The BGSU Bookstore is the number one place for official University merchandise and apparel.
You can buy things such as sweatshirts, sweatpants, umbrellas, tank tops and your class books. There is apparel specifically for students and even for alumni. There is even merchandise for parents and grandparents.
The bookstore sells novelty items such as “BGSU Mom,” “BGSU Dad,” “BGSU Grandma” and “BGSU Grandpa.”
This seems really cool and is an incentive for BGSU students to get their parents into the school spirit.
However, here is where the problem lies: most of the apparel geared toward mothers is very “generic” as far as designs go. The fathers apparel has much more of a better design on them. All of the dad apparel even has the official BGSU logo on it. Same with items meant for grandma and grandpa. The apparel for grandma is a lot more generic than the grandpa apparel.
When I say this, I’m specifically talking about the shirts. I think this is a bit sexist.
All parent shirts should have the equal quality of designs, not just the dads and grandpas. Also, adding the BGSU Athletics logo to the dad/grandpa apparel and not the mom/grandma apparel is assuming that all males are automatically into sports or that the sport logos would appeal more to them just because they’re male.
A lot males are into sports, but you can’t assume that every male is into sporting apparel or that women wouldn’t be into clothing that is sport themed or has an athletics logo.
Not every female is into wearing a shirt with a feminine design on it and assuming so is also pretty sexist.
It makes the designers of the shirts appear to favor dads and grandpas over moms and grandmas.
I tried to find something in the bookstore the other day for my mother’s birthday, and I was disgusted at the fact that I could not find anything that said “BGSU Mom” on it as well as the BGSU Athletics logo on it. All of the cool shirts said dad and grandpa on them. I told the associate in the bookstore how much of a problem this was.
This is also the short end of the stick for people who grew up in single homes primarily with their mother as the parent. Not everyone had a father in their household that was always present in their life. Even when it comes to apparel and clothing, each parent and grandparent should receive the same treatment, and not favoring one over the other.
Some had just their father in their home, others had just their mother in the home. I would like to contact the BGSU Bookstore and give them ideas on making t-shirts.
When making apparel for parents, please give each parent themed apparel the same treatment with the quality of the designs. I’m sure the moms of students here at BGSU would appreciate it very much.
Hopefully, this will change in the future for future students as well. Moms, dads, boys, girls, grandmothers, grandfathers, men, women. Everyone should be treated equally. Even with clothing.
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