Lightinthebox.com sells "Wife Beater" vests

[muggleaunt]

Surely they can't think this is okay?

I was going to buy kids t-shirt from there, but changed my mind when I noticed their "Wife Beater" merchandise.

I have heard a certain brand of cheap but strong beer called this. As in, ‘ I drank 12 cans of wife beater last night.’ Not funny really.

Stella? That has a bad reputation

Yes it's American, and the version for women is called sugar lips, which is a brand name but used as a generic. Otherwise it's a tank top.

@DeathbySnuSnu doesn't matter who they're trying to take the piss out of, because they're actually taking the piss out of and normalising DV.

Stella is called wife beater local to me.
Same as the vests it's a nasty social slur at best and at worst normalised dv vernacular.

That's the nickname for them. Apologies to the permanently offended

I wouldn’t buy anything from there. We bought 2 light fittings and 2 coats. The fittings were going to be installed by an electrician but he refused to do it as they were both unsafe with the live wires touching the metal casing around the lights. We tried to get a refund but we had to pay for shipping back to China! Which as you can imagine almost completely made it pointless.

The coats were supposed to be a waterproof material. When they arrived they were made from felt. Like really thick cheap felt that was a completely different colour and shape. Looked like a child had made it. Again almost impossible to speak to any customer services and could only get some money back after I shipped it to China.

Avoid!

So gollywogs are ok then? Calling them wogs is fine is it? I mean it's just a nickname 🤷‍♀️ its not offensive?

In a world when the dictionary definition of woman can get you fired or refused services at a bar I'm shocked anyone thinks it's ok but....maybe I shouldn't be because it's only women isnt it

I've always heard them called muscle vests. Tighter fitting than a vest to show off the hours spent in the gym

@GooGoo52 amen.

@CountFosco Yes, a link would have been handy, here it is:

Link to Customer Service page:

www.lightinthebox.com/r/contact-us.html

Their live chat seems to be the only way to contact them but I haven't seen anything other than a message to say they are not online.

Really don’t get how people are offended by this.

As posters already explained it’s a slang term for that type of clothing in the US. Generally worn by rednecks and hillbilly’s and people of low IQ.

It’s not glamourising or condoning anything. I actual fact the term is offensive to to type of people who wear those tops as is it suggesting that to buy one you are of low intelligence, very questionable upbringing, and that you are the type of low life who could actually be called a wife beater.

CountFosco

It's an offensive slang term that trivialises domestic violence and companies shouldn't be using it when selling products. The perpetuation and acceptance of terms like this contributes to a cycle of male violence that we need to break

I'm astonished that there are posters who cannot understand this.

This article is interesting.

In the mid-20th century, some called it the “dago tee” or “guinea tee” — offensive epithets directed at Italian immigrants

Donald Tricarico, a professor of sociology at Queensborough Community College, told me that the terms hark back to a time when some didn’t consider Italians really to be white. They viewed the sleeveless undershirt as a working-class garment, and someone — or a whole bunch of people — gave it this racialized label as a way to “otherize” Italian immigrants, who were often poor and did manual labor

Dominique Padurano, an adjunct assistant professor of history at Bronx Community College, speculates that dago tee evolved into wife beater when people realized that overt racism was no longer acceptable

www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/opinion/are-we-really-still-calling-this-shirt-a-wife-beater.amp.html

As posters already explained it’s a slang term for that type of clothing in the US. Generally worn by rednecks and hillbilly’s and people of low IQ

Really??? How do you consider yourself on the class bigoted front? Those with low IQ have some sort of uniform. I feel like I need to look around to check what century we are living in with people still thinking these kinds of comment are in any way acceptable.

Its not the beer that has the bad rep, its the men that drink it and blame it for being violent to women. Men who are violent do seem to find 'excuses' for their violence, like she deserved it, or he was drunk, didn't know what he was doing.

Using this expression does trivialise women and children being murdered by violent partners and fathers.

As posters already explained it’s a slang term for that type of clothing in the US. Generally worn by rednecks and hillbilly’s and people of low IQ

I love the incorrect apostrophe here.

That is a slang term for them here, but stores don't label them that way. That's weird. Also, this is a vest.

That's only a vest in the US. That is a waistcoat in the UK. A vest is an undergarment - vests are worn by men, women and children.

Are you seriously thinking of buying them? If not, move on and forget about them. If you are, you might want to have a word with yourself. No one with any class wears them.

Ah, the joy of Mumsnet. Forget the debate about whether it’s offensive or ill-judged to use such a term to describe the clothing - let’s make judgements about the ‘class’ of anyone who’d wear such clothing.

That's only a vest in the US
Therefore it’s a valid point because we’re talking about the US term “wifebeater”. What it’s called in the UK is irrelevant.

As posters already explained it’s a slang term for that type of clothing in the US. Generally worn by rednecks and hillbilly’s and people of low IQ.

Brit in the US, it’s a common way to describe that garment in my state too. If I heard the phrase in the UK I would assume they were talking about Stella.

I don’t understand why only now it’s an offensive phrase, surly it would have died out years ago.

Once something becomes embedded in culture it is hard for people to see how offensive it might be, because any shock value has long worn off.

We are seeing this a bit on this thread from people who presumably live in places where this type of clothing has got this name. They might in theory understand how the name could be inappropriate but they just don't 'feel it' so assume people are being overly sensitive or precious.

It shouldn't be accepted, any more than (for example) Colgate's brand of toothpaste called "Darkie" (with the logo being a blackface minstrel). It was called this for 40 years before they changed it to Darlie in the 80s. Lots of people didn't understand what the problem was because it was 'just a name' and 'didn't actually promote racism' etc.

It’s always been called that and nobody has ever complained. Imo people are just looking for something to be offended about.

Lot's of people in the US, especially women, have complained, and I thought the usage was dying out in the US. It's deeply offensive.

That's only a vest in the US
Therefore it’s a valid point because we’re talking about the US term “wifebeater”. What it’s called in the UK is irrelevant

The term "wifebeater" is understood in the UK regardless of whether the garment is a vest or an undershirt. Your comment completely misses the point.

In the UK it has the additional meaning of a type of strong lager.