URBN Hawks Bigoted Tees
This year, a line of Urban Outfitters T-shirts decried by some Jews as exploiting stereotypes of Jews as moneygrubbers and Jewish women as spoiled princesses is also flying off the shelves — into the closets of willing buyers.
The Philadelphia-based chain is hawking a T-shirt emblazoned with the logo “Everybody Loves a Jewish Girl” along with images of dollar signs and shopping bags. Also available are “Everybody Loves a German, Irish or Italian Girl” tees, featuring images of, respectively, a beer stein, shamrock and pizza slice.
My friend and I ducked into URBN yesterday to try n’ find one of these shirts. Turns out they’ve completely sold out on the Upper West Side. Unreal.
It’s not that I’m entirely offended by the shirt, it’s just that, as part of the series, it doesn’t make much sense. I mean, if you’re going to go after the stereotype on the Jewish one, the beer stein should be on the Irish shirt, and a swastika on the German one. Otherwise, you’re kinda just singling us out.
[Update 1/12/03] Caving to pressure from the ADL, Urban Outfitters have yanked the t-shirts.
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oy vey, get over it … if we can’t laugh at ourselves we have got serious problems. besides, stereotypes are based in truth. I know plenty of Jews, Irish and Italians (and some who are all 3 in one!) and goddamn, do Jewish-Irish-Italians make the best pizza.
—LilB · January 9th, 2004 at 5:44 pm
antisemitism can be wherever you look to find it. I don’t mean to suggest true antisemitism isn’t a very real and dangerous thing, but, and I think this is true of the entire post-Shoah generation (ie, not the survivors, or the American Jews wracked with guilt and fear, but the children those groups have raised, myself included) were raised to seek antisemitism everywhere (even what table you were seated at in a restaurant, for example), and if you seek, you shall find. It’s a friggin t-shirt. Stupid, yes. Offensive? come on.
—revco · January 14th, 2004 at 3:15 pm
I have one of those shirts and I love it!!!
One of the best presents I got for Hanukkah!!!
THH
—THH · January 15th, 2004 at 11:42 pm
everyone needs to lighten up! these shirts are meant to make you laugh and half the stereotypes are true…im italian and let me tell you my family makes some good pizza! so go and complain about something that really matters!
—sacov · December 13th, 2005 at 10:20 am
This is rediculous. I was raised as a modern orthadox jew and my entire family on my fathers side was wiped out in germany. Thus, I have a very strong connection with my jewish heritage. But seriously, if youre offended by a simple t shirt, then I just feel bad for you. I mean it cant be that bad, my grandmother bought it for me for my birthday.
—Daniel · May 7th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
to lilb revco and sacov
those shirts were absolutely anti-semetic. compare the stereotypes. everyone likes pizza; and im a fighting irish fan. the “jewish girl” shirt was the only truly offensive article in the collection.
—ben · January 16th, 2009 at 10:58 pm