Too Smart to Subscribe to Gender Stereotypes

JC Penny's released a shirt aimed at 7 to 10 year old girls earlier this year, and the internet was quick to show its distaste for the product choice.  The shirt proclaims "I'm too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me"

Not surprisingly, there were many who took issue with the shirt (and took to the interwebs to express their distaste) that enforces the stereotype that boys are smart and girls are ~*~pretty~*~.  

After numerous Tweets and a petition on Change.Org, JC Penny's responded with the following statement:

J.C. Penney is committed to being America's destination for great style and great value for the whole family. We agree that the "Too pretty" t-shirt does not deliver an appropriate message, and we have immediately discontinued its sale. Our merchandise is intended to appeal to a broad customer base, not to offend them. We would like to apologize to our customers and are taking action to ensure that we continue to uphold the integrity of our merchandise that they have come to expect.

Future contact by the Village Voice with Kate Coultas of JC Penny's Corporate Communications elicited these additional comments:

One of the reasons we're so outraged is that this is not what we stand for. We've facilitated over $100 million [in donations] over the past 10 years to support after school programs in local communities. That's a key important message for us.

 The shirt was only sold online and was removed from the website immediately.  JC Penny was quick to speak up and align themselves with the public, which gained them favor among those who were protesting the message of the shirt.