Today in perpetuated stereotypes
Stuck thinking about what to give to the graduate who has it all? If she’s a true Barnard woman, she’ll love the Barnard Store’s choice for the “intellectual, yet feisty” brand of college grad undergarments. The “oft-imitated signature lace thong’s” tangential relation to Barnard comes from the fact that it was originally developed by Gale Epstein and Lida Orzeck, BC ’68. Inspired by the classic Juicy Couture collection, the diamond-encrusted line of Barnard thongs and boyshorts is just one step away from full endorsement by Sir Mix-A-Lot. While Spectrum doesn’t believe in Columbia’s stereotypes, we can’t help but ask why the Barnard Store would do this to itself. Perhaps the strong, beautiful Barnard women of the modern era prefer to make their beauty more explicit.
hahahahahahahahha
I WANT ONE! and a Barnard chick!
neel ftw
don’t know how everyone else feels but i’ve always wanted a bedazzled thong to show my school spirit
i’d totally steal this underwear from whoever i was hooking up with and hang it on my bedpost.
but because i am a cc girl, i’m just gonna giggle to myself and keep the peace by saying nothing nothing at all.
LIKE
the thing is – they might outsell the bookstore… and clean up while doing so. Has anyone else noticed that victoria’s secret tends to do very well in the marketplace?
i am mortified.
you should be, you or one of your friends will be wearing one
The Barnard store is not doing anything to itself except selling what its customers want. It apparently comes as a surprise to Mr. Patel that women wear frilly underwear. I’m sure Mr. Patel is just 20 but really, he should grow up !
Lolz.
some people keep their college close to their heart. i prefer to keep it close to my vagina.
but only about the price! $25?!
if i were ever going to spend the much money on one pair of underwear (you could get five pairs at victoria’s secret for that much!), i sure as hell wouldn’t go to the same place i could get athletic gear and souvenir coffee mugs.
*that much
What makes anyone think a Columbia guy would know anything about Strong Beautiful Barnard women? And this coming from a college that boasts C-Spot magazine?
And what Barnard stereotype are we talking about here? That Barnard women, LIKE ALL WOMEN, wear underwear??
Also, if you don’t want them, don’t buy them. But please let the rest of us have some fun. We are a college located in New York City- if you don’t want to be exposed to lace underwear (god forbid!), transfer to Montana.
I am a woman, but the whole “jeweled underwear” thing? Not so much. Also, my underwear doesn’t say the name of my college on it.
obviously has less spirit. shame on you.
The Barnard Store used to sell Barnard boyshorts when I first arrived on campus in 2004. Why the big fuss now?
would make this a thing. hanky panky was co-founded by a barnard alum, so naturally the barnard store would show its support. if these were in the columbia store, no one would say anything or care. enough already – everyone wears hanky pankys, and not everyone wears them for someone else to see them.
maybe it’s just the fact that i’m a strong, beautiful CC woman, but I don’t have the cash to wear fucking hanky pankys.
nor would i ever sport rhinestone ones.
i’m sure there’s a lot of other stuff in the store that people don’t have the cash to buy. enjoy your rhinestoneless underwear.
Most strong beautiful CC women would have the cash to front $25.
Was going to buy these for girlfriend. Now will buy sweatshirt and perpetuate Ivy-Leage-Douche/Athlete Stereotype…
…League.
You know you were itching to fix my spelling.
Mr. Patel is very unclear about what exactly this Barnard stereotype he’s referring to is. Is there a stereotype that Barnard women wear cuter underwear than Columbia girls? I’m sure the girls at Columbia wear comfy lacy thongs too! I have a feeling somebody couldn’t think of anything to write about, and decided their peers across the street were an easy target.
For an opposing view, please see:
http://barnard2009.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/barnard-gets-a-strong-beautiful-new-store/
I prefer to think of myself as a BEHIND-THE-SCENES WHISTLE-BLOWING MUCKRAKER who writes WHAT HAS TO BE WRITTEN even if people don’t like it. The SEX has to STOP. ABSTINENCE. I’ve NEVER HAD SEX (with a human), and look at how AWESOME I am.
since mr. patel refused to put this as a letter to the editor, i decided to post it here! sorry its kinda long
A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO A THONG
Dear Mr. Patel (and haters everywhere),
Here’s the big secret about the apparently controversial Barnard underwear: it is JUST underwear, which is something that everyone (hopefully) wears. Mr. Patel, you say that with these garments we, Barnard students, are trying to be “explicit” – how does wearing something under my clothing make it explicit? Do you suddenly expect to see Barnard students walking around campus in just their Barnard themed thongs and boy shorts? Sorry to disappoint, but that is just not going to happen.
So why does it matter if what I wear under my clothing has school spirit? These underwear are just meant to be fun, not spark a controversy the scale of which has not been seen since the 1960’s incident when Barnard women tried to wear shorts on Columbia’s campus and in the process apparently scandalized the Columbia student body.
What bothers me most, Mr. Patel, is how concerned with and invested in the underwear Barnard women wear, asking why we and the store would “do this to ourselves.” What exactly are we doing that is so bad by wearing these panties? It is not as if the store is also offering Barnard themed vibrators, or that Well-Woman makes appointments for Brazilian bikini waxes in between its stress-busting yoga classes. These are, let me repeat for the sake of emphasis-JUST UNDERWEAR. These do not make Barnard women any less strong or independent- it just means that we don’t think everything in life has to be completely serious. Seriously, we can be strong, beautiful Barnard women while wearing lace underwear. Also, in comparison to some underwear choices, let’s think to a pair of Victoria Secret panties from the PINK line I recently saw that have “WANT A RIDE?” emblazoned across the backside, the Barnard choices are downright tame. And what stereotype do you keep referring to that we are apparently promoting? That Barnard women wear underwear? Now that’s just offensive.
Also, this is a fun way to support successful Barnard alum who happen to make incredibly popular undergarments that I guarantee you many Barnard and Columbia women alike wear and will continue to wear, regardless of if it says Barnard or not. So do you suggest that we should we try to stop all the women from wearing Hanky Panky thongs? And speaking of alum, there was an overwhelmingly positive response to these sassy garments over Reunion weekend from women ranging from the class of 2005 to the class of 1965.
Finally, your reference to Sir Mix-A-Lot as an “endorsement,” which didn’t quite make sense because his song (I can only assume you mean “Baby Got Back) is about butts, not underwear, and I thought we had our feathers ruffled over underwear. It almost made sense, but in my own humble opinion (just some friendly advice!), it probably would have made more sense for the sake of your article to reference Sisqo’s hit “The Thong Song,” in which Sisqo begs women to “let me see that thong.” But lets be honest, even if you ask to see the Barnard thongs, most people, including you, probably won’t be shown it.
Really, we do not need to be up in arms, or get our panties in a twist (pun definitely intended) over this issue, because it is a non- issue. I’m going to wear underwear anyways, so why not have it say Barnard?
-LT BC’11
is quite long. can i have some of your extra time?
Would they rather have BC girls burning their bras? Catch-22
Still waiting for Barnard day of the week thongs…
As a CC girl, I am not going to join the endless posts ranting against the use of rhinestones on thongs. However, I’m not taking the devil’s advocate (at least, from the POV of a CC girl) just for the heck of it.
I don’t think I can put it as well-worded as some young women here already have, but I really don’t know what you mean, Mr. Patel, by “How could they do this to themselves?” Yes, we wear underwear, and yes, people design underwear. Yes, women wear lacy thongs, and yes, it might come with rhinestones sometimes. Whoever designed the underwear at least is doing more to further herself – for goodness’ sake, underwear can MAKE a business in this yet-to-be-revived economy! – than you, Mr. Patel, sitting in front of the computer simply copying and pasting the age-old stereotypes of Barnard women and applying them to something as harmless as designing underwear.
And beauty? Dude, beauty here might not actually be “explicit” as you say so. Some of us may wear thongs not for the hell of letting them slip out and let passers-by see (although I’m not condemning that) but because thongs, in my personal experience, emanate a sense of youthfulness and fun, as well as showing myself I’m comfortable with my body and don’t have any bits I want to cover up in case I happen to pass in front of a full-length mirror. Other times, some of us MIGHT actually want to see that sexy underwear, and be very explicit in doing so, but only in a “safe space” and that’s not necessarily something to condemn. Methinks, Mr. Patel, that a good cure for you would be to visit the Columbia Genderf*** party in October. “Wear whatever makes you feel sexy!” The tagline was last year. So some women feel sexy in a thong and lacy bra. So what?
And intellectual but feisty…I like.
That being said, I might still stick to Victoria’s Secret unless these turn out to be good quality. Rhinestone underwear, I have not yet acquired. :)
Oh, I forgot – they say Barnard on them? Rhinestones are fine but I’d prefer Columbia, thank you very much. Barnard, could you please create a line for us CC girls, too? :D
http://columbia.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Columbia_Lions_Fluted_Shot_Glass/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&categoryId=40068&parentCatId=40022&storeId=10053&langId=-1&topCatId=40001&productId=400000008290&level=
Christ Jesus! How could a place of higher education endorse…this?!?! A COLUMBIA SHOT GLASS?! Next thing you know they’ll have a…
http://columbia.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Bling_Travel_Tumbler/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&categoryId=40068&parentCatId=40022&storeId=10053&langId=-1&topCatId=40001&productId=400000085490&level=
Bling Travel Tumbler…
Some facts about Hanky Panky which many Barnard women already know:
Hanky Panky was founded 33 years ago by myself (B’68) and my good friend, Gale Epstein. Hanky Panky’s reputation was built on woman-to-woman buzz well before the internet made such communication easy. When Gale designed the “World’s Most Comfortable Thong”tm in 1986, buzz intensified. An underwear revolution had occurred and women seemed compelled to share their discovery with their friends, mothers, sisters, etc. In 2004, The Wall Street Journal extolled the popularity of Hanky Panky in a front page article.
Our customers applaud our adherence to comfort, perfect fit, high quality and beautiful design. Gale and I are dedicated to manufacturing in the United States from American made materials and so 100% of our production remains in the New York area. That is why we are able to do a relatively small production run of underwear proudly emblazoned with my alma mater’s name!
A long, long time ago, when Victoria’s Secret was privately owned, they were a customer of Hanky Panky because, at that time, they revered originality and quality.
Today, we are pleased to be merchandised in the beautiful new Barnard store.