Is Kmart Selling Abstinence Pants?
Kmart has been catching some flack for selling young girls' pants that bear the message "True Love Waits" on the front and back, reports TheBuzz Blog. According to their description, "These athletic pants boldly proclaim just where she stands by pointing out that "True Love Waits" in a large screen print on the front and back of these pants." More, inside...
The BuzzBlog said,
A spokeswoman for Sears Holdings Corp., which owns Kmart, told The Buzz the pants have absolutely nothing to do with taking any kind of position, either way, on abstinence. "It was not associated with any group or any cause," said Amy Dimond. "It was just a graphic put on the pants."
Piper & Blue, Kmart's private label brand, designed the sweatpants as part of its summer collection that hit stores in late April.
Although the pants were not designed to make a statement, Dimond admitted that "there may be some (customers) who made the (abstinence association), but it was not the intention."
Dimond added that the sweatpants are going on markdown and a lot of the inventory has already sold through.
Perhaps this Feministing commenter said it best, "Because nothing says 'I plan not to have sex until marriage' like plastering text across your ass."
Kmart: pants not meant for abstinence [TheBuzz Blog]
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Comments:
It reads more like "true love awaits" then "/true/ love, waits." to me.
and if the pants were pushing 'abstinence' would there be anything wrong with that?
or are the only acceptable pants these days ones that push being easy and loose.
Well thats because thats where all the guys are looking.
Who gives a crap
"true love waits" is a common slogan among, for instance, baptist youth group thingies. several girls I went to high school with had rings with it engraved. (presumably you swap it for a wedding ring at some point? couldn't tell you.)
that being said, why is it a bad thing that k-mart would sell something with that slogan? is it worse, than, say, "your boyfriend wants me?"
What's the big deal, even if the intended message was 'no premarital sex'? The girl wearing them has a right to express any non-vulger message she wants to (no matter how uninteresting it may be). I could see people being upset if the print said 'Insert here...', but this? C'mon!
When you wear sweatpants with text across your arse you're not looking for 'true love', it's more like a one night stand, hense the text 'true love waits'.
@opsomath: Because morals are dead in America. And the liberal media is appalled that right wing nut jobs are against young girls getting the impression that sex at age 13 is normal.
I'll be waiting right over here...
They're gonna be waiting a whole lot longer after all the cool guys starting going out with the easy chicks.
/it's true
I dont know why the consumerist is making this an issue. I'd much rather see a positive message on a pair of pants like this, than a pair of pants that says "do me i'm a slut"
I wonder if they will be releasing a similar version for teenage boys. Oh wait. Of course not.
How does 'read my crotch' promote abstinance?
BTW: The feministing link just goes to their home page. The comment is here: [feministing.com]
This is dumb but then plastering text across your butt won't look smart no matter what it says.
@Bladefist: The last study I saw on it says the average age that today's teenagers loose their virginity is 14.9 (if I remember correctly)... so 13 isn't that far off.
Then again, maybe the pants really are just supposed to be funny.
First people whine about slutty slogans now they whine about non-slutty slogans. Can we at least get a consensus either way?
I'm honestly a little freaked at the "It's just a graphic we put on the pants" excuse. This is the same halfassed "Just silkscreen whatever you think looks trendy and hip onto the garment" mentality that brought us the Totenkopf t-shirts. You can almost understand the totenkopf, but the slogan on these pants is written in plain English. If you're not going to read, understand and STAND BEHIND what you put on your product, then don't put it on there!
The pants gave me a little chuckle. Why bother getting attacked over "abstinence?" It's not as bad as selling Nazi shirts.
Of all the silly things to take issue with! There are hotpants out there sized for preschoolers with slogans like "Too Sexy" and people rarely bat an eye.
@rwakelan: And I would bet a ton of money that every decade, that age drops.
This is a sore subject for me. It's all about the de-moralization of America. When you have people criticizing a company for making pants that promote a abstinence, then you know you live in a troubled society.
If you are complaining about these pants, shame on you. I will laugh at you when your daughters are whores. Because I believe these pants are for young girls. You are not going to see 25 year old women wearing these pants, unless its for a joke.
@Bladefist:
Pants with an abstinance message written on the ass. You seriously don't see the irony here?
Uh, yeah. When my niece grows up you can be damned sure that I'd rather her wearing these pants than a pair that says "SLUT" across the ass. I honestly don't see the problem here.
@Bladefist: I agree that teen sex is a problem and the age when most kids lose their virginity is shocking to me, but I guess my main problem is that keeping one's virginity intact is something that is geared more toward girls. Why do you say you will laugh when someone's daughter is a whore? What about the boys she is sleeping with? Do they not bear any responsibility or chastising? Are they not also whores?
My response to this is....... So?
@MissPeacock: You raise good points. In our society, it's always been placed on the girls. Quite frankly, unless your son wants to live the spiritual life, boys will be boys. So you talk to them, you do the best you can. If these were for boys, I'd say the same thing. You dont have to buy them. You dont have to wear them. But I've seen this story everywhere, and people are all freakin out.
Ugh, I can't stand printing across the butt. It draws the eyes and the next thing you realize, you're staring at some 14 year old's rear end and feel dirty inside.
Hey, why not have abstinence pants?
Places sell plenty of clothes that make girls look like sluts. These are for the anti-sluts.
As Glenn Beck calls it, we are dressing our little girls like "Prosti-tots"
BTW - I'm 24 and a huge perv. But I am absoltely disgusted with America on the teen-sex issue. And I'm not some nut job who is going to blame music. But, I will say it's a combination of a lot things, including, all you who believe 'it's just not a big deal'. Teen pregnancy is through the roof, aids is always of course gaining momentum. And until someone can step up and be a good parent, be an adult, and say, "Hey, our kids need to stop having sex" this country will turn into some 3rd world nation.
@Bladefist:
Look, I don't have a problem with the message. I just think it's hilariously funny that the pants are communicating both "I'm saving myself" and "Look at my ass".
That's definitely Radiohead band merch/clothing.
@MameDennis: I can see your point. But I just see that the ass location is where a lot of retailers are putting logos and such, and I guess it's demoralized me. A clothed ass is just as exciting as a clothed rest of the body. It kinda catches your attention, but after you see it so much, I don't even notice anymore.
@Asvetic:
i thought the same thing soon as i read it...
i went to kmart for my waste shirt... that would be scary
@Bladefist: Well, quite frankly, unless girls are going to live the spiritual life, girls will be girls, and that does include having sex. They have sex drives, too. Like I said, I'm no fan of teen sex either, but to say "boys will be boys" and leave it at that, and then call the girls they are sleeping with "whores," is really unfair. Having said that, if I had children of either gender, I would strongly STRONGLY impress upon them the need to wait as long as possible, with or without their abstinence pants on. (Ha, no pun intended.)
I personally don't have an issue with the pants. I do think the irony of having "true love waits" plastered across the bum is rather amusing, but if Kmart wants to sell them, I have no problem with that.
What DOES disturb me is the "it was just a graphic" excuse. Seriously? Why not just put some random words on there then? "Spaghetti giraffe hammer," for example. I have zero issue with the store selling the pants, and I doubt most people would, either -- so why the lame excuse?
I suppose the better option would have been "I love abortions." That way, consumerist would have had a reason to praise k-mart.
Amy Dimond so sounds like a stripper name.
Yeah, who said I had to be relevant.
A lot of it too has to do with the 1) Failure by kids to realize there are consequences for their actions 2) lack of personal responsibility and 3) Lack of good parenting skills.
Many parents are simply not setting a good example for their kids. I'm not saying that parents need to be super moral or do anything extreme to raise kids. But they do need to take their role seriously and it's not happening.
@MissPeacock: After I said boys will be boys, I said talk with them, etc. I didn't mean to imply "boys will be boys, so use trying"
However, and I'm not a father, but I've been a boyfriend, girls are much better at maintaining abstinence. Dont know why, how. Not saying it's fair. But if you flipped roles, our population will triple next week.
Teen pregnacy rates in the US peaked in the early 90s, and have been on a downward trend since. Careful before you fearmonger!
@Jesse: Right - I blame the parents by saying, most parents are too selfish. Too self involved with their own work, hobbies, and friends. The devotion to ones kids seems to be disappearing. I know my mother, when I was born, I and my brothers were here life. She quit her job, she stayed home with us. She raised us. She sacrificed her life, to raise some good boys. Thats parenthood. If you cant do that, dont have kids. It's real easy.
Next, they should make a shirt that says "real men look women in the eye" plastered right across the boobs. Or "you're a perv" across the butt. Hilarity ensues.
@TheDude06: Downward, upward, Whatever. i'd have to see your data, and I probably still wouldn't believe it. Thats hard to data to gather.
Regardless of the direction, the number is still way too high.
@Bladefist: After I said boys will be boys, I said talk with them, etc. I didn't mean to imply "boys will be boys, so use trying"
Okay, I didn't catch that.
All sweat pants are abstinence pants, at least when worn in public.