Do You Have Any Opinions about Rude Words on Clothing?

Sleeqb7 on 30/04/2022 - 12:59
Last edited 30/04/2022 - 13:21 by 1 other user

Before anybody asks, I'm posting this because I feel this community has very diverse takes on topics so I'm interested to see people's rationale.

Personally, I have no ill will towards coarse language, written or otherwise. But I know that a lot of people are touchy about it, particularly in the vein of 'protecting the children'.

I own some items from a brand of clothing called '@ssholes Live Forever' (Do I need to censor "ass"?), which has said brand name on a lot of their items. I also have a band shirt that says "Bow to your empty god", which although not coarse can be considered offensive to some. There is also some band merch I have seen for a local (very) heavy metal band that in no uncertain terms refers to a previous Australian PM as a word that starts with C and isn't allowed on these forums. I enjoy the band, but I can't see myself wearing that shirt.

Where do you draw the line? Do you care if other people wear 'offensive' clothing? Do you even notice?
Obviously context is important. Wearing rude shirts at a BBQ is different from in church, so let's just use the setting of a shopping centre for the poll.

Thanks comrades.

Poll Options

  • 15
    I don't care about this topic, why did you post it?
  • 35
    I have no problem with coarse language on clothes
  • 86
    I have a problem with coarse language on clothes
  • 7
    I would prefer clothing avoids any possibility of causing offence
Fashion & Apparel

Comments

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 30/04/2022 - 13:06
    +2

    https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/lifestyle/dj-kicked-off-fligh…

    Relevant

    I personally have no issues with swear words, but can see how it would upset some.

    • Sleeqb7 on 30/04/2022 - 18:41

      I've seen photos of mistranslated clothing sold in other countries before. They're pretty amusing.

  • Mechz on 30/04/2022 - 13:27

    I have a Cradle of Filth tshirt that is particularly disparaging to Jesus on the back with a nun on the front doing private things to herself with a cross.

    I've probably only worn it out a dozen times in twenty years but one time several years ago the police made me turn it inside out.

    I encourage these things in adult spaces but probably best to just comply when flying because they kind of have you over a barrel if you actually want to travel any distance ever again.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 30/04/2022 - 13:44
      +4

      cradle of filth

      Jen : 'Cradle Of Filth'? I presume that's a band.
      Richmond : Hmm.
      Jen : It's not literally a cradle of filth..?
      Richmond : Ooh, no! That would be horrible!

      https://youtu.be/xRoSL0kdQFk

      • KSMLJ on 01/05/2022 - 07:51
        +1

        Ffff…. ploppers!

        Now that's a rude word!

    • The Hawk on 01/05/2022 - 14:00

      I had to go look up the shirt. Nice :P

  • SF3 on 30/04/2022 - 13:37
    +1

    Cool as FCUK.

    • Tricon on 30/04/2022 - 15:06

      Moo!

  • freefall101 on 30/04/2022 - 13:50
    -1

    I saw people out in the streets wearing pro-Nazi clothing during the anti-lockdown protests and no one did a thing. Yet put the word "(profanity)" on something and everyone loses their bananas.

    I feel for anyone who is offended by profanity because it's (profanity) everywhere and I have no idea how they live their lives.

    • brendanm on 30/04/2022 - 17:54
      +1

      I feel for anyone who is offended by profanity because it's (profanity) everywhere and I have no idea how they live their lives.

      Got kids? "What's fcuk mean mum/dad?"

      • SBOB on 30/04/2022 - 20:24

        You think explaining to a kid that a swear word is an adult word, it's a bad word, is hard?

        But stuff like pro nazi or many of the other 'interesting' signs held up at Covid vaccine related protests are easier to explain to kids?

        Strange rationale.

        • brendanm on 30/04/2022 - 23:04
          +3

          Where did I say anything was ok? Don't twist my words to fit your narrative.

          Why would parents be taking kids to a covid vaccine protest exactly?

          Do you have kids? Kids won't question a funny symbol, they will a word they don't know.

  • [Deactivated] on 30/04/2022 - 14:21
    +5

    i swear all the time, but only around my friends and family (not grandparents for obvious reasons) but i don't like clothing with coarse language on it, keep it to yourself and those that you know are okay with it, it just makes people who walk around in stuff like that look like tools.

  • Davo1111 on 30/04/2022 - 14:25

    I dont think i'm your target market, nor would i ever have been.

    Just keep in mind many young people have their clothes bought by their parents. So you're immediatly cutting your opportunity with a risky word on a product.

    The other thing to be aware of is that the risky word may draw more customers. So you'll have to weigh that up too.

    • Sleeqb7 on 30/04/2022 - 18:46

      I don't have a product, I have no stake here. B

      However the shirts I mentioned in my OP definitely aren't marketed to children. Extreme death metal doesn't often have all ages gigs, and @ssholes live Forever only market to adults.

      • Davo1111 on 30/04/2022 - 21:05
        +1

        Sorry I don't believe a non teenager would wear a shirt that says (profanity)

  • justgooddeals on 30/04/2022 - 14:26
    +1

    Fark no.

  • Settero on 30/04/2022 - 14:27
    +4

    I have no problem with it , but the business has every right to refuse you service and ask you to leave if others are offended and complain even if they sold said item there.

    • Sleeqb7 on 30/04/2022 - 18:47

      That seems reasonable.

  • Some Human on 30/04/2022 - 14:28
    +7

    I’m not offended by many things, but if I see something like the “f word” on a shirt, I assume the person wearing it has an attitude and might start s*** with me if I make eye contact.

    This stems from a b**** on the school bus whom I made eye contact with once for a split second and they proceeded to ask in a menacing tone “what are YOU staring at?”

  • AdosHouse on 30/04/2022 - 14:36
    +9

    I've kicked people out of my work before for wearing those CU in the NT clothing before. Please keep your bogan to yourself.

    • lddv04 on 30/04/2022 - 20:05

      Best advertising slogan EVER!

      • AdosHouse on 30/04/2022 - 20:28
        +1

        And yet most of the people who generally wear these clothing products probably don't even know what the capital city of NT is, much less go there.

        But to be fair, it is pretty hard to advertise NT tourism. "Come to NT where we have the highest level of social disadvantage, all the water has crocs in it, a giant rock, and that's pretty much it."

        Also the campaign wasn't about tourism, it's purely about selling merchandise, and they had a specific market group in mind.

  • EightImmortals on 30/04/2022 - 14:46
    +2

    Rude words?

    Like what?

    "Vote Labour"
    or
    "Vote Liberal"

    Are equally offensive IMO, but hey, free speech and all that.

    • whatwasherproblem on 30/04/2022 - 16:48
      +3

      There's no 'u' in Labor.

      (I know, it's weird that the political party uses the US spelling not the Aus spelling, I agree. But still.)

  • mr-incredulous on 30/04/2022 - 14:51
    +14

    Honestly its just pure cringe dude. Imagine having so little going on in your life that "I like to be offensive in public" forms a major part of your identity. You're supposed to do that stuff when you're 15 yo and rebelling against parents/school, but then you get older and grow up… hopefully.

    Don't underestimate the power of a self-fulfilling prophesy… if you dress like an a-hole, people will assume you're an a-hole, people will treat you like you're an a-hole, you'll react to people treating you like an a-hole and become… an a-hole. Why don't you dress like the kind of person you want to be? Do you want to permanently stay in the mindset of a 15 yo?

    • freefall101 on 30/04/2022 - 15:23
      +2

      On the plus side, they at least self-identify as a "I'm fighting the system via my original expressive genius!". Makes it easier than having to ask them what they think of vaccines to figure out if they're a moron or not.

    • Sleeqb7 on 30/04/2022 - 18:57
      +2

      This is a wild extrapolation.

      But this is sort of my point. I don't see the word "(profanity)" as offensive, doubly so when there are many more widely accepted examples of rougher language that isn't designed specifically to offend; "CU in the NT" "Fcuk cancer" stickers come to mind.

      I got some shirts cheap online and they're colourful and comfortable. However clearly I am conscious about other's takes on the clothing, hence this post.

      Edit: I didn't censor the word @sshole, and it's been corrected to (profanity) which saddens me deeply.

      • mr-incredulous on 30/04/2022 - 21:30
        +2

        Do people have "CU in the NT" bumper stickers because they genuinely have strong feelings about the NT, or is it because its funny to be offensive with plausible deniability? "Haha I said a naughty word but I didn't really say it so if you get mad its because you're uptight". It's like Jonah in Summer Heights Highs saying "puck you miss". You're supposed to be laughing at how stupid Jonah is, not worshipping his genius for changing one letter. I laughed when I saw the "CU in the NT" video. I don't laugh when I see cars going around with "CU NT" written on them.

        To be fair, my comment was more thinking about the people who are walking around with "F__K", "C__T", "____HUB" or literally pictures of porn on their clothing, which doesn't sound like you. I was addressing the poll question rather than you personally.

  • bobbified on 30/04/2022 - 15:10
    +1

    When I was at school, we were taught that ""Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" and that's held true for me.

    I'm not sure what's happened to that saying but the way the world has become, any word can be rude. If one person doesn't get offended by it, then someone somewhere will somehow find a reason to get offended.

  • GordonD on 30/04/2022 - 15:45

    Vulgarity and obscenity are useful for when you need or want to make a point very strongly or urgently. Get the **** out of the way gets peoples attention and response faster than please get out of the way.

    Using them routinely and regularly, including wearing them on clothes, is like shouting everything you say and writing everything in bold capitals. People who do that devalue them, preventing them from being used when they need to be, and should and do get treated as rude and stupid.

  • SnowDragon on 30/04/2022 - 15:57
    +1

    I think you can reasonably determine the type of personality of the wearer.
    While I don't have a problem with coarse language on clothing, I would think the wearer is tacky and tasteless.

    I wouldn't be a fan if my child learned some new words from a stranger walking by.

  • rektrading on 30/04/2022 - 16:16
    -1

    It's freedom of opinion and expression.

  • onetwothreefour on 30/04/2022 - 16:40

    My 14 year old daughter asked me recently why I don't allow her to swear, the only thing I could think of was to say it's rude. I don't swear in front of my kids but I do swear and also did when I was the same age as them. Come to think of it there's a lot I used to do/had done at that age that I would be shocked if she had done them.

  • Ryanek on 30/04/2022 - 16:55
    +7

    One time, my mate was wearing a long sleeve white shirt with Chinese writing down the side. We met up with a Chinese friend and we asked him what it meant.

    It translated to "Long sleeve white shirt"

    • Sleeqb7 on 30/04/2022 - 19:02
      +1

      That sounds great.

    • saltypete on 01/05/2022 - 09:18
      +1

      Or you go to China and see some person wearing a tee that’s says Rage against the Machine or similar in English…..

  • whatwasherproblem on 30/04/2022 - 16:55
    +1

    Your age comes into it at some point, I'd imagine.

    Teens-20s? Sure, profanity on your clothes doesn't look too out of place when you're just at the mall. People are either going to love it or hate it though.

    Late 20s-30s? Now you start to look like a (profanity) tool. Unless you're a musician, and also permanently carrying around a guitar to let everyone know that you are one, in which case it's probably not quite as sad.

    40s-50s? Now most sane people are (rightfully) giving you a wide berth. The ones that don't immediately assume you're off your kite on meth are probably imagining that you'll start hassling them for spare change if they get too close.

    60s+? It might actually start being cool again at that point, not sure.

  • sidesw1pe on 30/04/2022 - 18:31
    +2

    I think people should be able to wear whatever they like, and it shouldn't matter if the clothes have rude words written on them. We cannot control every aspect of what goes in in the world around us, and there will always be things that may trigger some kind of emotional response in us, and we all must learn to deal with this without trying to cancel, control or throw a tantrum or whatever. Generally unless the actions of others directly threatens or causes physical harm then let it be.

  • saltypete on 01/05/2022 - 09:16
    +1

    Wear what you like - but I feel that any message on your clothing (which is usually t-shirts) should be something that you feel is something that represents you in some way. So if my clothing says something amusing, its something I would probably say.

    This means for me, if your clothing says something rude, or offensive about parts of our community I consider that this is part of you as an individual. I’m not personally offended, but It definitely affects my first impression of you and anything you say or do has this message as context.

  • SideraMarid on 01/05/2022 - 10:09
    +3

    Any words on clothes is tacky imo

    And yes that includes brand names like Tommy Hilfiger.

  • nswnotill on 01/05/2022 - 12:28
    +1

    The words or slogans on a persons T shirt tells me a lot about the standards of the wearer.

  • LFO on 01/05/2022 - 13:55

    Well, the good all swastika symbol is one of them.

    A sacred symbol for some, the memory of a long gone failed regime for others.

    Perhaps tolerance is the answer. And it is exactly what is missing.

  • sam-1966 on 01/05/2022 - 17:52

    I remember a parent at our kids' (Christian) primary school wearing very offensive t-shirts and thought it was a bit much.

    Also remember seeing a shirt around the time that Australia II won the America's Cup that said 'F*%& the New York Yacht Club' (the f word was spelled out properly) and I loved it.

    Context helps.

  • LyndonBBear on 02/05/2022 - 12:28

    I do have a problem with ass - those poor donkeys. On the other hand, arses….

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