A Long Way to Go

OK Inspiring Girls, 

Time to put your influence to work!  This Yahoo story is yet another confirmation:  we have a long way to go in helping our culture understand the detrimental messages we "unintentionally" send our youth - not to mention the critical importance of consequential thinking and empathetic decision-making. 

Tie those shoes well.  We're in for an ultra marathon. 

Sexist Back-to-School Shirt Pulled From Shelves

Another day, another T-shirt controversy. The latest wardrobe malfunction comes courtesy of the Children's Place. The kids' clothing company sparked widespread Internet backlash this week after eagle-eyed consumers spotted a shirt that they felt trivialized girls' academic accomplishments. The kid-size tee showed a checklist of "my best subjects" with checks in the boxes next to shopping, music, and dancing — leaving the box next to math blank. The shirt's kicker: "Well nobody's perfect." Get it? After nearly 3,000 outraged comments on the company's Facebook page, along with a barrage of angry tweets, the company issued an apology and pulled the product. The battle may be over, but the war on scandalous T-shirts never ends.  Check out some of the most controversial shirts to hit the market and stir the pot over the past few months.—Lauren Tuck, Shine Staff

The Children's Place 'Best Subjects' T-Shirt

As mentioned above, this week, the Children's Place faced intense social media backlash, as people accused the retailer of promoting sexism. "Guess what? You offended everyone with a brain! Can you explain what your intent was, if not to insult the intelligence of girls and women around the world?" wrote one of the thousands of commenters on the company's Facebook page. On Monday, the retailer pulled the shirt from its shelves in response to the outcry. "It has come to our attention that some of you view our Best Subjects T-shirt as insensitive towards girls and women," read its statement. "This was not our intent. There are countless women in all walks of life who excel in math, including our very own CEO." Still, by Wednesday, the Children's Place continued to face consumer backlash. "I am so disappointed by this shirt and ANY shirt from ANY company that furthers stereotypes like this," wrote one fuming customer on Facebook. "I am glad that the shirt was removed, but honestly who ever thought it was a good idea? Especially from a company with a female CEO."