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Obscene T-Shirts: yay or nay?

"Freedom of Speech" means you can stand on a street corner and talk about how your government sucks. It *doesn't* mean you can wear an offensive T-Shirt to school.
That is not true.


You also forget there is no objective standard as to what is or is not offensive. Somebody would have to be pretty narrow minded to be offended by a shirt with a one inch wide "Oh Shit" in the upper corner.
 
The joke isn't that it's a middle finger, the joke is that it's the number 4 and not the "middle finger" as such. Bait-and-switch, and all that. Loses the funny when you have to explain it.
Yeah, I got it. But the "funny" is that you're supposed to think it's the middle finger at first. Slightly clever? Maybe. But I think it's a stretch to call it funny.
 
"Freedom of Speech" means you can stand on a street corner and talk about how your government sucks. It *doesn't* mean you can wear an offensive T-Shirt to school.
That is not true.


You also forget there is no objective standard as to what is or is not offensive. Somebody would have to be pretty narrow minded to be offended by a shirt with a one inch wide "Oh Shit" in the upper corner.
Do kids even technically have "freedom of speech"? Don't those rights not really kick in until they're 18 and out of their parents' control?
 
It's the same as "Disturbing the Peace."

You can't be as loud as you want whenever or wherever you want.

You can't be obscene anytime or anyplace you want. Depending on what's on the shirt, if you're around kids, you can be nailed for contributing. And if you wore a big F**K YOU t-shirt in public (without the asterisks, of course) and in front of young kids, you could easily be cited.

Or you can be arrested for threatening the President's life on your t-shirt.

Lots of exceptions. The First Amendment doesn't guarantee a free-for-all. Contrary to what a lot of lazy citizens think, it doesn't give you right to do anything anytime anywhere in front of anyone.

--Ted
 
My dad was once told to change his t-shirt by the park staff when we went to Six Flags one time because it said "Buttnaked Fishing" and had a picture of a cartoony troll on the back who was fishing without any pants on, so his butt was showing. Mom complained that there were goth teenagers wandering around with satanic stuff on their shirts but no one made THEM change! (Don't remember if she made this comment directly to the staff, though. Probably just telling me and my bro how it wasn't very fair.)

I'm pretty sure he had actually been allowed to wear that shirt on numerous other visits to Six Flags before then.
 
My dad was once told to change his t-shirt by the park staff when we went to Six Flags one time because it said "Buttnaked Fishing" and had a picture of a cartoony troll on the back who was fishing without any pants on, so his butt was showing. Mom complained that there were goth teenagers wandering around with satanic stuff on their shirts but no one made THEM change! (Don't remember if she made this comment directly to the staff, though. Probably just telling me and my bro how it wasn't very fair.)

Six Flags is kind of hardcore about that kind of stuff.

We used to go on field trips to Six Flags in junior high, and before we got off the bus they made sure that people wearing hats had them facing forward. If they faced any other direction, you could be arrested by park security for sporting gang symbols. :wtf:
 
Six Flags is kind of hardcore about that kind of stuff.

We used to go on field trips to Six Flags in junior high, and before we got off the bus they made sure that people wearing hats had them facing forward. If they faced any other direction, you could be arrested by park security for sporting gang symbols. :wtf:

School officials would make us wear hats forward for that reason, but not park staff. I used to turn my hat around backwards all the time at Six Flags, especially when I raced on the go-karts (felt that it was more aerodynamic that way... plus the speed of the kart and certain other rides generated enough of a breeze coming at me that it felt like my hat could possibly fly off if I kept it forwards.)

The only person other than a school official to react negatively to me turning my hat backwards is my mom, who thinks I look stupid when I do that.
 
Six Flags is kind of hardcore about that kind of stuff.

We used to go on field trips to Six Flags in junior high, and before we got off the bus they made sure that people wearing hats had them facing forward. If they faced any other direction, you could be arrested by park security for sporting gang symbols. :wtf:

School officials would make us wear hats forward for that reason, but not park staff. I used to turn my hat around backwards all the time at Six Flags, especially when I raced on the go-karts (felt that it was more aerodynamic that way... plus the speed of the kart and certain other rides generated enough of a breeze coming at me that it felt like my hat could possibly fly off if I kept it forwards.)
These were the security guards telling us this. I thought it was absurd.
 
Six Flags is kind of hardcore about that kind of stuff.

We used to go on field trips to Six Flags in junior high, and before we got off the bus they made sure that people wearing hats had them facing forward. If they faced any other direction, you could be arrested by park security for sporting gang symbols. :wtf:

School officials would make us wear hats forward for that reason, but not park staff. I used to turn my hat around backwards all the time at Six Flags, especially when I raced on the go-karts (felt that it was more aerodynamic that way... plus the speed of the kart and certain other rides generated enough of a breeze coming at me that it felt like my hat could possibly fly off if I kept it forwards.)
These were the security guards telling us this. I thought it was absurd.

Hmm... maybe you lived near a town that had some really bad gang activity?
 
I don't much care. Some things are funny, some aren't, "obscene" or not. Most so-called obscene shirts are just embarrassing attempts at adolescent rebellion. Of course, the concept of "obscene" only exists because most people never grow up....
 
I don't like really obscene shirts. Perverted, gross stuff. "I f*** on the first date" and downhill from there. Yuck.

The closest thing I had to an obscene T-shirt was "See Dick Drink. See Dick Drive. See Dick Die. Don't Be a Dick". I wore it a lot in high school and the teachers never raised an eyebrow. One actually gave me a thumbs-up. :lol:
 
Not obscene, but I liked this one. Lettering gets progressively more blurry as it says:

ONE TEQUILA
TWO TEQUILA
THREE TEQUILA
FLOOR

:D

And I had this one a few years ago that I got in New York. It had just plain black letters on a white background:

NEW
YORK
FUCKIN
CITY

Don't think I'll get another one like that though. Too blunt. Not funny enough. At least my anti-Red Sox shirt has some tact. ;)
 
People who wear obscene T-Shirts are douchebags.

Yeah you have the freedom to do it but that doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. We're living in a society, people.!!!!
When I wear obscene t-shirts, I see it as being courteous. Normally, people would actually have to talk to me to figure out that I'm a douchebag. If I wear a shirt with a bunch of F-bombs on it, they know what the score is right away.

My dad was once told to change his t-shirt by the park staff when we went to Six Flags one time because it said "Buttnaked Fishing" and had a picture of a cartoony troll on the back who was fishing without any pants on, so his butt was showing. Mom complained that there were goth teenagers wandering around with satanic stuff on their shirts but no one made THEM change! (Don't remember if she made this comment directly to the staff, though. Probably just telling me and my bro how it wasn't very fair.)

Six Flags is kind of hardcore about that kind of stuff.

We used to go on field trips to Six Flags in junior high, and before we got off the bus they made sure that people wearing hats had them facing forward. If they faced any other direction, you could be arrested by park security for sporting gang symbols. :wtf:
I've been talked to about the way I dress by staff at theme parks, but it had nothing to do with offensiveness. Here's how I was dressed when I went to Sea World in Orlando a year ago:

l_fa20225c3bad879733221fe564795099.jpg


They were all like "Why are you dressed that way? This is Florida, you're going to be hot all day long." It was only in the lower 80s and there was a nice breeze. It's not like I was wearing a ski parka... I was like "I'll be fine, mind your own fucking business."

I don't much care. Some things are funny, some aren't, "obscene" or not. Most so-called obscene shirts are just embarrassing attempts at adolescent rebellion. Of course, the concept of "obscene" only exists because most people never grow up....
I'll grow up when I'm good and ready.

Anyway, I don't usually wear stuff like the shirt earlier in the thread when I go grocery shopping and such, I save it for times when it's more appropriate... like black tie events and court appearances.
 
I say fuck to the yeah for offensive tshirts.

But not all the time, you don't want to overkill it.

I have a shirt that says "Gimme head 'till I"m dead" that I wear occasionally. Ripped that idea off of Booger from Revenge of the Nerds.
 
I had two of them (not T-Shirt Hell) years ago, loved them.
The first one said "I do my own stunts" and had a little stick guy falling to his death.

The second one was just text and said "Don't worry, I do this all the time."

I really loved that one. Particularly when we'd go tornado chasing and I'm warning people to get to shelter. :lol:

Edit:

Kommander, I've said it before and I'll say it again: You have excellent taste in hats.

J.
 
Kommander, I've said it before and I'll say it again: You have excellent taste in hats.

J.
You wouldn't say that if you'd seen my Fishin' Hat

l_211061bdd7a97f4e388162c7be344c88.jpg


I have hats for all occasions, and if I don't have a hat that fits, I buy a new one. So far I have the Fishin' Hat, one of those plastic helmets that holds beer, and the All-purpose Awesome Fedora, which has suited most of my needs.
 
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