August 20, 2008
Mutinous Fashion: T-shirts for the political seasonPolitics
A few weeks back I offered a challenge to SM readers: Design t-shirts for me to wear at the Democratic National Convention next week and I’d buy them from you and publicize them:
design a t-shirt that features a political or social (but non-partisan) message and I can order it using Café Press, Threadless, or one of many other internet t-shirt companies. Send me the design at abhi [at] sepiamutiny dot com. I will narrow it down to the best entries and have SM readers vote on the finalists. I will be at the convention for three full days so I will purchase up to three winning t-shirts to wear on the floor. The more clever/funny/relevant/socially conscious your t-shirt, the more likely it is to grab attention and communicate your message to all the varied citizens expected to be in Denver
Well, a handful of you did take up the challenge (and I thank you)…but none to my satisfaction. What can I say, I am very hard to please and my standards are quite high (as the interns at our North Dakota headquarters know all too well). The response was also much less enthusiastic than I had hoped for. Thus, the always creative Manish and I joined forces once again (he did co-found SM in case you forget) to come up with our own original designs to sell to you all. Below are two that I will be sporting at the convention next week. These two are ready for sale now, but a few others will go on sale as early as next Monday, exclusively through SM and Ultrabrown.
Hopefully everyone understands the references but if not remind yourself here and here. Tell your friends.
abhi on August 20, 2008 09:38 PM in Blog, Politics · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
Pretty please... for those of us stuck using coin-op washers... can we have all designs available in colors other than white?
1 · Branch Dravidian said
They are offering other colors. I saw options ranging between 3 to 21 colors.
They come in about 20 different colors. Just click one and then toggle the color menu.
I like the concept of the first T-shirt. However, it's unclear what the last figure is supposed to be. Did you consider putting the White House macaca as the last figure?
brilliant!
The Correct Indian Map : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/wp-content/uploads/indian_map2.gif
4 · Seahawks fan said
That last figure is S. R. Sidarth, the original Macaca, with his Faux-hawk and Camcorder; you're welcome;)
nice T-shirts...more importantly more relevant messages. Hope u also plan to take along some printouts on the relevance of each to distribute at the convention. Good luck!
in the 2nd one, why don't you place the star on the kashmir region of the indian map? that way kashmir gets covered and you are not offending any indian / pakistani.
and also if you are keen on being oh-so-politically-sensitive-and-aware (azad kashmir etc), why show the NorthEast as part of India? Arunachal Pradesh is controversial and there is strong anti-India sentiment in those parts too.
i wonder if a kashmiri will be happy to see your version of the map. while they (kashmiris) might detest india / pakistan equally or one more than the other, am sure they will be very opposed to the idea of bifurcation, which is what you have shown.
Ouch, Zadie. ^__^
But nice designs.
Interesting response... I think the details you provide are beyond the scope/grasp of this blog. Many of us (myself included) don't understand the Assam/Arunchal Pradesh historical conflicts -- let alone draw the shape of any Indian state with accuracy without referring to a map. This being an unpaid & volunteer blog, the moderator content is the level of bubble gum anthropology, but they bring up interesting topics in which the bloggers often provide depth beyond a cursory google search.
The T-shirts are a bit pricey & confrontational IMHO, but I don't know what one is supposed to wear to a DNC convention.
Nice design. Congrats to Abhi and Manish. Now go to the Jungle in Denver next week, and bring back some firewoods and a fresh roadkill ! The first two designs are good. The third one is a bit odd, because all the folks coming to Denver may not even know who the heck is Bobby Jindal.
Abhi, I must protest this shirt! You have completely surrendered Texas to a South Asian country. I wonder if Texans will be happy to see you version of the map. You don't understand the political or historical implications of what you are unleashing here. You are going to get death threats on the tipline. I'm just saying.
Wait a minute.Both designs play on terms that have been used to put down South Asians or people associated with South Asians?!
In your map South India is in Mexico amongst all those working-class Mexicans, while the North Indians get to be in USA with all the posh Goras and such. This is outrageous!
We really *are* all Macaca. I noticed on your 8/14 post about PK that you said you couldn't find any female Pakistani-American bloggers. Here I am. All my stuff isn't brown centered, but if you look, you might find something here or there. Check out www.chista1749.blogspot.com.
Too damn pricey for a simple shirt
I thought of a caption, but didn't get time to design it
"TERRORISTIC FIST JABBER"
"I took yr jobs !"
True. That's the problem with using Printfection, Cafepress, etc. Can we outsource the T-shirt printing to the macacas in the motherland?
the second one is confusing (the green color, map of india ec.) as its supposed to be punjab
why not use a blank outline map of punjab and put the red, white and blue on it? Or draw your own.
http://www.mapsofindia.com/cart/usd/viewCart.html?MOIMAP230//mapsofindia.com/maps/outlinemaps/punjab.htm//FOR-USE-IN-INTERNET-WITHOUT-WATERMARK=230//1
Why not add Pakistan in another shade on the left to the D-Punjab shirt? After all, there are 60m plus Punjabis hanging out there (and many here). And why skip Bangladesh? Good idea nonetheless.
Nice design. Sorry about adding to the pile of criticism but I think the first one would be better without the ascent of man image since it would dissociate it from the original racist meaning of the word. How about just Sidarth or a crowd of Sidarths instead?
The first one is nice. The second one- not so much. Personally I liked the design that someone proposed called 'Bharat Obama'. Cute.
Cut the prices, added tote bags and re-uploaded as transparent so they work on more colored shirts. Check it out.
Wow, those two shirts posted above are seriously ugly.
Have to be a real power-dork to be caught wearing one of those.
But props on giving it a go, though! Thumbs up.
Well, he is attending the DNC ;)
13 · Evil Abhi said
It's cowboys and Indians all over again. Remember the Alamo!
That looks like a boombox not a camcorder, and that sequence from monkey to man carrying boombox on shoulder (a well known caricature of black-americans from the recent pre-ipod past) is something that already has been done by racist whites intent on insulting blacks.
I dont think embracing the word macaca is such a good idea seeing that it means monkey. Its a term best left to racist whites:
http://us.altermedia.info/news-of-interest-to-white-people/the-macacas-are-coming_3478.html
...aren't white and green the colors of the Pakistani flag? Kinda confusing, no?
17 · pricey! said
Are you a baniya?
So South Asia = India only? What is Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka....? Parts of a floating world?
Good point about Kashmir, tc.
Also, why are the two t-shirts relevant to the DNC? The first one is based on derogatory comments made by a Republican. Wear it at the RNC, then.
"Socially conscious" should be inclusive and positive, not focused on the derogatory, and certainly not to allusions to passing remarks that were not significant enough to even be deemed worthy of inside jokes.
But then I am not South Asian--that is not INDIAN--so I guess I should keep quiet.
jeesh...who is gonna buy those ridiculous t-shirts? :)
anyways, nice way of making money.
Gosh you guys are such a bunch of humorless whiners. Thanks for explaining "socially conscious" to me Nesha. Why don't you go educate yourself on the incident the second shirt is referring to and then leave a comment. Thank you, come again.
um, it's way too pricey for a shirt, and no i'm not a baniya or whatever that is, and i know i'm not the only person who thinks so, i'm just outspoken and will say it.
@ 32 Nesha
It is funny that on an earlier post you chose to portray yourself as a patriotic Indian while calling me a NeoCon Zionist lover who does not have empathy for his fellow Indians...and now all of a sudden you are not Indian?
I'd suggest you solve your own identity crisis before suggesting how other perceive themselves and follow your own suggestion of silence on such topics.
On the Tshirts. I like the former, it is really funny but since I'm goingto the RNC and not the DNC, I can't wear that.
The latter, as someone else suggested...if you really want to portray the whole "South Asian" identity and not broach the Kashmir issue, just show all the Countries together as one block. And why Green? shouldn't it be Brown? or even more appropriately...Blue?
I meant "sadly I can't wear that"
34 · Evil Abhi said
You're welcome, EvilAbhi; it was my pleasure! I am sure the social message that the second t-shirt is delivering to the DNC on behalf of the Indian community is clear to all Indians. As a South Asian, I don't get the social messageness of the social message.
I do see the humor in the Bobby Jindal t-shirt, though. Now dat be some funnies. That t-shirt would rock at the RNC. That's the NC with a R.
I guess I'm cheap so I'm glad you cut the price a little bit. Both designs are cool. About the first one: I love it and totally recognize our good friend cosmic-destroyer-of-republican-senator S.R. Sidarth.
But I wonder (like a previous person commented) if the figure might be interpreted as a boom-box carrying African American and offend those not in the know. Sigh... There's always something....
I can't believe you guys left Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Israel off the US map! Have you no shame???
And I suppose that that tiny little disgraceful star is supposed to make up for the fact that you enveloped the whole, glorious Lone Star State. Haha very funny motherlover.
In the "macaca" design, the evolving simians are depicted walking, in profile, so as to obscure their genitalia, yet the "Camcorder-wielding" "faux-hawked" figure stands facing the viewer with, er, nothing doing. Has he no shame-shame?
YOU should pay ME just for leaving this comment. That is what I would call "socially conscious." Hmph.
What? No Rajnikanth shirt? No "greencard party?"
Great work! ...Now Abhi, I'm trusting your word that these will make me attractive to Desi women....
It looks a little gollywoggish to me. At least you could have made it brown.
I agree!, you Americans are such a whiners and Desi-Americans whiniest whiners :)
How about letting your juices (Creative ones) flow and design some Tees?
It would be nice if that map of India was replaced with a map of South Asia and made more inclusive. I always thought sepiamutiny represented a meeting place for people of South Asian origin - regardless of the 'home country' they had links to. The shirt as it stands right now suggests that only Indians are to be represented by SM at the Democratic National Convention.
I'm so proud of you guys. Will make sure that Louisiana leads sales of the "Bobby Jindal Exorcised Me" shirts. Take lots of pictures, Abhi!
shek- who set these prices? don't you know a large contingency of your readers are guju?! $30 for a friggin t-shirt is a joke. do you know how many mexicanpizzanomeats i can get from taco bell for $30?!
47 · famin said
the lard is cheap too.
50 · bess said
see comment 31
What the lard giveth the lard taketh.
This doesn't make sense and actually detracts from efforts for more diversity in South Asian spaces as a result--something I pay a lot of attention to. The D-Punjab joke was a reference to Hillary Clinton getting money from India-based companies and has to do with U.S.-India trade and race relations more than anything else. You'd have to find a U.S.-electoral politics/race related Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, or other South Asian country theme for this argument to work. For example, a picture of Obama and McCain dropping bombs together on Pakistan or something along those lines.
Dr. Anonymous, don't bother. If they don't understand the shirt then they probably shouldn't be wearing it. Its like sporting a shirt from a college you'd never be smart enough to get in to.
54 · Wild Elephant said
i got a shirt that says "barnard or bust"
55 · Manju said
I'm a Radcliffe man, myself. Oh wait, you're punnier than me--I just got it. Busted...
53 · Dr AmNonymous said
Nope, this
Indian"South Asian" is still unperturbed57 · bess said
bess, I fig-ured you would have a better sense of humor than pricey! and the others
Here's a CafePress t-shirt I made, with the satirical slogan:
"SUSPECT #999,999 ON THE TERROR WATCH LIST And All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt."
:-P
WTF is so weird about Jindal and exorcism? My grandmother used to take salt and chilis around my head if I was sick--exorcism is part of Hinduism too--so, the issue has nothing to do with Jindal's conversion to Catholicism.
During the Mahabharata, a character exorcises the disembodied spirit of Kali to a vibhitaka tree,[7] the nuts of which were used to create the dice for the vedic dice game.[8] Therefore, not only Kali’s name, but his penchant for gambling and reputation as being evil comes from this dice game.
61 · rob said
During the Mahabharata, a character exorcises the disembodied spirit of Kali to a vibhitaka tree,[7] the nuts of which were used to create the dice for the vedic dice game.[8] Therefore, not only Kali’s name, but his penchant for gambling and reputation as being evil comes from this dice game.
Does your grandmother hold office? The president of India is in to this kind of superstition and she is ridiculed, rightly so, for it by the press and her colleagues. She's a bumpkin, what's his excuse? And there is something slightly more dangerous in seeing end time prophesy the hand of Satan everywhere than a Hindu concerned with mischevious neighborhood ghosts
61 · rob said
is your grandma running for prez? for the constitutional party?
62 · louiecypher said
didnt know pratibha patil's family commented on sepia...
How are you dividing up Hinduism into "superstition" and, well--its opposite? In for a penny in for a pound, I'm afraid. Myself, I make an artificial barrier between my 'normal' life, and what my Mommy tells me to do (my grandmother is dead and cremated, rather than in office).
I'm not sure why you're so uncomfortable with the conjunction of Western wealth and Hindu practice--works fine in my family--good luck to you. . . .
62 · louiecypher said
let's not make excuses for the pernicious superstitions of hinduism such as impureness due to cross-caste associations, an often problematic fatalism, as well as assorted folk/rural medical customs and reliance on shamans as opposed to systematic treatment. they are all problematic.
the key difference between pratibha patil becoming president and jindal being prez is that in the indian system, the prez is powerless. not that the indian political system is the gold standard of comparison in anycase with goons, criminals and murderers often ruling the roost. and where they don't, film actors do. not to mention the voting along caste lines.
66 · rob said
where did you infer i was uncomfortable? i am just mighty amused at your comment that your grandma's belief in spirits excuses jindal's faith in exorcism.
Fair enough, and no hard feelings--I just think that my grandma's belief's suggest that ridiculing Jindal is not so cost-free to us South-Asians.
New t-shirt posted: 'I served Joe Biden donuts.'
Donuts fried in outrage?
Baked, actually-- it's healthy outrage, and endorsed by Kumar.
Posted three new designs:
7-Eleven, not 9/11
Hare Bama
The Bobby Bunch
Check it out.