Teens' sexy T-shirts making educators squirm

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Ian Shapira

Washington Post

WASHINGTON - Ashli Walker rifled through a rack of designer T-shirts at a suburban boutique one recent afternoon, pondering which one she should buy and wear the next day to high school: 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 are also emblematic of the kind of sleazy-chic culture some teen-agers 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 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 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 a suburban secondary school who recently ordered that a "Pimps" shirt be 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."

For teen-agers 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 High School in Greenbelt, Md., 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, said she doesn't mind the T-shirts because 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 teen-agers with sexual imagery, 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 Manassas, Va., who is fond of a shirt that says, "Don't Call Me a Cowgirl Until You See Me Ride."

"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," Allison said.

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 teen-agers 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 teen-agers 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 Washington. "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 teen-agers sported shirts that featured Coed Naked sporting events or Mr. Zog's Sex Wax. 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 is truly awful.

At Potomac Senior High School in suburban Dumfries, Va., 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."

Asked about the messages his company markets to teen-agers, 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.

Most parents interviewed said that while they would rather not see their kids wear the racy shirts, they sometimes give in. Rosa Pulley tried and failed to order daughter Keana, 17, a senior at Gar-Field Senior High School in suburban Woodbridge, Va., to return a T-shirt that says, "yes, but not with u!"

"I have to pick my battles," Pulley said. "OK, 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."

Back at the boutique, Ashli had decided what she would wear to school. "TRUST ME..I'M SINGLE" went back on the rack. She took "I KNOW WHAT BOYS WANT" to the register.

"I like this one," she said, "because I have shoes to go with it."

[homesick_american 1]

I loathe this sleazy-chic trend. You see the same garbage on kids here in the UK and it's so vulgar and low-class. I'd die of embarrassment if I had a child of mine wearing sh!t like that.

I'd suggest uniforms but they don't seem to have much of an effect over here. I think schools should ban shirts with any lettering on them, that'd make the dress code easy to enforce.

[pedroh 21]

ahh, banning, banning and more banning. doesn't solve a lot, but oh well..if you don't ban, the girl with the 'single and ready to mingle' tshirt is gonna have a threesome with some kids in th bathroom..

[Lewis 0]

It's a judgement call by the school, parent and kid but the school should have an enforcable dress code that is actually implemented.

[RonMay 1]

ahh, banning, banning and more banning. doesn't solve a lot, but oh well..if you don't ban, the girl with the 'single and ready to mingle' tshirt is gonna have a threesome with some kids in th bathroom..

ammm i think im guilty of buying a shirt that says "guys im hot" and "spoiled chic"... just bought it last week lol... although i know my limitations and im aware of the effect of such vulgar prints... in our university though since its a catholic school, we're not allowed to wear such prints where its has double meaning, vulgar words (especially when its pertaining to sexual conduct)...

Edited October 2, 2006 by ronmay

[Traviesa 0]

"Ashli" is attending my high school. Man, those were the days. ERHS Raiders. Things were so simple back then. Why must kids today try so desperately to complicate their lives?

[CarolineM 0]

Some of the shirts I see here are OUT OF CONTROL> As A parent I would NEVER let my daughter wear the.

The boys aren't blameless either...shirts that have "#######" references on them....terrible, nasty, suggestive, vulgar things...

OMG this one shirt said...

"It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself"

Now...come on.

[homesick_american 1]

Some of the shirts I see here are OUT OF CONTROL> As A parent I would NEVER let my daughter wear the.

The boys aren't blameless either...shirts that have "#######" references on them....terrible, nasty, suggestive, vulgar things...

OMG this one shirt said...

"It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself"

Now...come on.

Ew, someone wore that in PUBLIC? Disgusting.

[rclouse 0]

[CarolineM 0]

Welcome to my world.

13 year old girl... "It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself"

I kid you not. I wanted to take a picture so ppl would believe me!!!

[homesick_american 1]

Welcome to my world.

13 year old girl... "It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself"

I kid you not. I wanted to take a picture so ppl would believe me!!!

That's NAUSEATING.

[almaty 19]

hmmmm,.... i guess,, give my old "give me head till i dead" tee-shirt from college is pretty calm

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

[almaty 19]

brother rich, you are indeed a right thinking type of guy.,...

[rclouse 0]

Thank you! You have saved the thread!