During the fifth grade, I went through what my family calls a “little goth phase.” I wore lots of black makeup, pewter jewelry of things like skulls and bats, and even took to wearing a Morticia Adams dress my mother had made herself for Halloween as a teen. (Yes, it was completely awesome.) Back then, it was pretty early for me to go through such a “phase” (and I put it in quotation marks because I still like to wear such jewelry and black nail polish—and would continue do the rest, probably, if I had the time and energy just because I like it), and I don’t remember anyone else dressing in such a way until junior high and high school. By then, I was in a more “earthy” phase (which I suppose I’m also still “into,” though today’s choices usually stem from whatever is sustainable, cheap, and used) and digging into my mom’s old bell-bottoms (which, unfortunately, did not fit—though they did inspire!).

I experienced firsthand what it feels like to be called a weirdo, a Satanist (please), a freak, you name it. Once I even had my art teacher pull me aside and tell me that I should stop wearing my makeup because I was pretty as I was. (My explanation that it was art—which I still maintain—was lost on her, apparently.) While it was definitely a choice—making me privileged in my own choice to wear what I wore to begin with, and not persecution for something I was born with—it was still disconcerting to learn about alienation and prejudice at such a young age.

Tonight I saw an ad on television for Gordman’s featuring a super perky girl in a rainbow of colors attempting to purchase an item from a store that looked unmistakably like Hot Topic. The cashier was portrayed as a dull, uninterested “goth girl” who, when presented with the idea of products being half price, proceeded to yank out a pair of scissors and, accompanied by horror music and screaming, cut the shirt in half:

On the superficial level, I have to laugh at the idea of Gordman’s having a single item that might also be found at Hot Topic or similar stores (though you never know, especially with the whole Twilight product craze going on). But on another level, all I see in the ad is yet another jab at a culture of people, judging them by the way they dress.

On the whole, I’ve always been helped very politely and welcomingly at Hot Topic. My discount cards are always stamped with a smile, and I’ve never been threatened with a pair of scissors. Gordman’s, I get that you’re trying to show that your prices are better than those at Hot Topic (or wherever), but do you really have to mock people you don’t understand to get the point across? Has it even occurred to you that you’re repelling potential customers? You might want to go back to the drawing board on this one.