Ho’s Up, G’s Down???

My friend Gary recently sent me an article from the Wall Street Journal. (He knows just how to please me). The article is called “Girl Power as Boy Bashing: Evaluating the Latest Twist In the War of the Sexes,” and before reading the piece, I groaned. I hate when people attribute things like cuts to men’s college sports (or affirmative action) to girls “robbing” men of things they deserve. It’s so tired to claim that women’s progress is somehow meant to punish men.
Luckily, I was basically wrong. The article actually deals with the economics of the tween consumer market. (Shocking! An economic analysis from the Wall Street Journal!) The author shows that kids are now spending millions on products promoting the gender war. He points out the popularity of things like insult-laden clothing lines, confrontation-packed reality TV shows, and advertising that defines girl-power as boy-bashing.
Most of the girl power/boy-bashing argument focuses on the popularity of the David & Goliath “boys are stupid” clothing line, which is sold in 2,500 outlets and has an annual income of $100 million. As many of you know, the clothing line sells the infamous “Boys are stupid. Throw rocks at them!”, “Boys are smelly,” and “Boys have cooties” t-shirts.
I think this is an interesting point. I don’t think, as people quoted in the article suggest, that this trend is a product of Title IX, and shows girls trying to get a leg up by pushing boys down. That seems like a far-fetched and quite serious claim. I do think, however, that this trend is useless, obnoxious and, given that people can see it as a negative product of feminist advances, potentially damaging. I’m also tempted to wonder why this article essentially ignores the AMAZING amount of anti-woman products selling millions out there. But alas…
What do you think?