Mini Rant

[nix_this]

I fucking loathe the term wife beater to refer to a sleeveless shirt.

It's a joke, I get it. Because beating your wife is hilarious. No, wait, I have it all wrong! It's a joke on the guys who beat their wives! Right, of course! That's why guys wear them and laughingly refer to them as wife beaters. It's "ironic"! No, wait, I'm not seeing the joke

Comments

[thalialunacy]

The problem is that those alternatives all describe other things already, or are vague, and a wifebeater is a VERY distinct item of clothing. I own about twelve of them. We'd have to make up a whole nother word. Which would be awesome, but extremely difficult. I have yet to hear an alternative that makes sense and would stick.

[emmypenny]

Actually there is an alternative that specifically describes a wifebeater: athletic shirt (or I've some people use A-shirt).

[nix_this]

Thank you!

[nix_this]

What's actually on the package/label? If we started using that instead of "wife beater" it'd become more normalized. IDK, every time I see/hear "wife beater" I kind of want to puke. I'd really, really like to see it go the way of other slur-ridden slang like "nigger-rig", "ghetto", "getting jewed", "faggot", using "rape" as a comparison for anything other than rape, etc... and become gross and inappropriate

Google image results for A-shirt

Google image search for "wife beater shirt"

So, that's a start?

[thalialunacy]

Nice! I hadn't heard it before, so I stopped a really fit, really well-dressed metrosexual guy at work, and asked him. Question 1) did you always own a pink polo or was it just for team spirit day? (Answer: always.) and what's that undershirt called? First answer was wifebeater, so I asked him if he knew another term. He searched around for a bit and then goes, 'A.... something?'

So, totally a start. :D

Now if I could just get all my friends to stop using 'Nazi' casually, we'd be in business.

[nix_this]

^5. Awesome! I like that you didn't even have to explicitly spell out that you hated the word, you were able to make that clear (IMO) by asking if there was an alternative. Here's hoping he thinks about it a little deeper!

I think that calling it out and pointing out the gross reality behind wife beating--and nazis, yes absolutely--even if it's just a dismissive eye-roll and a "I hate that word" when it comes up (leaving them the opportunity to start the conversation so you aren't dismissed as a humorless whatever) or just questioning the need to use that term to describe that thing which is NOT AT ALL equivalent to that term is a fucking fantastic start. <3

Thanks, bb. I needed this today ^.^