wifebeaters Re: Closets and Wardrobes

[sistermagpie]

> Carol:
> And, for the sake of discussion, if this term isn't generally
> considered offensive, why isn't it? It's almost as if using the term
> condones wifebeating (manly men wear sexy shirts and beat their
> wives). Does anyone see what I'm getting at? It doesn't seem like the
> kind of term that *ought* to be legitimized.  

Magpie:
That's interesting--I never associated them with being sexy. When I 
heard it the first time I assumed that it wasn't supposed to be sexy. 
Like it was associated with lower class men, probably with a belly and 
a beer in one hand and stains on the shirt in question. 

I remember being taken aback by it the first time I heard it--but at 
the same time I realized that I knew exactly what shirt they were 
describing, so I thought it was sort of blackly comic. But maybe other 
people associate it with manliness in a good way.

-m