Forever 21′s ‘Allergic to Algebra’ Shirt Draws Criticism

. read those shirts before you complain about something like this.

these shirts are a joke im so tired of everyone getting there pantys in a not .those if shopping was a grade whgen i was in school i be on the honnr roll .since math an other sub couldnt do good becuse ogf have a learing disbilty people need to chill out

All these people worked up over a t-shirt. LOL. Get a life. Seriously.

They gotta have their 15 seconds of whatever. The people that complain about t-shirts are more stupid than the shirts. They just can’t realize how they are showing it when they make their remarks.

Yet again more evidence of the anti -education mentality in this country. There WAS a time when bragging that you were stupid was something to be ashamed of. Folks used to value being smart. Not surpisingly that coincided with our most profitable highest standard of living. In the 1960s we had a higher percentage of our population as college grads than any other country on the earth AND it’s no coincidence that co-insides with our richest we’ve ever been, the years we landed a man on the moon and built the tallest buildings in the world. Now we’re 17th and sinking. Instead of visions of greatness and kids foaming at the mouth to get into college, they were “I’m stupid” t shirts with pride. It’s a symptom of a greater problem that results in the biggest problem of all —-unemployment and low wage jobs. the unemployment rate for college grads is 4%. oh yeah. Having a society that thinks bragging about being stupid is no big deal, dont look now, being uneducated IS our BIGGEST problem right now.

geesh! why are we worried about a t shirt when there are t v shows like jersey shore, i didn’t know i was pregnant , toddlers and tiaras…should i continue? these shows are more detrimental to us as a society than a t shirt! besides i think the irony is that as some one that is great at math and algebra …. i would wear the shirt because i think its funny. since when does the writing on a t shirt have any real value any way ?

Actually, I find most disturbing the number of people here who can’t seem to wrap their heads around the fact that messages like this are insidious and plant subtle ideas in the impressionable minds of children and teenagers that, left unchallenged, eventually become unexamined and unquestioned ideas held by adults. I take it that many of you are unaware of the research that shows no difference by gender in young children’s attitudes toward math and science in school. They are all generally excited to learn new things at that age, and all children are natural scientists, curious about the world. By the time they reach middle school and beyond, however, girls are discouraged from excelling at math and science both by attitudes from teachers and other adults (also something that has been studied and observed) and by peer pressure fueled by cultural messages *like this one on this shirt*!

It’s already been mentioned here that under-education is one of the biggest problems we face today in America. Other nations are excelling at the subjects that generate advances in technology and innovation, quite often in fields that America pioneered! We are faltering and falling behind. That’s a problem that can’t be solved in the halls of Congress. It has to be tackled in the classroom, each and every day, starting with little girls whose mothers adorn them with cutesy shirts that reinforce anti-education, anti-smart-girl messages and attitudes that insist that it’s MUCH better for a girl to be pretty than to be intelligent. To all of you wailing about how this is too trivial to bother with compared to the ‘big picture’ issues of our day, you’ve completely missed the boat. ‘Big picture’ issues are made up of and perpetuated by many important comparatively ‘small’ issues. THIS is one of them.

Why does a shirt like this cause “outrage” and why is it “sexist” when there is no outrage against against items printed with the statement “Boys are stupid. Throw rocks at them” and no one says this is sexist?

There should be a guy standing next to her wearing
a “I’m With Stupid” t-shirt.

Why do people like wasting their energy on things that don’t matter? Why get upset at things like T-shirts, and simultaneously ignore truly offensive things that do matter? It’s a T-shirt. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. If you see someone wearing it, BINGO, you know they’re an idiot. And isn’t it nice to know?

Seriously… I don’t understand what the big deal is over a stupid t-shirt! I think it’s funny how everybody makes a big deal about a shirt that says “Allergic to Algebra” but I’m quite sure somebody could walk around with a naked woman on their shirt OR a shirt that says “sex symbol” on it (referring to themselves as the sex symbol) and nobody would make a big deal out of it!! The clothing company isn’t trying to say that girls are stupid they’re just trying to make shirts that people will wear.. and this shirt has a humorous side to it and that will bring in buyers… I’d probably wear a shirt like that just for the heck of it and I was an honors student when I was in school! It doesn’t mean I’m stupid or that any other girl is stupid it’s just a fun harmless t-shirt. It’s obvious that the shirt meant that a person would rather not do math.. but honestly who really wants to do math unless that’s just something your into.. think about it.. you’re making a big deal over nothing.

What a ridiculous story. Is it so difficult to realize the possibility that either male or female students could dislike math but still be good at it. Get a grip on reality. It’s just a t-shirt.

I totally agree with Stella and Tara. I love math. I absolutely hate working through piles and piles of pointless algebra. I have a degree in physics and am currently doing grad school in economics. Every time I have to do algebra, I use a computer instead of working it out by hand. Algebra is pointless, time consuming, and completely deviates one’s attention from actually learning math. If I had a kid, I’d be happy if he/she wore this shirt.

T-shirt makers are just giving us the consumers what they think we want. They are a mirror on our culture. I wouldn’t take as much offense if it wasn’t so true that the US as a country (not just the girls) are getting our butts handed to us by the rest of the world. So I agree the shirt is not that big of a deal, but the reflection in the mirror is what concerns me. We as a culture keep promoting athletes, singers/rappers and actors as heros and cultural icons when the only purpose they serve is to entertain the rest of us. But on the flip side we make fun of what really makes a difference in the world (or at least the future of the word) Math and Science…
It is going to be a rough road ahead as a country if we don’t wake up and realize that the world has changed and we are lost in the dust…

Its not an education problem….NAH. Were not one of the most developed countries in the world with an education system that consistently ranks near the bottom…..Lets blame it on a T-shirt…..

But… I am allergic to algebra!!

I’m a 15 year old girl and I love math, especially algebra. In fact, algebra is my favorite branch of math. I also love astrophysics and for university I want to go to MIT to be able to pursue a scientific career and because it seems to be the university I’d be most compatible with among the schools with great programs in the fields I enjoy. But then again, I am the exception, not the rule. I don’t shop at Forever 21 because I’m not keen on buying cheaply-made ugly clothing aimed at kids who don’t understand the value of a product and how to truly buy the best way economically. But I’m really not surprised, as Forever 21 has a poor track record with many things, such as ignorance of copyright and intelligent property, sweatshop labor and quality. But what really concerns me is this stigma placed on math, especially towards girls. This is yet another example of the prevalent anti-intellectualism that I find quite annoying, and if we want America to head back into the right direction we will have to change the dynamic in schools and the media because as a society, we need mathematically-inclined people. And I was recently reading in Scientific American Magazine that the percentage of schoolchildren interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has decreased. From personal experience, math is more enjoyable with a good teacher who really understands the concepts. But it seems that the people who really enjoy math tend to branch into careers like being a professor or an engineer, which I can understand because they pay better and are viewed more highly in society, which is a problem. It’s somewhat complex, and the whole system would need to be changed, and I’m not sure how willing people are to pursue a change. But right now I think I’ll just have to remain a minority, a teen who actually enjoys math. But I think why this shirt is so troubling is because it reveals an outcome in one of the flaws in the system. What we need to do is make math interesting for young people, and our country will be more likely to succeed. But in a time and situation, how plausible is that plan? The context of the shirt is much more concerning than the short itself.