The Internet is Losing Its Mind Over 'Trophy' T-shirt

Social media and the internet in general has been in an uproar over a $15 t-shirt which promotes, at best and worst, questionable moral standards.The novelty top, sold for $12.99 ($14.99 for plus sizes) on Target.com and in stores, has inspired a Change.org petition calling for its discontinuation, backlash on Buzzfeed, with its @notatrophy Twitter profile, and on Facebook, with posts like this one:

This was found at a Target in New Jersey. I shudder to think how many people cleared this idea before it hit the...
Posted by Guerrilla Feminism on Friday, June 19, 2015

To all this, I say, really? This is what makes you "shudder"? War is ravaging lands all over the planet, hunger is a bigger issue than ever, and education is in ruins, and we're up in arms over a t-shirt? Who exactly is being held at gunpoint and forced to buy it? Shouldn't we be focused on the real issues at hand today?

That said, freedom of expression goes both ways. Those who are offended by this shirt have every right to be. But the solution to that is simple: don't buy it! Don't let your daughters buy it. If you're concerned by what the sale of this article of clothing might say to young women who shop at Target, why not say something to those young women -- daughters, nieces, sisters, what have you -- yourself? It is not Target's responsibility to teach morals to today's youth.

The shirt says only the word "Trophy" on it. It does not say, "Trophy Wife," nor does it say, "Women are nothing but objects and should be treated as such." If that's what you read in to this one word, ask yourself why. Also, consider the fact that, theoretically, anyone can wear it, interpreting the "label" in way they choose.

Should women aspire to be nothing more than some man's "prize"? Absolutely not. But does this t-shirt, a silly piece of clothing that no one is under any obligation to purchase for any reason, or Target, who isn't "forcing" anything on anybody, promote "rape culture," as it has been harshly accused of? Absolutely not.

By the way, where's the uproar over this t-shirt, offered on Amazon.com?

It's a piece of cloth, people. If you don't like it, don't shell out your money for it.