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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that approaching people whilst wearing this is unacceptable?

117 replies

Powersout · 27/07/2025 22:37

Went for a walk with DD7 around the local housing estate this afternoon. We stopped to stroke a cat when a teenage girl who was standing outside her house vaping crossed the road to tell us the cats name, names of other cats in the area etc. She was basically being very friendly and informative (it wasn't her cat btw). Unfortunately she was also wearing a t shirt with a picture of a pink cat and the slogan 'F* off' underneath it. My 7 year old is well aware of this word as a swear word but I do try to limit her exposure to it and feel that if you're wearing a t shirt like this you should not be initiating a conversation with a 7 year old. I didn't raise it with the girl - mainly because her conversation was so friendly but it was a weird juxtaposition which made me and my DD uncomfortable (she asked me several times why she was wearing it after we'd walked away). Just feel a t shirt like this shouldn't be allowed to be worn in public.

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BleepBleep1961 · 02/08/2025 23:43

Ha Ha Ha ... Clunk !
That's the sound of me laughing my head OFF !!!
MY favourite T Shirt says :
BELOW
⬇️ME ⬇️* *

Hahaha!

Rosebud335 · 02/08/2025 22:38

There's more important things to worry about right now... You really need to be more concerned about the sickos who are molesting kids. Those are the true monsters...

That's my concern with my daughter, I have been seeing horror stories of CSA in the news and the perps are pastors, cops, coaches and teachers, people who are supposed to protect children. I just heard about a cop in PA who was arrested for filming and stalking young girls at an YMCA, while the cop was working!! The youngest girl was only 8 so protect your daughter from those monsters!!

They are literally destroying kids innocence, that's probably why this world is messed up bc this predators are corrupting our young with evilness.

Then, when your daughter gets older, don't think she's more safer... This place is dangerous for kids and any females so please keep your daughter safe from the predators bc it's happening a lot more now and at safe kid places...c

Protect your kids from predators bc that abuse really messes up a person for life 💯🙊🙉🙈

JoniJolly · 02/08/2025 22:19

You could of informed the teen that the things we think say and do carry a frequency and those words definitely carry a negative connotation which attracts negative people/experiences. I thought I was a cool teenager by saying the nastiest things (like my shirt would of said f* you cu**) which those thoughts have created a lot of trauma sickness and hardship in my lifetime🙏🏻💙

BrightGreenPoet · 02/08/2025 14:52

YABU So long as the clothes people wear are legal, what other people wear is absolutely none of your business. If you didn't want your daughter to see the shirt then you should have kept walking

DiscoBob · 30/07/2025 11:46

Frequency · 28/07/2025 06:03

Where do you live that the police have time to ask teenagers to change their clothes?

Yeah I don't think it's very likely they would. But if someone reported it they might do? God knows why someone would report a t shirt with a fluffy kitten and fuck off. It's clearly meant to be amusing. But OP seemed very very offended.

user1471453601 · 28/07/2025 18:37

@SeriaMau you asked if I get many men snig gering at me. How can they? Like every woman, I became (happily) invisible once I turned 50 or so.

WorthySloth · 28/07/2025 18:34

My current favourite gig tee shirt. I wouldn’t wear it to work or to go shopping but for a night out absolutely. For context I’m 56 and actually don’t care what people think of me

To think that approaching people whilst wearing this is unacceptable?
MuckFusk · 28/07/2025 18:24

Itsyouitsyouitsallforyou · 28/07/2025 02:46

I agree with you OP - I don’t like it when people swear in public spaces, especially spaces where children are in.
It’s unnecessary.

It’s really odd to me that so many on here find it so difficult or unwarranted to draw a line in the sand.

No one is claiming anyone will fall over and die if they see or hear the word ‘fuck’ but it’s the gradual erosion of civil standards that leaves communities slightly worse off.

If ‘Fuck off’ is ok - what about a tshirt that says ‘fuck off cunt - I mean that ironically’ super imposed over a picture of a cuddly cat - to make clear it’s ironic.

You maintain standards to stop the slow descent into ‘the state of nature’. They might seem silly or pointless but they are a fence and to paraphrase Chesterton you don’t remove the fence till you know what it is holding back.

It's fine to draw a line in the sand, but the thing is you can only draw a line in your own sand. You can't control other people. So what would you suggest the OP do, harangue the girl? Speak to the parents?
Personally, as a parent I would not have let my teenage children leave the house in such a tee shirt, not because I find the word offensive but because they might look like little undisciplined, snotty brats to others, who could treat them harshly as a consequence. Other parents may not see it that way. Who am I to tell other people how to parent? As long as the children seem healthy and happy, not being abused or neglected, it's none of anybody's business.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 28/07/2025 16:08

Powersout · 27/07/2025 23:31

But the f word generally is used in anger isn't it? The message on the t shirt was really hostile.

Not in this house it isn't.

It's a good lesson for you and your daughter to realise you can't control what other people wear or say, just concentrate on your own actions.

PoxyAndIKnowIt · 28/07/2025 16:04

Netcurtainnelly · 28/07/2025 11:51

What sort of parent, let's their daughter wear that?

Me, probably 🤷🏻‍♀️

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 28/07/2025 15:23

Netcurtainnelly · 28/07/2025 11:51

What sort of parent, let's their daughter wear that?

Have you got/had teenage children? If the worst they want to do is wear a silly cat t-shirt, then I'd say somebody is winning at parenting, actually.

UsingAMansNameInAWomensWorld · 28/07/2025 13:15

It does always amuse me when people on MN get on their high horse about how awful swearing is

When MN is one of few places online where you can swear freely and even use c*nt openly without having to censor it

powershowerforanhour · 28/07/2025 12:33

"What sort of parent, let's their daughter wear that?"

One who has decided to pick their battles probably.

Netcurtainnelly · 28/07/2025 11:51

What sort of parent, let's their daughter wear that?

CaptainMyCaptain · 28/07/2025 11:16

Tia247 · 28/07/2025 08:55

I'd just say 'sometimes teenagers like things with rude or silly things written on them'. If she asks why then say 'because they think it's funny'.

If she keeps asking then it's because she wants to understand and she wants an answer rather than to be brushed off with I dunno.

But sometimes you really don't know the answer.

Waitingfordoggo · 28/07/2025 10:41

I was at a festival this weekend and saw a man wearing a T shirt that said ‘Bring back fingering’ (I think it’s a Micky Flanagan quote). I was slightly shocked but also amused.

There were a LOT of children at the festival though and I did wonder how parents might explain it if any of the kids asked 😂

Overall, people are more crass than they were when I was growing up. I’m not a prude but I would prefer it if people were a bit more civilised in their behaviour, language and dress.

I swear like a trooper but not in front of kids or older people or in public spaces.

TempestTost · 28/07/2025 10:16

I wouldn't make something like that illegal, that would be a terrible idea.

I do think it's incumbent upon the adults in the lives of teens like that to tell them that a shirt with a slogan like that is saying "Fuck you" to every person they interact with, and to expect some or even many people to react as if they had actually said "fuck you" to them.

Swiftie1878 · 28/07/2025 10:15

Powersout · 27/07/2025 23:31

But the f word generally is used in anger isn't it? The message on the t shirt was really hostile.

Seriously, worse things are happening in the world right now. Your child already knows the word and not to use it. Be grateful for the pleasant interaction and stop focusing on a minor negative.

AquaLibraAquarius · 28/07/2025 10:11

user1471453601 · 27/07/2025 23:01

And I'm 74 and have a badge I wear on my jacket that says "fuck the patriachy".

So what?

I hope I’m you when I’m 74.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 28/07/2025 09:59

Jesus. This is such a non-event. Just tell your dc that the girl was lovely and maybe she just liked the picture of the cat. You’re being ridiculous.

Floatlikeafeather2 · 28/07/2025 09:55

You have chosen to interpret it as hostile to you (and your daughter) when in fact it's yet another of the very very many t-shirts/mugs/bags etc beloved by "catophiles" who hold to the idea that all cats, however pretty they look, are actually saying fuck off to everyone and everything. Have a Google. You'll be amazed at the choice.
Just talk to your daughter normally about it. If she dwells on things, that must be partly because of how you react to such stuff. And stop petting other people's cats.
I assume it's something like this.

To think that approaching people whilst wearing this is unacceptable?
Bootsybugs22 · 28/07/2025 09:47

Proudestmumofone1 · 28/07/2025 03:47

Oh and my family weren’t ‘sweaty’ but when FCUK was the trend from French connection, I loved having that T-shirt as a teenager!

and no, it wasn’t hostile, it wasn’t aggressive, I didn’t sneak to the park to drink alcohol, I didn’t bunk school… but I guess my parents thought if that’s how I could express my adolescent ‘rebellion’ it was a pretty safe way to do so.

I would advise reading the teenage brain by Dr Blakemore in a couple of years OP, otherwise I fear a rough road ahead…

Edited

I did sneak to the park to drink alcohol, I did bunk school. But I didn't have any tshirts with swear words (or even FCUK) written on them? 🤔🙃

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 28/07/2025 09:44

I have customers that come into my shop wearing T shirts with slogans that make me think 'really? You thought that was an appropriate message to send to everyone around you?' Some of them are veering towards being so utterly offensive that they look like an arrestable offence. But I don't say anything, I just mentally put that person on my 'racist, sexist, homophobic dick' list.

But teenagers love to get that kind of response. Making people annoyed is what they're all about, so I cut them some slack.

Superhansrantowindsor · 28/07/2025 09:16

YANBU.
I was at a family attraction recently and there was a man with young kids wearing a hoodie with swearing clearly visible on it. He’s got no excuse for being such an ignorant fool. It’s not edgy or funny. You just look like a knobhead.

CremeBruhlee · 28/07/2025 09:05

I think it’s a great opener for discussing choices and clothing/ language for a particular setting. I’m a right stickler for kids being made to wear appropriate clothes for a setting - funeral, wedding, formal birthday meal, church service, job interview. But by the same token I’ve worn all sorts in my teens (and don’t now ha ha). Use it as a learning experience