JENSIZED LAST ACTIVITY IN MEMPHIS TOWN

The limits of-self-parody

This is the “Memphis Gun Shirt.” I first saw it at Cooper-Young Festival a few years ago, and a couple of my friends own them because I guess they think it’s funny.

Me, I’m not so sure.

One of the things I love about Memphis is the survivalist attitude. This city catches a lot of bad breaks. High unemployment. Foreclosures. High crime rate. Blight. Corruption. Racism. A spot at the top of every “Worst” list imaginable. Yet the ability to enjoy life and do well for oneself amid all the challenges is a point of pride for Memphians. We see it as a hustle. I understand that’s what the message of this T-shirt is supposed to be, but most of the folks I see wearing it are so insulated from any of the real problems the image represents because, like me, they are young middle-class whites.

So how do you explain that so-called irony and that bootstraps attitude to an outsider who already views Memphis as a pit of despair? Seems the gun on your shirt isn’t doing much to help our reputation.

Comments

Lindsey

t is absolutely insane that you posted this today. Not two days ago I saw this shirt for the first time buried in the Flickr stream of the girl who’s friends with the person who made it. Or something.
Collective consciousness, dude!

Dan

these shirts are stupid. its one thing to have a band shirt to which one is promoting a band they like. these are just trendy shirts that “cool” kids buy to make it look like their “with it” and that they “get it”. bunch of punk ass hipsters is what they are.

George

I am one of the two people behind this shirt. I feel that you do not understand the message of the shirt and would like for you to clarify what it means in your commentary, instead of saying that you know what it means. If you think its just some Caucasian appropriation of an African-American subculture, then you are most certainly wrong. I was always taught in school to “show my math”, so I await your calculations.

Cameron

That article makes no actual criticism. Who’s reputation? Yours? Take your “young middle-class white” ass back to olive-branch or wherever you pretend to be a Memphian via your laptop and get over yourself.

Kevin Lipe

I’ve always liked this shirt, and at the same time it makes me cringe a little bit. I’ve always seen it as taking others’ view of Memphis and throwing it in their faces.
My girlfriend is from West Memphis, and in some of her teaching conferences in Jonesboro and Little Rock, you wouldn’t believe how many dumb white people are literally afraid to set foot in Memphis. This is a shirt I would wear around those people, just to make them uncomfortable.
…but I see your point.