Friday, February 24, 2012

Sick stereotype

So yes, I find the Irish Yoga Trucker  Hat--with a  man on all fours puking green shamrocks--doubly offensive:  To the Irish, and anyone who practices yoga.  Doubled down if you are both.  

And to the millions of Americans who struggle daily with an addiction to alcohol. 

Urban Outfitters is an ultra hip, profitable retain clothing chain targeting a younger, impressionable, demographic.  A good corporate citizen doesn't do anything to anger or slight an entire ethnic group --at least not knowingly.  And since an article in Irish Central has now put them on notice about how offensive that image is to a high percentage of viewers (potentially 40 million Irish Americans), it will be interesting to see how Urban Outfitters responds.

Urban Outfitters, Northampton
No Irish Yoga hats, but the Northampton branch did have this t-shirt and "beer briefs"



7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great point Larry

While we're at it, the term "paddy wagon" is offensive for similar reasons (seriously).

That term appears every once in a while in your blog posts.

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah, I know. I have used the term once in five years of publishing, and that was to point out a historical fact (that the term was used frequently).

About ten years ago when an Amherst Bulletin Letter to the Editor used the term, I complained; and the overall editor at the time (who did not see it prior to publication) was aghast.

Cowardly Anon Nitwit said...

It's unfortunately supply and demand, there is a demand for such items and people will supply it. Drinking has been around for awhile (duh) and many of my Irish friends are proud of how much they can drink. This isn't the fault of the company, it's a reflection of society and shows that minorities (in the melatonin sense) aren't the only ones suffering from negative images.

Anonymous said...

Lighten up Francis

Larry Kelley said...

Said the Cowardly Anon Nitwit.

Yes you CAN!

Dr Benway said...

That's melanin, you knucklehead!

Anon Nitwit said...

You're missing the point, Larry. The people who buy and wear these shirts and hats are irish themselves. They seem to want to celebrate this stereotype. So instead of blaming the retailer, your efforts should be focused on your fellow Irishmen for perpetuating these negative messages.