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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.

OP posts:
Daysgo · 28/07/2025 09:02

Do you get offended a lot op?

Marmite27 · 28/07/2025 08:59

CaramelGhost · 27/07/2025 23:04

Teenager vaping and wearing rebellious clothing isn't ground breaking. At least not where I live 🙈 They're still kids who are figuring things out.

Nicely, I don't know what to tell you. For example I've been taking my child to football matches since they were 4, they hear all sorts of language and we just used it as an opportunity to discuss it openly and lay out that everyone is different and people make their own choices but as a parent I expect x/y/z from them. No big deal

This, football words aren’t allowed outside the stadium. I don’t mind them joing in the chants inside though, it’s a bonding experience!

PoxyAndIKnowIt · 28/07/2025 08:59

MikeRafone · 28/07/2025 07:05

Just say to the person

its really confusing as you’re very friendly but your t shirt is telling a different story and will now start many questions from my daughter who can read - so we best part ways

😂😂

I can't decide if this poster is serious or not. Imagine saying that to someone!
Some of these posts come straight from the 1950s.

Hobnobswantshernameback · 28/07/2025 08:56

I can seriously see where your daughter gets her "dweller" tendencies from
apple And tree and all that

Moveoverdarlin · 28/07/2025 08:55

I think in just a few years, you and your DD will look back and really laugh at this. ‘Remember when we bumped in to that really sweet, chatty girl who was telling us all about the local cats? But she had Fuck Off written on her tshirt? I was paranoid about you reading it as you were only 7, but it’s quite funny when you think about it.

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.

NavyTiger · 28/07/2025 08:53

Not as bad as i saw, A child of around 9/10 with a picture of a cat and underneath said Stroke my pussy now that's grim

pictoosh · 28/07/2025 08:50

You could have said, "I don't know why she's wearing that t-shirt.", and dismissed it out of hand.

Absentmindedsmile · 28/07/2025 08:46

spoonbillstretford · 28/07/2025 08:30

I also remember using words like fuck, crap etc at school with friends aged 7 or 8 and not knowing what they each meant or how bad each was on a scale, or that they had another meaning other than as a swear word and that they weren't to be said in front of grown ups. Also saying "twat" when I was about ten and my DM suddenly going quiet, shocked, then laughing when she realised I thought it was a variation on "twit". She just said "No, don't say that" and provided no further explanation. I also thought penis was spelt peeness and your vagina was spelt virgina as I never saw them written down until my parents bought me a facts of life book aged 11. On balance I think it's best just to explain things to your kids as they become curious, in an age appropriate and straightforward way, as actually the confusion can be more scary or embarrassing. DD1 asked how DD2 had got into my tummy when she was three.

Edited

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CherryYellowCouch · 28/07/2025 08:36

I wouldnt like that Tshirt and wouldnt like my teenage daughter to wear it.

But you are an adult so you should really be ware that swearing is more complicated and nuanced than “bad and angry words”.

Why not take this as an opportunity to discuss the complexities and politics of swearing with your daughter?

brunettemic · 28/07/2025 08:33

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.

You interpreted it as hostile. That’s not the same thing.

spoonbillstretford · 28/07/2025 08:30

I also remember using words like fuck, crap etc at school with friends aged 7 or 8 and not knowing what they each meant or how bad each was on a scale, or that they had another meaning other than as a swear word and that they weren't to be said in front of grown ups. Also saying "twat" when I was about ten and my DM suddenly going quiet, shocked, then laughing when she realised I thought it was a variation on "twit". She just said "No, don't say that" and provided no further explanation. I also thought penis was spelt peeness and your vagina was spelt virgina as I never saw them written down until my parents bought me a facts of life book aged 11. On balance I think it's best just to explain things to your kids as they become curious, in an age appropriate and straightforward way, as actually the confusion can be more scary or embarrassing. DD1 asked how DD2 had got into my tummy when she was three.

Absentmindedsmile · 28/07/2025 08:30

A lot of people seem to find a t shirt that says ‘Woman: Adult Human Female’ to be extremely offensive.. where does it end, policing t shirts..

Richiewoo · 28/07/2025 08:29

Omg do you live in Disney land. You can't control what your child sees outside the home. Youre totally overreacting.

Ddakji · 28/07/2025 08:28

KiwiFall · 28/07/2025 08:05

A lot of teens express themselves at that age in what they wear. Punks did so definitely not a new thing. As one other posted suggested a conversation with the child about what someone wears/looks like isn’t always their personality is the best approach. No one can dictate what someone else wears no matter how appropriate or offended they are by it.

I’m commenting on you implying there are only two options.

MassiveBackstory · 28/07/2025 08:26

Oh please! If she’d turned up to babysit or to facilitate a church group wearing it I’d have been a bit 🤨 but otherwise crack on.

Absentmindedsmile · 28/07/2025 08:25

🤷‍♀️ in a few years she’ll be swearing too (for her to know it’s a ‘bad word’ she’s obviously heard it a few times already). No big deal. The vaping is the worst aspect anyway.

Hopefully your child picked up the teenagers empathy and love of animals, which is by far the most important aspect of this little interaction.

DitzyDerbyBabe86 · 28/07/2025 08:22

Get a grip.

BugBugTheTornado · 28/07/2025 08:21

Flew home from Majorca last week. Young woman (late teens/early 20s) was wearing a tshirt with ‘I ❤️dick’ on it, in huge letters lol.

She was flying with her sister and parents, not a friends trip to Magaluf.

I’m sure she thought she was being edgy, but she looked ridiculous on a flight full of families and pensioners. I’m sure she’ll cringe in a few years time when she looks back, but teens will be teens 🤣

spoonbillstretford · 28/07/2025 08:21

I would be impressed that DD aged 7 read it and worked out what it meant. I'd just have a little light-hearted discussion with DD about what language is acceptable afterwards but think nothing else of it.

I remember when they were little becoming suddenly aware that I wasn't playing the radio friendly version of songs from my music app- oops.

Waterbaby41 · 28/07/2025 08:20

Given the bad press that teenagers get, you should be focusing on the positives from this - engaging with you and your child, confident, interested in other people, polite etc etc. Probably what most parents would want from their teens.

WonderingWanda · 28/07/2025 08:18

Of course it's not acceptable but that's the point isn't it? Teenagers spend all their time (and have done for decades) trying to be provocative.....wearing skimpy clothes, listening to inappropriate lyrics, trying out all the swear words. It makes them feel grown up until they are actually grown up and then they realise they don't need to bother any more. Teen has succeeded in shocking you. I doubt her Mum even knows about that t shirt.

Just tell your dd that she's a teenager and sometimes teenagers like to act grown up but they get it all wrong.

FlowersandElephants · 28/07/2025 08:15

SinicalMe · 28/07/2025 08:01

YANBU @Powersout and you know you know you’re not being U.

All the cool mums are out today pretending they wouldn’t give a damn.

I don’t know why people post on AIBU anymore because you know most people will play mental gymnastics to disagree agree with you. Either that or society’s standards are slipping and if these are people’s real opinions and then you wouldn’t associate with them in real life as their values don’t represent yours.

Just because the majority keyboard warriors post YABU. You’re not.

People can have different opinions. I’m not trying to be cool or pretending I don’t care about it.
It genuinely wouldn’t bother me.
If the OPs child found it that uncomfortable and kept going on about it that’s down to her being told swearing is bad and that’s made her anxious.
My youngest 2 (8 and 5) wouldn’t even bring it up if they saw it.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 28/07/2025 08:15

Maybe, maybe it wasn't an instruction but a statement that indicates that she had a total dislike of 'offal' but the letters 'a' and 'l' came off when she was ironing the T-shirt?

Could be...

FloraBotticelli · 28/07/2025 08:10

Powersout · 27/07/2025 23:58

If it's something she's curious about or anxious about then she always asks me the same thing over and over again. She's a 'dweller' (or mental torturer...)

You could use the opportunity to teach her about lalochezia.

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