'Save the Ta-Tas' cancer-awareness T-shirts land Mona Shores High students in hot water

[Dollface]

Source: THE MUSKEGON CHRONICLE

NORTON SHORES -- About two dozen students wore pink T-shirts to Mona Shores High School on Wednesday to raise awareness of breast cancer and to support one of their mothers, who is battling the disease.

School administrators made them turn the shirts inside out.

The students' hearts were in the right place; it was their choice of words that was objectionable, administrators said.

The shirts read: "Save the Ta-Tas."



Read more: http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/04/save_the_ta-tas_cancer-awarene.html

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Wicked do-gooder children.

[Arkana]

1. Hahahahahaha.

Clever idea. Too bad we have such puritanical attitudes towards sex.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

20. I lived in The South of France for a while.

Right on the Riviera. Where, I am sanguine to report, the sight of the unfettered female breast is not unknown.

I can say that the French of that area find our societal horror at the mere thought of that part of the female anatomy being exposed funnier than a monkey fucking a bowling ball.

As they should.

[Delphinus]

30. Barely ... can ...

type ... through ... the ... gales ... of ... uproarious ... laughter! :spray:

Funner than a monkey fucking a bowling ball - what a hoot! :rofl:

[Bigmack]

41. Our Gunny used...

"You look like a monkey trying to fuck a football."

George Carlin would approve of either.

[Socal31]

40. Although our Puritanical ways are sad...

I will take that over the Xenophobia of the French any day.

[Brickbat]

2. So tiresome.

On both sides, really.

[supernova]

3. It's a cute and official slogan

for BC awareness.

But, probably not suitable for school, though. :P

We saw anothern one out last night: Save2ndBase.com

:rofl:

Fiance thought that was just hilarious. :D

[left coaster]

13. I don't know why it shouldn't be suitable for high school..

The majority of female high school students have fully developed breasts.. nothing like perpetuating self-esteem issues for females, by pretending parts of their bodies shouldn't be noticed or referenced.. America..what a country!

[Cal Carpenter]

33. Yeah, I agree

It's just 'Ta-Tas', not 'super-sexy love pillows' or something for pete's sake.

[marshall]

34. I think referecing them with the term "breasts" would have been acceptable to tptb

It's all about the words and their forbidden use. Imagine the horror at the "n" word being used to reference Black History Month. NWA used the term for the same shock effect that the pink t-shirt's use of ta-ta-s does, but even the rap industry found it prudent to turn their name into an acronym.

[frylock]

29. i just saw a bumpersticker not 10 min ago that read "feel your boobies"

[rocktivity]

4. Reminds me of a concert I helped publicize

A club promoter was so relieved that his girlfriend's breast lump was benign, he put together a concert with the net proceeds going to breast cancer awareness. He named it "Rock For Racks!" At least his heart was in the right place...if you pardon expression...

:headbang:
rocktivity

[MineralMan]

5. I can't see any objection to the slogan.

It's an innocuous one, and it's associated with a very real breast cancer awareness organization. Someone at that school is a little nose-in-the-airish, it seems to me.

[kestrel91316]

6. Oy. Buncha prudes.

[phusion]

7. Save The Cojones

:)

[Merlot]

8. How about the women attached to the ta-ta's?

This campaign is just stupid. Women without their breasts are nothing?

[smoogatz]

9. How do you get that from "save the Ta-Tas?"

Seems a bit of a stretch, frankly.

[Still Blue in PDX]

23. Not at all -- I get it, and I can be pretty darn dense. nt

[RobinA]

44. That Was My

first, gut response when I saw my first ta-tas bumper sticker? Huh? Breats with no person attached? Even with whales you save the WHOLE WHALE, not just a body part. I would have thought the same thing if I saw a "Save the Arms" bumbersticker.

[BlueIris]

36. The idea is very, well, wrong. Also, unrealistic.

I don't know a single woman with breast cancer who was able to "save" the breast(s).

[RobinA]

43. I Hate

this campaign. For the reason you mention and also because I hate, hate, hate childish nicknames being attached to body parts. Whenever I see the bumper sticker I picture this pair of disembodied "ta-tas" sitting there crying for help. Forget the person, save the breasts.

[pitohui]

47. merlot, women are of no value in this society, didn't you catch the memo?

without our funbags we are NOTHING

the kids are just reflecting reality and i don't believe in punishing kids for reflecting reality

but to pretend that anyone gives one flying fuck about a woman who has had her breasts -- excuse me, her TA-TAS cut off -- is to lie about reality and to lie abt america

the administrators take "ta-ta's" seriously because at the end of the day it IS serious

there is a poster on this thread who claims he never met a woman w/ breast cancer whose breasts were saved, hmm, ho-kay, whatever, but the fact of the matter is, most of us do know women who have had lumpectomies plus chemo/radiation who are still alive many years later...it's complicated i guess

to say you've never met a woman who survived a lumpectomy is to say something about yourself and how much women trust you, it is not to say something about cancer

[CLANG]

10. It seems to belittle a very serious topic

it makes me a little uncomfortable, but not because of the language, but what I consider the inappropriate use of it.

[awoke_in_2003]

24. But the shirt does catch one's attention...

and might even lead to a more serious dialog.

[RobinA]

45. Me, Too

as someone who has had several scares. I'm telling you (maybe you all ready know) ta-tas are the least of your worries.

[smoogatz]

11. Oh for Christ's sake.

What's next--getting sent to the principal's office for saying "poo poo?" This is high school, right?

[Dulcinea]

12. I think it's a cute slogan.

One of the teachers at my kids' school has that bumper sticker.
Breasts are part of the human body. Big deal!

[ChadwickHenryWard]

14. OH THE HUGHMANITY!

Breasts mentioned in public? Think about the children!

[awoke_in_2003]

25. ...

[azurnoir]

15. so I would guess Canada's BoobyBall is off limits too

http://www.rethinkbreastcancer.com/boobyball-cruise.html

[Berry Cool]

16. It's not cute at all. And saying so isn't puritanical.

This kind of stuff just reduces us all to 12-year-old boys obsessed with female boobies. Sends a pretty interesting message, doesn't it: We can't get some people to care about breast cancer without appealing to the Beavis and Butt-Head side of them.

It objectifies women by implying that breast cancer is only bad because it attacks a sexual part of their bodies that "nobody" wants to lose and "everybody" has an interest in preserving. Who cares about the woman herself, or saving her life (even if she has to lose her breasts)? No, the important thing is saving her titties! Yet, oddly enough, you don't see that happening with other sexualized female body parts. I have yet to see a vaginal cancer awareness campaign that advocates "Save the Boxes!" And for men? Forget it. There will never be a "Save the Dicks" campaign for penile cancer.

Besides, we already have enough "breast cancer awareness." Anyone who's not aware of the existence of breast cancer by now has their head up their ass. What we NEED is prevention and cure, not more vaguely defined "awareness."

Also, enough with the pink shit. Breast cancer isn't pretty. Nothing associated with it should be pretty either. People don't make and sell pretty shit to support lung cancer awareness, or colon cancer awareness, or brain cancer awareness. Why do it for breast cancer?

Maybe if we got rid of all the pretty pink ribbons, roses, feminine girlie/mama imagery and that shit, we'd finally stop being tolerant of the continued existence of this cancer, and stop having to have such "fun and amusing" "awareness campaigns" and fund-raisers for it at all.

[smoogatz]

18. These are high school kids, for God's sake.

What do you want from them--ideological perfection according to Berry Cool?

And you know, I've had two women in my family diagnosed with breast cancer, and both were extremely happy not to have lost their breasts. Yes, everybody understands that saving women's lives is hands-down the most important thing, but at least in my second-hand experience it's also a big relief if one can avoid having parts of one's body chopped off, sexual or otherwise.

On one thing we agree: time for a cure.

[liquid diamond]

19. Why do you hate sex?

:sarcasm:

Seriously, thank you for your profound post. Breast cancer is a serious issue, and I don't find anything humorous about it.

[Still Blue in PDX]

22. Well said. nt

[Brickbat]

28. Well said, and thank you.

If this country spent as much on prevention and on research looking into the environmental causes of breast cancer as it did on pink crap made in China...well, things would look very different.

[boppers]

37. Ahem. Two points.

Firstly) men have ta-ta's too, and
Secondly) also get breast cancer.

[liquid diamond]

17. The awareness among youths is encouraging,

but more class is in order.

[amandabeech]

31. It's a very conservative area, too.

I grew up 45 miles to the north.

It's great that these girls actually are aware of the problem, but you are right. More class was in order.

DU is so preditable sometimes.

I find myself spending less and less time here.

[liquid diamond]

32. I hear you. If you say anything critical about anything sexual,

you are labeled a "prude". It's gotten so damn old here.

[amandabeech]

42. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

My comment is no reflection on you, though!

[ProgressiveProfessor]

21. One of my female colleagues is in a permanent snit about "Save the Tatas" too

She out on the fringe, even for me. Her basic position is that is that womens issues are off limits to men, and that breast cancer is a womens issue and therefore off limits to men.

I pointed out to her that breast cancer is also found in men. Also as a man who's wife died of breast cancer and who has several daughters, I had at least as big of a dog in the hunt as she did. She was not pleased with my response, but she quit being so noisy...

[awoke_in_2003]

26. god, that is as silly as saying...

that white people shouldn't have participated in the Civil Rights Movement. She sounds a bit of a loon.

[mainstreetonce]

27. dress code

I don't know if this school had a dress code , but in my opinion they should have and the only dress code that works regarding shirts is "no writing permitted on tee shirts"
The school should not be put in the position of deciding if the slogan is offensive or not.

I personally think this slogan is fine, but others would not and if the school allowed it, other shirts with "ta ta s" might appear. It is a no win situation for the school to have make such decisions.

[marshall]

46. They do have a dress code and here it is:

Shirts may not have designs or words that display, contain or promote drugs, alcohol, tobacco,
violence, and offensive language or contain sexual innuendoes.

Found here: http://www.monashores.net/downloads/high_school/student_handbook_20082009.pdf

[JI7]

35. i understand that it's supposed to be fun, but don't some women need to remove their breasts ?

or breast to deal with the cancer ?

[buckrogers1965]

38. Not offensive.

Don't like their style? Too bad.

The school can have a policy where no writing at all is permitted on shirts. I'm fine with that. But they cannot have a policy where some writing is permitted and others are not. That is a violation of first amendment rights.

[bemildred]

39. More evidence of bonehead stupidity in the administrative classes. nt