Worried about my 18 year old son buying joke shirts from Afflecks Palace

[ForSparklyFatball]

Hi everyone, I’m after some advice because I’m really not sure if I’m overreacting or not. My son is 18 and has started going into Manchester at weekends with his university mates. They’ve been spending time in Afflecks Palace, which I know is full of alternative stalls, but he came back yesterday with a couple of t-shirts from the shop on the top floor that does the t-shirt printing.
One of them says “Don’t bully me, I’ll cum” and the other was along similar lines with crude sexual humour. He thought they were hilarious and just a bit of edgy fun, but I’m honestly concerned. At 18 he’s an adult, yet these kinds of slogans seem to normalise really objectifying and inappropriate attitudes, especially towards women and sex. I’ve tried speaking to him about it calmly, explaining why it bothers me, but he just laughed it off and said it’s only a joke.
Has anyone else come across these sorts of shirts in Afflecks or had their own son or daughter bring something similar home? Am I making too much of it, or is this worth having a firmer conversation about? Any thoughts on how to approach it without it escalating would be really helpful. Thanks.

oh get over yourself. i'm 45 and wear more offensive shirts than that.

good grief.

If you don't like them tell him not to wear them around you/at home.. its all my mom did when my brother came home with a Nirvana shirt with 'mother fucker' written on the back of it in the 90.s

Well I have had bad experiences with men in the past. I've had therapy, but that does trigger me.

Does he still live at home? This is one of those occasions where ignorance is bliss. If he was living away at a University far from home, he could wear what he likes and you’d be none the wiser. These t-shirts sound as if they could be worn ironically. Is your son gay? I can imagine those t-shirts would go down well on Canal Street.

Perhaps your son has changed since starting Uni?

I mean, I want one of those and I’m a boring middle-aged person. But I really do love frogs.

My brother wore daft shit from Affleck’s in his teens, too. It’s a phase. It passes. Tell him it’s ’very nice, dear’ and it’ll instantly lose some appeal. Losing your head over it will just make it even more attractive.

It is dark humour. I wouldn’t wear something like that but I probably wouldn’t think too deeply about a teenager wearing it.

He has a girlfriend. Yes he lives with me (For now. That could change if he keeps wearing those shirts...)I've asked her to throw them away and not tell him. She won't do it.

Let’s hope he never gets a tattoo.

I miss the 90s so much when we had a sense of humour and didn't try to thought and speech police everyone. I'm kind of proud of kids for rejecting this shit.

Man I love frogs is not. It's subverting expectations, like all humour. I'd just be glad he's into silly t-shirt ls rather than drugs or the manosphere.

Confront who?

Your son and his friends?

Or the place he bought it?

todays shirt has a big crow and F-Caw-F written on it..

yesterdays declared me "Bat Shit Crazy"

I also own a 'don't bully me, i'll cum" shirt.

I do not GAF.

Tell him that girls won’t fancy him if he wears t-shirts like that

The place in Afflecks. I've been telling all my friends to avoid it.

Don't mess in his relationship.

You could lose him.
Stop being a control freak

Afflecks is an amazing Manchester institution and I love it.

Do you really not see that you are a controlling bully? How ironic.

As an aside - delighted Afflecks is still going - my favourite place 40 years ago!

Oh you are naive.

I had an ellessedee t shirt at the age of 20, with slightly distorted ellesse logo and thought i was the absolute bollocks. Cringing for my younger self now, as he will in time.

Are you going this weekend? I'm free I wanna watch 😂

Do your friends tend to shop there? Gosh.

I love Afflecks Palace

And neither she should. No one should be controlling what another person wears.

How in your mind would you expect that to go down?

They go there for jewellery, i thought it was just a Camden Market for Manchester, But I thought wrong sadly.

I wore the French Connection FCUK T-shirts in the 90’s. I thought I looked amazing. I cringe now thinking how I wore them around the house with my parents. But they ignored me, I thought I was cool. I grew out of it,

FCUK - Your Plaice or mine. With a picture of a fish, was my favourite.