cute (and he surely is) that most importantly, he is smart.
I choose to inspire my son to have FUN, try hard and aim high in all that he does; because after all – though it may be cliché – children are our future. I would rather have a future shaped by intelligence and what can be accomplished through it than one where we are measured and rewarded for being the bully or the hottest one in the room.
