Jay Jays’ Little Losers line of clothing was criticised by the Australian Childhood Foundation in today’s Daily Telegraph, saying the t-shirt slogans (see picture below) send the wrong message to kids.
The Little Losers clothing line is being marketed to kids aged 12 to 17 and includes, t-shirts, mini skirts, shorts, accessories and sleepwear. But it is the t-shirt slogans that has parents up in arms and calling for the tees to be pulled from sale.
These tees for teens are part of a growing trend by clothing manufacturers to market the raunch culture to kids. The clothing manufacturers will try to convince us that they are just reflecting cultural trends and the time honoured tradition of teenage rebellion. But what they are really doing is exploiting deviant behaviours for profit. There is nothing funny about binge-drinking, aggressive behaviour and the sexualisation of children. These are all very serious issues and shouldn’t be exploited for profit.
Do the right thing Jay Jays and pull these t-shirts from sale.
Do you think the Little Losers line of clothing being sold by national retailer Jay Jays is sending the wrong message to kids?
If you wish to register a complaint with Jay Jays you can contact the head office located at 658 Church Street, Richmond, Victoria on (03) 9420 0200.
You can also send a message to the company via their website. Click on the “CONTACT” link located at the bottom of the web page at http://www.jayjays.com.au/jayjays.html Please note you will need to temporarily allow pop-ups on your web browser to access the contact form.
UPDATE – 12 JANUARY 2008
I tried to submit a complaint via the contact form on the Jay Jays website. But it seems to be malfunctioning at present…hmm, I wonder if that has anything to do with all the bad press they’ve been getting lately?
Other bloggers who have written about this issue:
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Hello
You parents are so overprotective.
I mean let us buy what we want to
If you have such a big problem
Go cover your child’s eyes with blindfolds
have respect for those around you who actually think the shirts are funny
They’re not your children what right do you have to concern for them, they can do what their liberty takes them, if you have a problem go lecture your kids to not buy those JAY JAy shirts.
Australia is a free country, how dare you take that away from us teenagers.
Melissa
You are welcome Michael and thank you for being respectful of me and this website. I apologise if my responses were a little curt this evening. But I am as passionate about these issues as you are as passionately opposed to them.
I’m not affiliated with the EFA. But thanks for your response.
Michael
Perhaps you should visit the other blogs that are writing about this issue because there is much more discussion going on there. Jay Jays have been overwhelmed with complaints about these t-shirts since it was reported in the newspaper on 11th January.
In regards to your question, if you’ve been following this story (not just on my blog) you know the answer already. These slogans send the wrong messages to kids.
Your response of:
Is exactly what I would expect from an EFA member. EFA does not advocate for community or social responsibility. They advocate only for personal responsibility and the rights of the individual and screw the rest of us. It takes a village to raise a child, Michael. Something you folks at EFA don’t seem to understand.
Deborah
If you can’t answer the question, maybe your readers can. I’m sorry if I upset you, I honestly did not mean to. We have different opinions — I’m not bitter or trying to start a fight. I simply asked a question because I didn’t know the answer to it.
- Mike
Michael – you are full of crap. All you were doing is fishing for quotes you can use on your blog post which opposes the call by parents to pull these t-shirts from sale. I deleted your trackback because I do not want my website linked to it anymore than it already is. What am I, the queen of censorship in Australia now? Everytime I write something, even though others write about it, I’m the one you guys point the finger at.
You want to fight censorship, defend the civil rights of those in China and other countries that imprison people for speaking out against governments. And leave concerned parents alone.
Deborah
Hi Deb,
I’m a decent bloke and I don’t want to engage in any sort of online name calling or whatever you’ve experienced in the last week. All I’m doing is asking a question. By no means do you have to answer it, but ot’s honestly something I just don’t understand and wanted some feedback. From you or any of your readers.
Cheers anyway,
Michael
Michael – I’ve seen your blog and I am aware of your bias in relation to this and many other issues on this website. So there is no point trying to debate any of these issues with you.
Deborah
The only question I have to ask is: Why get Jays Jays to pull these shirts from sale when many parents and their children find this stuff perfectly fine. Can you not accept that some people like these shirts and therefore should be able to purchase them. No one is forcing anyone to buy them.
Really, since when did being offended become so bad…
I completely understand your view as a teenager Krystal and you are to be commended on your ability and willingness to understand the other side of this debate.
Thank you for the discussion tonight. I hope you will visit us again, you are always welcome.
Deborah
True point, you CAN control the amount of makeup you put on your face. But you can also control the shirt you wear. I understand though that some males are quite likely to do exactly what parents fear, and that is very saddening to know.
And yes, I’ll too be watching to see if they remove the line. Perhaps, since it really is causing a lot of concern to parents, for the sakes of the emotional well-being of these parents, it would be best for the line to be removed.
This isn’t to say that I’ve changed my opinion, but there’s no point in causing mental and emotional anguish if something can be done about it – on this point, you are quite correct.
You can control the amount of make-up you apply to your face. But these t-shirts make statements which others will attribute to the girl or boy wearing them. They shouldn’t, but they do. I may be 38 but things haven’t changed that much since I was a teen and I know most kids will wear these tees just for a laugh. But others won’t see it that way and that is what worries the parents.
It will be interesting to see if these tees are pulled from sale by Jay Jays in the next few days.
A couple of months ago Wal-Mart in the United States pulled a pair of girls panties from sale after parents complained. The panties had the slogan “Who Needs Credit Cards?…” printed on the crotch. The blog Feministing led the protest to have this product withdrawn from sale and Wal-Mart did yank the panties from shelves across the United States within 24 hours. I wrote about it here http://www.australianwomenonline.com/?p=59
Deborah
You have a very valid point in saying that although not all males will sexualise young women due to these shirts, some will. It is a concerning point and I’m willing to concede to that. Sadly, there will always be such a minority, regardless of what is done.
The thing is, it’s not just clothes that make people be judged. If everyone wore nothing at all, people would still be judged at a glance. Let’s take the idea of slathering makeup over oneself. Too much and people think you are in fact nothing more than a floozy. Should we then remove all lines of makeup because someone could wear it and someone else would abuse that and sexualise the girl?
You are an intelligent young woman Krystal and I have no fear you or any of your friends would take the slogans on these t-shirts seriously. But what about others?
As I mentioned in the discussion on Imaginif, what really scares me is what some males (not all males) will think when they see a teenage girl wearing a t-shirt with “Miss Floozy” printed on it. Like it or not, people do judge others by the clothes they wear. It’s not right, but it happens.
Deborah
Yes, I agree that 12/13 is too young for these to be marketed to. Although I’m sure they know what the phrases mean and such, the designs are irrelevent to their age group.
Perhaps you’re right and these shirts are in fact reinforcing wrong messages – it’s highly probable that as a teenager myself, I tend to credit us with more intellect than we have, and don’t think that we’d take these shirts seriously. Perhaps younger ages would be more susceptible to the messages than us older ones, which in that case would be considered (and rightfully so) a problem.
Either way, I don’t think removing the line from the market will do any good. With the recent (and very strong) media attention, coupled with the fact that a lot of teenagers like to be very provocative, I daresay there’ll be a rush to purchase the clothes now. I also suspect that, as with most teen fasion these days, the craze won’t last long. The shirts will be worn a few times and then hidden away in the wardrobe to be replaced by something else.
By then, it’s quite possible that the damage will have been done, but when you think about it, the same message is being promoted through movies and television (which, of course, is not what’s being discussed and I really shouldn’t have brought it up…)
And thanks, I’ll go check out that discussion, too
There is an interesting discussion taking place in regards to this issue at the blog Imaginif (see trackback).
Deborah
I welcome your discussion Krystal. It’s great to have views from a range of age groups on Australian Women Online and I welcome input from young women like yourself.
Jay Jays didn’t create the problem because as you rightly pointed out, teenagers have been wearing this type of stuff for years. But I think some parents are concerned that these tees are reinforcing messages like binge-drinking under age is okay (Mr Drunk, Miss Wasted), and that treating young women like sex objects is acceptable (Miss Floozy, Mr Pimp).
As you pointed out, it is up to each parent to decide what is acceptable for their own kids to wear. But it just really annoys me when companies deliberately market this stuff to kids as young as 12 or 13.
(I love discussion, so I hope I’m not irritating you now, lol)
*laugh* I had a friend who said the very same thing about if she had kids (she insisted that she would probably strip them on the street).
=D And I honestly don’t believe everything I see on those programs – I was a huge fan of Frontline; that killed my respect for them. Regardless, since some of the sizes of JayJays are small, catering for smaller teenagers (such as me) I would assume that younger kids would see them too. This, of course, doesn’t change the fact that they’re not the target audience. Perhaps if JayJays was made to do anything about it, they should (rather than removing the line altogether) simply only make sizes aimed at the older teenagers, since (let’s face it) we joke about this sort of thing all the time.
I think it’s more than fair that some parents wouldn’t want their children/teens wearing these clothes, for various reasons, and that’s fair. But the clothing shouldn’t be taken off the market, because some parents are more than willing to let their kids wear it (my own mother included.)
Although it is more than admirable and reasonable to be trying to prevent the sexualisation of children/teens/pre-teens (I completely agree that it is a serious issue, no matter the age group!), I don’t think this line is exacerbating the problem. Honestly, I really do think it’s all in good fun, much like the t-shirts bearing the slogan ‘I would do me’ or ‘you looked better online’. It’s something to laugh at, and I’d think that the people wearing them would think that it really is JUST something to laugh at.
Thank you for the discussion Krystal.
I wouldn’t believe everything you see on Today Tonight and A Current Affair, Krystal. There is a program called “Media Watch” on ABC TV that will really open your eyes about the very questionable ethics of these type of programs.
I’m the mother of teenage boys and they don’t wear this type of stuff. If they did, they’d have to deal with me, LOL.
I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who doesn’t like the outfits aimed at younglings. I’ll definitely read about it here when it’s done
But anyway, we have to remember that guys are wearing these sorts of designs too, and while I can’t speak for them, I would be under the assumption that they think it’s all for fun, too. With that thought, I don’t think they’d apply the rule of ‘all for a joke’ to themselves and not to the girls wearing such things.
There’s also the matter that a lot of parents who are complaining (or so I have seen on current affairs programs) have children under ten. Let’s face it – JayJays aims at teenagers, not children, and teenagers are at that age where we wear this sort of thing anyway.
I agree with you Krystal about the skimpy outfits for three year olds. We are not ignoring this issue, we just can’t cover everything all at once and I always planned to cover this issue on Australian Women Online and I will do so in the near future.
But I don’t agree with you that these t-shirt slogans are ‘hilarious designs’ nor do I think they are ‘just harmless fun’. If a teenage girl wears a t-shirt with the slogan “Miss Floozy” she may think it’s just a joke, but will the teenage boys and young men who see her wearing it? I don’t think so.
As a seventeen-year-old, I think people are getting far too upset about this, since it’s painfully obvious it’s just a bit of fun. The line is called ‘Little Losers’, suggesting that the images presented on the clothing are in fact undesirable. No one in the target market wants to be called a loser.
The idea that these clothes sexualise kids is frankly absurd. It appears that those making the complaints are ignoring the racks of clothes holding mini-skirts and other such skimpy outfits aimed at THREE-YEAR-OLDS. Perhaps people could remove them from the market before attacking a comparitively harmless chain of hilarious designs.
Besides, I don’t think that they’ll cause much damage. What self-respecting teenager would wear something that calls themselves a floozy unless they thought it was just harmless fun?