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5.28.2014

The Pac Sun Incident

I'm about to get all ranty up in here so walk away if you don't want to hear it.

I don't know why I'm wanting to talk about this right now, something reminded me of it, and I realized that I hadn't expressed my views on this.

There's been a movement lately with #yesallwomen and the recent tragedy in California to drive home the message of respecting women as women, as individual human beings, good for more than just their bodies.

Anyways. My whole rant has to do with something that happened a few months ago. A woman in Salt Lake City purchased a few hundred dollars of merchandise from Pac Sun. Namely, she entirely bought out an entire store of material she thought was offensive, material she didn't want publicly displayed.  Read more here, or just google it. It was all over the news.

This woman was essentially tied to a horse and dragged through the streets of the internet. She was called ridiculous. The LDS church was laughed at outrageously, as this woman was LDS. She was called uptight. She was called a prude. She was called stupid for spending her money to get rid of something she didn't support.

Now, let me explain the shirt in question to you. It was a picture of a woman in her underwear, bending over in front of the camera so everyone could see her chest clearly, and her head was cropped off. There was a caption on the shirt, "Visual".

As an LDS woman, this is not a shirt I want to see in the store. But guess what, as a WOMAN, this is not a shirt I want to see in the store. This shirt reduced a model to being nothing more than her boobs and her legs. It literally removed her head! Her head wasn't good enough or something for the shirt? Furthermore, this was a shirt that men would wear. This shirt was sending a message, however strong, to men, that women are only good for their bodies. That men are or should be simply visual, and by cropping the head of a woman out, men shouldn't worry about anything above the shoulders of a woman.

There seems to be a double standard. It shouldn't matter the religion of a person if what they are doing is trying to dignify women in the world. It doesn't matter what you could say about this woman, what she did was spend hundreds of dollars in an attempts to stop the idea that women are good for their bodies and nothing more.

I don't know how many people would do that.

Anyways. That's my rant. Maybe some of you have a different view on what she did. That's fine. We're entitled to our opinions. But if you're on the side of #yesallwomen and if you're wanting the media to stop doing this to women, then I don't see how you could be against what the woman at Pac Sun did.

That's all. RANT OVER. For now.

EDIT: Told you that up there ^^ was only for then ;) Thanks for the comments people have sent in about this post! Someone made an interesting point that I'd want to address. Well, several people made this point. The woman spent a LARGE amount of money. Some people said that is ridiculous. Not everyone can spend so much money to support a cause, and that's fine. She shouldn't have been trashed for spending money. Furthermore, the woman returned the shirts shortly before the 60 day return policy deadline, so she got her money back, but made a point.

Another point was that in spending this money, she was positively reinforcing this company to make more crude material, because the bottom line was, she bought it. They don't care if she bought it because she loves it or hates it, she bought it. SO perhaps her methods were not the best. I can agree with this. However, the point of criticism then should have been over her methods, and not her motive. 


13 comments:

Unknown said...

Ooh! I really kinda love this...like a lot.

Nay said...

Her tactics might have been weird for others to understand, but she did the right thing. I am sick and tired of having to shield my children's eyes from images that degrade women. It's hard enough being a parent who is trying to raise a boy who will respect women without having these companies flash this at him. Now that's my rant. Thank you for writing this.

Anosa said...

I must admit I didn't know why the trend on twitter started but I got the gist and I sent a few messages myself. Now reading about it here I understand it in full, the lady should maybe done it in different way but she should not be ridiculed at all. Thank for sharing loved the ranting lolx

Unknown said...

I think her heart was in the right place.

Alicia Snow said...

It doesn't matter the method, she was standing up for women everywhere. It just makes me sick that she's ridiculed, yet the store is not for carrying such a crude shirt.

Tanejasbride said...

I agree with you - that's not a good message to send to children who could see the shirt in question.

Lauren // Pink on the Cheek said...

I think she was in the right. Now that I am getting older, I am beginning to see what is right and wrong in our culture. I wouldn't want my (future) son to wear a shirt like that. Thank you for sharing!

Unknown said...

Definitely agree with her!

Kelsey Eaton said...

interesting. and ya...that shirt sounds gross.

Unknown said...

I definitely agree - I don't think shirts like that should be sold, though it sure makes it easy to know who to avoid in life: anyone wearing it!

Charlie said...

Let it out, girl!

Unknown said...

I hadn't heard this story until now. And while that woman might seem a little crazy I completely admire her for standing up for what she thinks. People need to do that more often. Be you. Be you. Be you. And who cares what the h - e - double barbie legs everyone else thinks!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like her heart is in the right place - I can't stand those shirts either, but it's sad that she has to act out by herself because it won't amount to a lot. :(