During my brief stint in Berkeley, Calif., I got used to seeing a lot of bumper stickers: "Somewhere a village is missing an idiot," "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention," and the enigmatic (and, I hope, apolitical?) "I brake for boiled peanuts." And then there's what I like to call the "abortion line," with slogans like "If you're against abortion don't have one" and "Get your religion out of my uterus."
Personally, I hate all bumper stickers -- with a special exemption granted for the ones that suggest that we "discuss complex issues through bumper stickers." But I did have to wonder where all the witty right-wing slogans were. (Not in Berkeley, clearly.) So I was intrigued to find this link -- not to a bumper sticker, but to an ad for a black T-shirt that says "I Survived Roe v. Wade." (It's on the right-hand side of the page, appropriately enough.)
The reason I point out this particular ad is because of the person wearing the shirt: a sunglasses-wearing brunette with her lips seductively parted, with low-riding bluejeans that expose the part of her stomach just below her bellybutton. Purveyors of pro-life clothing will be quick to point out that this is also available in infant sizes, so you do not necessarily have to be a buxom brunette to sport it. But doesn't it just seem, I don't know, a little sexy coming from a demographic group that sometimes argues that allowing abortion encourages promiscuity?
Maybe I'm just behind the times -- after all, there are some pretty hip conservative fashions out there. Check out the "Ice Cold Conservative" tee that uses the CocaCola logo, or the saucy "I just neutered the cat -- now he's a liberal" shirt. In fact, right-wing tees seem to have frequent references to testicles -- cf. "I'd rather be a conservative nut job than a liberal with no nuts and no job." Maybe someone could follow up the "Roe v. Wade" campaign with special-edition pro-chastity boxer briefs, worn by a Calvin Klein underwear model, that sport an ad for "Purity Balls." Any takers?
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