A few months ago, the Internet was up in arms over a white David & Goliath T-Shirt that read, in pink bubble letters, "I'm too pretty to do math." Then there was the one with "Future Trophy Wife" written on it.

But many parents think this one is worse.

The long-sleeve T-shirt that J.C. Penney pulled off its website today amid plenty of parental outrage read: "I'm too pretty to do my homework so my brother has to do it for me." And, judging by the description of the shirt on the J.C. Penney website—"Who has time for homework when there’s a new Justin Bieber album out? She’ll love this tee that’s just as cute and sassy as she is"—it seems like the company didn't have a problem with the shirt until customers started to complain.

Thanks, major clothing retailers. We struggle to teach our girls that beauty isn't everything, that they don't have to play dumb in order to be popular, that women can be both smart and pretty.  But, even though studies show that girls are as good at math as boys, even with beautiful movie stars earning Ivy League degrees in between blockbuster hits, the stereotypes persist—thanks in large part to messages like the one on that "cute and sassy" T-shirt marketed to girls age 7 to 16.

The controversy started late Tuesday night, when clothing designer Melissa Wardy saw a tweet about the T-shirt and then shared the link on her Facebook page. "I advocate for girls and against this kind of gender stereotyping in the marketplace," she said in an interview with Yahoo! Shine. "My little girl starts kindergarten tomorrow... I don't want her to see a shirt like that on her classmate, something saying that pretty is cute and right and the academics should be left to the boys."

"It incorporates all of the wrong messages for girls," she adds. "Why are we conditioning kids to wear something that degrades their self-worth?"


She's yucky and I'm ask to host the vistors. Who says she's quit?