Slog - Comments on It Was Offensive Until We Sold a Buttload of Them http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa T-shirt from Sarah Utter at Buy Olympia. The Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers' Association introduced their "new" slogan at a recent poorly attended convention held in Colorado Springs. The term should be familiar to anyone who's ever shopped at Urban Outfitters: Reading Is Sexy. Apparently, the words—which are the exact same words that appear on t-shirts and tote bags available for sale everywhere—are accompanied by a silhouette of a 'sexy' woman. No photo accompanies this story, but I hope it's the mudflap girl, since that too would be totally original. The best part of the story is this passage:... Copyright 2008 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:00:00 -0800 Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:46:08 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by elenchos Reading IS sexy, isn't it? I think it is.

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149191 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149191 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:04:34 -0800 Comment by lusk #1: Depends on the quality of the slash.

]]> lusk http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149196 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149196 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:11:13 -0800 Comment by PC @1 is right.

reading books is sexy. so is smarts. so is arguing. fleeing, ranting, not being able to talk about things, getting hysterical (happens w any gender, too), etc. is not.

]]> PC http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149212 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149212 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:20:48 -0800 Comment by Ryan am I missing something? What is offensive about this?

]]> Ryan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149276 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149276 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:00:28 -0800 Comment by RonK, Seattle WTF? Have these people ever been to Reading?

]]> RonK, Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149288 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149288 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:04:48 -0800 Comment by infrequent i don't want to defend the slogan or the logo. but i think this guy was saying he thought it was offensive to women until women bought/picked up most of the stuff. he's not saying that selling a bunch of stuff means it mustn't be offensive. of course, his logic doesn't actually prove that it's not offensive to women, but i see what he means.

]]> infrequent http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149320 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149320 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:19:37 -0800 Comment by city_kitty I have had this shirt for years.

]]> city_kitty http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149396 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149396 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:04:59 -0800 Comment by josh bomb i hope Sarah Utter is getting motherfucking PAID for this, if not she should sue the pants off that whole goddamm booksellers’ ass.

]]> josh bomb http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149403 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149403 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:07:38 -0800 Comment by uncle baggy It's almost as offensive as reading the Stranger.

Actually, it's not.

]]> uncle baggy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149409 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149409 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:10:42 -0800 Comment by Sarah U. Crazy! The above photo shows the original tshirt I designed for Buyolympia.com about 6 years ago.. I created it in response to what I found to be extremely stupid/offensive 'slogan tees' that were being marketed to teenage girls, and women, at that time.. you know, the generic 'hottie' and 'princess'/ 'mrs. timberlake', etc. I thought by that glorifying braininess/substance/nerdcore I could generate at least a bit of 'brainy girl unity' if not a laugh or two. The shirt that is being deemed 'offensive' at the Colorado Springs convention is apparently a bootleg of my design (and therefore not only a copyright infringement but also just a basic annoyance, as I'm a small-time artist selling Reading is Sexy merchandise through community-boosting/artist-supporting Buyolympia.com.. I'm not Target/Urban Outfitters/Hot Topic), and I'd LOVE to see what kind of graphic accompanies their version! Could it be the ubiquitous mudflap girl? The whole point of my design I whipped up at Kinko's one afternoon was to use a graphic that was not sexy in the least.. just a bit tongue-in-cheek flirtatious. Anyhow, this article just came to my attention yesterday, so I thought I'd throw in my two cents.
READING IS SEXY 4EVA! xo sarah u.
p.s. thanks josh bomb! i think i should be getting paid by this bootlegging bookseller!

]]> Sarah U. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149958 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1149958 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:19:07 -0800 Comment by uh, hello What's sexy is a rack that big.

]]> uh, hello http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1150004 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1150004 Books Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:22:22 -0800 Comment by jen i've also had this shirt for years. Sarah, your stuff on buyolympia.com is awesome! sue the bastards, and get paid!

]]> jen http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1150780 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/it_was_offensive_until_we_sold_a_buttloa#c1150780 Books Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:46:08 -0800