We Heart: T-Shirts for Smart Girls

While getting J.C. Penny to stop selling shirts reading “Too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me” felt like only a partial victory due to the continued sales of its the “My best subjects are boys, shopping, music, dancing” shirt, this shirt feels like a total win for smart girls and women everywhere:

The shirt is available on ThinkGeek, an online store catering to the ‘smart masses’ with T-shirts, mugs and uber-nerd paraphernalia like “Doctor Who” Sonic Screwdrivers. The “No, I Will Not Do Your Math” reads as a direct rebuttal to J.C. Penney’s pulled tee: “You know what we’re too pretty for? Putting up with anti-intellectualism.”

This sharp shirt is sold in sizes and cuts for both women and girls, and is billed as for:

….the little girl who excels at counting things. She has her hand raised when they’re learning multiplication. She’s the one who, while everyone else is assiduously avoiding eye contact, hopes she gets called on to do the problem at the board. She could do her homework in pen, but she chooses not to, cause that would just be showing off. When she gets bored in class and it looks like she’s not paying attention, that’s because she’s a chapter ahead of everyone else, double-checking her answers. “Show your work” is seen as a challenge either because it’s all in her head (how do I show you neurons firing?) or because she has to choose the most elegant solution. If a train leaves Chicago at 2 p.m., she’s the engineer.

It’s nice when a retailer realizes that anti-sexism sells.

I think I know what my little nieces will (and will not) be wearing after this holiday-gift-giving season.

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About

Hey y’all! My name is Mimi Seldner, and I’m a 22 year old Ms. Magazine intern, writer, activist, artist, and English major at the University of Florida. My concentration is in Queer Theory, and this, as well as feminist theory and politics, human rights, and social justice issues inform my entire life, from my politics, to my art, to my writing (the three of which are usually interrelated). These issues, and my stubborn, assertive, and feet-dug-in, oil-striking stand on them also govern the ways in which I live my life. I’m wordy, witty, and willful, to say the least (a habit that I am not in, accordingly). I recently relocated from one sunshine state to the other (Florida to California), in order to pursue this amazing opportunity to intern at the feminist-force-to-be-reckoned-with, Ms. Magazine, in all her glory, and I am looking forward to inspired collaborations, and to creating many things imperatively worth creating. Also, there are free sticky notes.