I can't believe that BS would so blatantly excuse such a nasty misogynistic slogan. But I guess its that classic white middle class faux feminist struggle with which oppressed group to excuse. I guess African American's won out this time. Can't be criticising the brothers!

. . .if Broadsheet were to get all up in arms about this, the first letter would be a criticism of how humorless and strident middle-class feminism is, how the gals at B'sheet should just 'loosen up' and save their ire for the 'important' issues. It doesn't strike me that B'sheet's giving the stupidity and misogynism of this t-shirt a pass, necessarily, but does it really require the full-on feminist smack-down? Isn't a wry mention and joke about the bad grammar pretty much about all that's needed here? Or should we be focusing on dismantling the patriarchy one dumb t-shirt at a time? We're in for a long haul if so.

If "hoes" is not correct, then it is a spelling mistake, not a grammar mistake.

If "hoes" is not correct, then it is a spelling mistake, not a grammar mistake.

I gotta admit, I LOL'd pretty hard when I saw that shirt- patently offensive! as they say:) If you ask me, I think it mostly offends Hillary voters, which brings to mind it's real semiotic value, perfectly dichotomizing the year's perils ahead for dems of all colors. I say 'perils' because I'm already sick of the whorish media onslaught over: how black is obama; will edwards appeal to red meat voters, etc. On a lighter note, I already do own a tshirt with the word hoes on it: here in detroit, my girlfriend found some killer graffit that read, 'fuck you satan you a hoe'- note the familiar misspelling!; and a friend photographed it exactly into a fine statement, also confusingly offensive! I love your column, and must say you have the most appealing charactature 'mug shot' of all your compadres. peace out.

But regardless of BS's position, my opinion of the slogan would be the same.

This is a common spelling mistake, and it's about time people learned the correct pluralization of "ho."

I've gotta say, I am sitting here at work CRACKING UP over that t-shirt. For more fun, check out some of the other truly wrong t-shirts at tshirthell.com (as linked in the article).

I have nothing but respect for your opinion of the t-shirt, but I'd like to point out you spent more time criticizing the values of Broadsheet and making sneering implications about its 'white, middle-class' hypocrisy than you did slamming the shirt. My point is, with some people, Broadsheet can do no right whichever approach it takes. When they're light-hearted they're accused of not being serious enough about feminism, when they're serious, they're accused of being strident and out of touch.

You can spell it H-O-E-S or H-O-E-Z, and upon further reflection, H-O-Z, based on the the Juvenile song "Hoz ain't nuthin' but hoz". At least while playing Hip-hop Scrabble with Ludacris (see Blender link, below)

My personal preference is H-O-E-Z; as in "Yeah, we can have brunch and "process" your date last night, but only if you're done putting broz before hoez 'cause ditching your girls for a third date with a guy you aren't really sure about is kinda sketchy, yo."

I am such a bad feminist.

rachel anne, you rock! like my mother used to say, 'feminist iz az feminist doez'

So yous better not go.

I guarantee that had anyone else worn such a shirt all we would hear from Salon is how racist and misogynystic it is. Guranteed.

is that if t shirt slogans are all it takes to derail female candidates, then obviously the female candidates are not working enough to prove they have any reason to be winning campaigns anyway.

Are the prospects for future female presidents that weak and bleak?

Of course not, but as I was disappointed to see Royal fail in France, upon hearing WHY she failed (her assuming she would win because she is female, her giving few details of her programs, her espousing more government welfare in a country stuck in high unemployment and low morale) I was not surprised Sarkozy won after all.

So, women may have to prove themselves more than men, but then the stakes are high. Certainly no disparaging t shirt should have much effect on a credible candidate.

::Ahem::

I think in that context, the preferred terminology is "chicks before dicks" (or the alternate spelling: "chix b4 dix").

Example: "Aw, she stayed home with her new man instead of coming to the party. She knew I needed some backup! That girl needs to learn that it's chicks before dicks."

quick! somebody set an account on cafe press!

since women are always telling each other they should back other women up, why is it any worse that men tell other men to back men up first?

If more men did this, it might force change in that women might begin to understand that they should be supporting the best person regardless of gender, rather than someone merely because she is female.

The plural of "ho" is "whores." Pretending otherwise is neither hip nor clever.

What is going on? Don Imus insulted the Rutgers women's basketball team; then D.L. Hughley (a week ago on the Tonight Show) repeated Imus' words and then declared them "the ugliest women" he'd ever seen. And people laughed. Now Salon's BroadSheet finds this ugly put-down of women just another amusing word.

"bros before hos" is a stupid fraternity thing, meaning no woman should ever come between the friendship of men. Whatever.

That said, T-Shirt Hell has some damn funny shirts!

. . .just to confuse the matter even further. (Garden hose? Support hose?)

How sexist... Waaaa....

When I first heard this "bros before hos" crap so long ago (really, a LONG time ago), I instantly came up with one for the ladies:

"Sisters before misters" (or the hip-hop way, "sistas before mistas")

Turn the tables.

My coworker just mentioned that Bros before Hos is the name one of the characters on One Tree Hill (a show my friend's mother is obsessed with for some reason) gave HER clothing line.

WOW is all I can say.