Colm tells me that he's fighting with strangers on Twitter about new t-shirts in Topshop. Fucking Twitter. Fucking Topshop. Sometimes I want to punch the internet.
"Pop quiz" he says. "What's this t-shirt about?"
"Feminism?" I say, wondering if there is some new meme I missed the memo on, if it's Keyboard Cat's new catchphrase or something. I am always behind with this shit. Sure look at me, blogging, while everyone else is on Twitter. But for once I'm on the money and Twitter's knickers are in a twist because the t-shirt is proof that Topshop hates women.
Topshop hates me, I'm pretty sure of that. I feel Brobdingnagian in their changing rooms. But I digress.
Twitter thinks the t-shirt is making lame excuses for domestic violence. I'm not so sure. It's a tasteless item, sure (insert catty comment about their choice of font here) but I think the unfunny joke is doing men an injustice, not women. I think the implication is that as a man (Topman's target demographic appears to be 18 to 30-too-old-for-that-year-olds) you shouldn't need to offer any emotional motivations for unacceptable behaviour. Just get drunk, act out and offer a mealy-mouthed apology. Hell, the side of "so" served with the sorry suggests that you might not need to apologise at all, much less talk about your reasons for being a bollocks in the first place.
Statistically, men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women, despite there being a higher incidence of depression among women. Young men are consistently identified as being the group most at risk, and among the contributing factors listed is their reluctance to talk about their feelings. There's few of us who haven't lost friends and family to suicide and fewer still who don't know someone who suffers from depression. Sure, there are excellent mental health initiatives to try to address some of the problems men face, but they are stigmatised by virtue of being mental health initiatives. 18 to 30-too-old-for-that-year-olds are more likely to be influenced by fashion and pop culture than by a press release from the Samaritans. The likes of Topman and their comic sansy slogans encouraging swagger, bravado, piss and bluster do us all a disservice, whether we read the t-shirt as an anti-feminist statement or not.
"Pop quiz" he says. "What's this t-shirt about?"
"Feminism?" I say, wondering if there is some new meme I missed the memo on, if it's Keyboard Cat's new catchphrase or something. I am always behind with this shit. Sure look at me, blogging, while everyone else is on Twitter. But for once I'm on the money and Twitter's knickers are in a twist because the t-shirt is proof that Topshop hates women.Topshop hates me, I'm pretty sure of that. I feel Brobdingnagian in their changing rooms. But I digress.
Twitter thinks the t-shirt is making lame excuses for domestic violence. I'm not so sure. It's a tasteless item, sure (insert catty comment about their choice of font here) but I think the unfunny joke is doing men an injustice, not women. I think the implication is that as a man (Topman's target demographic appears to be 18 to 30-too-old-for-that-year-olds) you shouldn't need to offer any emotional motivations for unacceptable behaviour. Just get drunk, act out and offer a mealy-mouthed apology. Hell, the side of "so" served with the sorry suggests that you might not need to apologise at all, much less talk about your reasons for being a bollocks in the first place.
Statistically, men are four times more likely to commit suicide than women, despite there being a higher incidence of depression among women. Young men are consistently identified as being the group most at risk, and among the contributing factors listed is their reluctance to talk about their feelings. There's few of us who haven't lost friends and family to suicide and fewer still who don't know someone who suffers from depression. Sure, there are excellent mental health initiatives to try to address some of the problems men face, but they are stigmatised by virtue of being mental health initiatives. 18 to 30-too-old-for-that-year-olds are more likely to be influenced by fashion and pop culture than by a press release from the Samaritans. The likes of Topman and their comic sansy slogans encouraging swagger, bravado, piss and bluster do us all a disservice, whether we read the t-shirt as an anti-feminist statement or not.
