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| The BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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I did something very frightening last week: I walked through a mall. There was a time when I liked walking through the malls... record stores, shoe stores... remember Tiffany Bakery? I never could walk past one of those without buying some brownies. I guess that was the idea.
Not any more.
I guess my big mistake was going to the mall when the back-to-school rush was in full swing. Am I talking back packs, pens and pencils, book covers and folders here, friends? No; I'm talking T-shirts: your standard, back to school fashion statement for today's young, active, intelligent, articulate, expressive, girls-will-be-girls-and-boys-are-gonna-get-em teenagers.
From the moment I walked in the entrance, I was hit with an continuous onslaught of... social decadence. My first stop was at Sears. Sears... you know: watches, towels, tools, appliances... But the first thing I saw was a display of T-shirts. Nope, not Adidas or Nike. These T-shirts had very different messages on them:
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HOTTIE Vixen Flame Savage
Love Hot Stuff |
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Was this Victoria's Secret? If so, it is a secret no longer. These T-shirts let it all hang out. No... this was Sears... and JC Penney... and Burdines.
Are these T-shirts designed for adult-age college students? No, no such luck. They are clearly aimed at the 9-15 year-old crowd.
There was one store that would more aptly have been called the Jon Benet Ramsey Dress-alike Shop.
Walking past specialty clothing store Gadzooks, I saw more messages flashing at me:
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Boy Candy. My Boyfriend Kisses Better Than Yours. Bad Kitty. |
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Yep... and even Mickey Mouse has taken the low road. At the Disney store, I saw a T-shirt with the words "Naughty Girl" on it. And by "naughty girl," we're not talking about Minnie piggin' out on Swiss cheese.
Would it bother you if your 13 year-old daughter walked around with a T-shirt that had "Naughty Girl" plastered all over it? Nah... nothing wrong with that, is there? Kids will be kids, huh? It's just a slogan. But is that the defining message you want your 13 year-old to lead with as she heads off to the mall? Is that what you want your son to be looking at in front of him in math class? Do you suppose that this conveys any sort of message at all to our kids? (Do you suppose it just might have an impact on his math grade?)
Where in the name of God almighty is Gloria Steinem on this issue?
Oh, I know... it's a matter of choice. Choice is good. If a girl is old enough to get an abortion without her parents' knowledge or consent, then she is old enough to wear a "Boy Candy" T-shirt.
Some of these T-shirts are manufactured by a company that has the gall to carry the name "Self Esteem." Richard Clareman, president of Self Esteem sold $7 million dollars worth of this drivel in 1997. This year he predicts sales of over $100 million.
Clareman is proud of his moral stance, however, claiming, "We believe we have an ethical responsibility to the market... so there are some shirts that we eliminate." You wanna' hear some of the ones he eliminated? Me, neither.
An "ethical responsibility." And you're buying that trash?
Well... yes you are. A hundred million dollars worth of it.
And just where do these manufacturers get the ideas for these delightful fashion statements? Why, from the kids themselves, of course. Far be it from them to have to do any thinking on their own. Self Esteem's creative people hang out in school parking lots and lunch rooms. They attend rock concerts and conduct focus groups. I guess it took several hours with a focus group to come up with this:
I'll bet these creative people go home every night and congratulate themselves on what a fine job they are doing. Well, going from $7 million to $100 million sure ain't chopped liver, is it? I'll bet they are real proud of themselves.
Other manufacturers dodge the responsibility issue by claiming that their target market is the 18-25 year-old crowd. Oh yeah, and RJ Reynolds does not market cigarettes to teens either, does it?
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You see, this is why the truth is so important to me, and why the
phoniness bothers me so much. Whether it is the first boomer president of
the United States, who did more to define deviancy down by his lies and
phoniness than 100 million T-shirts; or the tobacco industry, that lied
to us for 60 years; or the manufacturers of T-shirts and R-rated movies,
who claim they are not marketing to teens when, in fact, teens generate
50% of their revenue. You cannot debate the issue when the lies and the
phoniness is a mile thick. You've got to get past that crap. Of course, once you get past the lies and the phoniness, there is nothing left to debate; the truth and the moral thing to do are self-evident. So the purveyors of this crap keep dishing it out... that is all they have. And the press keeps supporting it... and we keep buying it. Why? Because we want to keep the lines of communication open. We want our kids to be our friends; we want them to like us. And how better to show our friendship than by letting them wear a "Boy Toy" T-shirt? |
| Oh, I know what some of you are thinking: "Lighten up, you old fogey. It's just a T-shirt." Yep; and "South Park" is just a TV show, too. And "American Beauty" is just a mooooooovie. And Marilyn Manson (right) is just a rock singer; he means no harm. |
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But you know what? You take 15 years of a steady diet of immoral T-shirts, a daily barrage of TV shows and movies without values or meaning, and 10 hours a day of rock music that advocates violence... and before long you got a generation of kids who do not respect themselves, their friends, their teachers, or their parents. You've got 15% of the kids in our schools so drugged up with Ritalin that they cannot make it through the day without a fix. You've got society where 10% of our kids under the age of 18 suffer from depression. You've got 10,000 chat rooms on the Internet that do not go four lines without an obscenity. You've got 10% of the population of kids under 18 who have thought about committing suicide. You've got an illegitimacy rate of over 30%. You've got babies having babies just to have someone who loves them.
Or maybe not... maybe it's just my imagination. Never mind. Everything is fine.
So, I guess we could go on and on about the irresponsibility of these wicked, greedy capitalist pigs. Oh yeah, I guess we could demand the legislation of moral standards from the same lawmakers who believed Bill Clinton was telling the truth, and cared not one iota when they found out that he had lied to the whole world... multiple times... the same legislators who see Gary Condit's conduct as private and not relevant to the Congress or the country. Yep, I guess we could go to our legislators and demand redress from them. The Congress is the beacon of moral authority, is it not?
Or... we could just do the responsible thing and refuse to buy this crap or do business with retailers that carry and promote it.
Nah... what in the world was I thinking? This is not our responsibility. This is somebody else's responsibility.
Have a nice day.
BBHQ visitors add their comments:
"I agree totally with him! I look around at todays kids and have to wonder, where the heck is their parents? Do they actually let these kids out the door with this crap on? Better yet...do they actually buy these rags for them!?! - Debbie
"No, Hershel, you are not an old fogey. You are someone who writes to the heart of the matter. Thanks for your candor. I will not buy from any retailer who sells this type of crap." - Edith
"I can't believe any responsible parent would let their children wear the trash that's sold now. If parents were more verbal and not afraid to take a stance it wouldn't be allowed. Let's quit trying to "friends" with our children and start being responsible parents." - Anita
"There's no replacement for good parenting. But I guess I don't have a problem with freedom of speech and the ability to buy that junk at the mall..." - Laurie
But Hershel is livid at this. He replies, "Laurie, like so many misguided boomers, has put freedom of speech and 'ability' ahead of responsibility and sound judgment. She believes that just because the constitution protects free speech, any speech is, by definition, acceptable. Did you ever see Thomas Jefferson wearing a T-shirt that read, 'Oops; I said the F-word'? But at least, Laurie has kept the lines of communication open with her kids. That's all that matters, isn't it?"
Hershel concludes: "No... Laurie is part of the problem, not part of the solution."
"I see this "garbage" every day on some of our teenagers. It makes me feel the world we live in is not a better place for our children than what we had as children. How can our kids tell the difference (or even have the chance) to choose morality over some of this crap when the world around them puts this stuff in their faces everyday. To them, It must seem normal and they cannot figure out why some of us parents are upset. God fearing people are not speaking up anymore. Too many people feel uncomfortable when religion or the mention of God is spoken out in public, or even in our own homes for that matter. You really don't have to be offended when I mention God. I'm looking to make the world a better place. Let us all put on tee shirts with "God can read your T-shirt." on them and walk the malls. What do you think?" - Jim
BBHQ visitor Jeff writes: "I am a teacher at a rural high school in Louisiana. About 3 years ago we adopted uniforms - a polo shirt in one of 4 colors, and khaki or navy pants or shorts. It was amazing to me (even though I had taught at a school with uniforms for a couple of years) the change in attitude of our students. Fights are almost nonexistent. Disciplinary referrals are reduced by more than half. What we wear DOES make a difference. If you dress like a little prostitute, you are more than likely to act like one."
Young visitor Trinity takes Hershel to task on this one:
"Music, t-shirts and tv is not the problem as parents, teachers etc would like to believe. children start drugs, violence etc because of family, friends, bullies.if children dont want to watch certain shows and listen to certain music they wont it is as simple as that. also why do you think this stuff is a bad thing? you are quick to say the bad but will gladly hide away the good just because of a few swear words hear [sic] and there, this is nothing compared to real life, real life is the cruliest [sic] of all, why wont small minded people like you let people deside [sic] there [sic] own life and have to interfer [sic] all the time. i love marilyn manson and i have only postive things to say, i was bullied all through my school life which caused me to have no confidence in myself or others and to self harm but if marilyn manson has taught me to aswell [sic] as thousands if not millions of others to be individuals and once i did that and found myself i am more confident and have the best friends ever. I hate small minded people like you and no doubt no one in the public will read this as once again only things that go against such music, tv and t-shirts(T-SHIRTS OH PLEASE NOW YOUR [sic} DESPRITE [sic]) will be posted to try and stop people who might be able to get so me happiness not to."
Whew! Could you make any sense out of that? Trinity thinks that Hershel is small-minded; she hates him. Yep, Marilyn Manson, whom Trinity loves, has influenced her considerably.
Regular visitor TK adds, "Trinity's comments prove Hershel's point. We are losing the war."
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If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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