American Airlines Boots Woman From Flight For “Offensive” Pro-Choice T-Shirt

By Join Or DIE on May 23, 2012 in News 60

Reports David Ferguson on RAW Story:

A woman traveling home from an abortion rights seminar was detained and forced off an American Airlines flight Tuesday because the captain and crew found her T-shirt “offensive,” according to the blog RH Reality Check. The woman, who asked not to be named, was wearing a T-shirt with a slogan made famous by Oklahoma state senator Judy McIntyre (D), who marched earlier this year to protest Oklahoma’s “fetal personhood” law, carrying a sign that read, “If I wanted the government in my womb, I’d fuck a senator.”

The woman, who detailed her experience in an email to RHRC blogger Jodi Jacobson, said she was sleeping for most of her first flight with a shawl covering her shirt. ”Right before we were set to land the flight attendant from first class approaches me and asks if I had a connecting flight? We were running a bit behind schedule, so I figured I was being asked this to be sure I would make my connecting flight. She then proceeded to tell me that I needed to speak with the captain before disembarking the plane and that the shirt I was wearing was offensive.”

Read More: RAW Story

Civil Liberties, Freedom of Speech, Politics, Pro-Choice

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Don’t Wanna Be An American Idiot (In Congress)

Vladimir

good

I’m pro-choice and I’d rather not share an airplane with people watching porn, wearing t-shirts with “FUCK” in giant red letters, who are obese, who smell bad or who have leaky bladders.

If you want to drink your urine you have a right to do that – you don’t have a right to piss in the punch bowl.
- Redacted
  
  Yes, I do. You also have the right to drink my piss. You have the right to enjoy it, or I will claim I was defending myself from an unprovoked attack, murder you, and say I was only “Standing My Ground.”
  
  So drink the piss you dumb cock sucker. You will fucking enjoy it.
  - Vladimir
    
    okay, Columbine
    - Redacted
      
      You cock sucking idiot don’t get it do you? I have the right to fucking bully you. Might makes right faggot.
  - http://profile.yahoo.com/DMD7L4C7KPS45GBLJG54X543VQ M B
    
    http://www.gedforfree.com/
    - Redacted
      
      I’m the fucking dumb one you cock sucker? I’m the one who is stupid? Look up Poe’s Law you fucking Poster Child for Abortion
- JaceD
  
  Boo hoo the point of this shirt is to bring to attention the stupidity and unrightful claim the government has to what women choose to do. Would it be any more appropriate if it said “have intercourse with” or “have sex with”? Perhaps, the message would be lost in the half-ass attempt of saying “FUCK YOU” though.
  
  My opinion of the shirt; pure genius and big ups to the girl for wearing it.
  - Vladimir
    
    1. Yes, it would be more appropriate if it said “have intercourse with” or “have sex with.”
    2. Would the message be lost? Probably. That doesn’t matter, because - 3. Demonstrations likely to incite or offend can’t occur in front of a captive audience - Rowan v. Post Office - inside the cabin of an airplane, in a jail cell, in a classroom … anywhere the audience doesn’t have the freedom to exit if they want to make the choice not to receive the message of the demonstration. The word “Fuck” is a socially sanctioned word. Setting aside the property rights of A/A completely for a moment, it’s well within reason for A/A to prohibit displays that are likely to offend, including: large images of the word “FUCK”, people chanting the “N” word, people waving MMMMMF porn photos around the cabin.
    - http://profile.yahoo.com/DMD7L4C7KPS45GBLJG54X543VQ M B
      
      here here
      
      There’s a common law legal principle that exists above even the constitution – “l’homme moyen”, what the great jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes described as “for society to function, a certain average of conduct, a sacrifice of individual peculiarities going beyond a certain point, is necessary to the general welfare.”
      
      I support the 2nd amendment – I have no problem banning guns on airplanes.
      I support the 1st amendment – I have no problem banning political demonstrations on airplanes.
      - Auto
        
        Who gives a “FUCK” what you support or have (or don’t have) a problem with. Certainly not the government who’s telling this woman what she can or cannot do with her body. I’ll bet she doesn’t either nor me., nor most of the people who read these words of wit. Most AMERICANS support their right to free speach, wether you like what they say or not.
        “Fire !!”, in a crowded theater is one thing, but”keep your governments cock out of my mind’ is quite another. One gets people killed the other,you may not like toe sound of, but, causes no direct injury to anyone.
    - Monkey See Monkey Do
      
      Whats your big issue with the word ‘fuck’. Have you ever asked yourself why it offends? It’s a swear word used for many different reasons, Do you think its cursed or something? The fact that the governemnt can censor people from using general swear words should be where your outrage is focused.
      - Rishi
        
        The government doesn’t interfere. A business or company is free to decide if they allow or reject curse words. In this case, AA has that right. Another airline can allow it if they want… of course there will be social consequences…
      - Jin The Ninja
        
        what ‘social consequences’ ?
    - JaceD
      
      1. If you saw the shirt and found yourself being offended, you know what a fantastic solution is? Look away! Imagine that? You can look at something, decide you don’t agree with it, and then turn away… Amazing I know.
      
      2. How do you think this women, among millions of other women feel when some dirty old man stands infront of a camera and tells them what they MUST do with their bodies, you can’t just avert your eyes from that. So you can preach all that PC bullshit as much as you like, no ones really listening.
      
      Fuck and nigger are not even remotely comparible, fuck is something every animal does, nigger is a horrible term used to discriminate against a race of people.
      - Monkey See Monkey Do
        
        HERE HERE! A voice of reason.
- tooCents
  
  Agreed. “FUCK” is a special word we don’t want to normailze and make appropriate for t-shirts in public anyways.
http://profile.yahoo.com/DMD7L4C7KPS45GBLJG54X543VQ M B

If “the woman” wants to stage a political protest do it on the capitol steps, not in front of 300 people who are locked in a metal tube for 3 hours suspended 5,000 feet above the Earth with no option to leave.

When a protest occurs, a counter-protest is likely to follow. The passenger cabin of an airplane is not a safe venue venue for protests and counter-protests. Ban Pro-Life T-Shirts, Ban Pro-Choice T-Shirts, Ban Klan attire, Ban Black Panther attire – American Airlines’ duty is to passenger safety, not to the facilitation of public debate on current events.
- Rishi
  
  Try not to overanalyze. The airline is simply not allowing people to wear clothing with profanity. That one word is the issue and not her protest…
Punker_0609

… So where in the rule book of airlines does it say you as a customer (for lack of better term) is not allowed to wear offensive clothing. As long as your dick/cunt/tit/ass aren’t hanging out completely I see nothing wrong with it…. Too many people are so uptight anymore- I mean at least she had a shirt on.
- http://profile.yahoo.com/DMD7L4C7KPS45GBLJG54X543VQ M B
  
  Right here: http://www.aa.com/i18n/custome…
  rule 6-F … to which you agree when you tick the checkbox that says “I Have Read and Accept the Conditions of Carriage” prior to purchasing your ticket …
  - http://profile.yahoo.com/DMD7L4C7KPS45GBLJG54X543VQ M B
    
    “”So where in the rule book of airlines does it say you as a customer (for lack of better term) is not allowed to wear offensive clothing.”"
    
    Disinfo didn’t process the full link, so, it says, in “the rulebook of airlines” (A/A specifically):
    —American may refuse to transport you, or may remove you from your flight at any point, for one or several reasons, including but not limited to the following … you are clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers.—
    - Calypso_1
      
      I’m deeply offended by buttons, and zippers. From now on I am going to request that all passengers I share a flight with who use any clothing attachment device other than padlocks be removed.
      - PB
        
        LMAO!
http://profile.yahoo.com/DMD7L4C7KPS45GBLJG54X543VQ M B

Right here:
http://www.aa.com/i18n/customerService/customerCommitment/conditionsOfCarriage.jsp#AcceptPass

rule 6-F … to which you agree when you tick the checkbox that says “I Have Read and Accept the Conditions of Carriage” prior to purchasing your ticket …
Jin The Ninja

people always love free speech, UNTIL it conflicts with their own views. her shirt was highly UN-offensive. in fact, i see misogynist and racist offerings at aberzombie and urban outfitters basically every time they release something new. it’s totally unacceptable for the gov’t to be involved in women’s body sovereignty and reproductive health (that is to say, impeding women’s health- which does limit their civil rights and equality generally), and equally as wrong for an american airlines crew to attempt to censor someone for what should be a universal civil rights issue. beyond that reproductive health, sexual health, and body autonymy is under attack, and that by far is more unacceptable than an expletive addorning a shirt. period.
- http://www.soundcloud.com/myconica Threedinium
  
  I knew a woman once who got thrown out of a pokemon card tournment for wearing a t-shirt that instead of ‘Star Wars’ said ‘Star Whores’. I kind of agreed with that… seemed an ill advised an inappropriate thing to wear in a room full of children of varying ages. Do you think she would have gotten thrown off a plane for wearing that t-shirt?
  - Jin The Ninja
    
    not at all. raunch culture seems totally acceptable, while legitimate issues are subversive. this is how ‘they’ (the establishment; whatever) create a culture hostile to civil liberties/egality, democracy and an open discourse. the ‘children’ arguement is totally lame/banal. they see/hear/read much worse than ‘f*ck’ and in fact if my kid saw that shirt, i’d explain to her/him why exactly it says that, and tell her why it is IMPORTANT to criticise governance systems and promote systems of egality. i’d wear that shirt, and i’m male.
    - http://www.soundcloud.com/myconica Threedinium
      
      Ah, apologies, I don’t think I was explicit enough. I was wondering as to why people have such a bad reaction to a politically motivated message but ‘Star Whores’ would have probably not caused such a stir, probably just some disgruntled mumbling and dirty looks. Maybe bringing my own moral opinion in was a bit misleading, but I’ll address it. It seemed like a simple matter of respect, adult and child alike. Also in that sort of thing it seems necessary to take into account how people are choosing to raise their children and in what kind of world. Some children might experience adverse effects from being exposed and I believe that’s up to the parent or whoever knows them best.
Nunzio X

Who the hell would want to fuck a senator???
Established Poster

I hate that privately owned airline for running its business the way it wants. I blame it on the government somehow. Additionally, I would like to introduce what I feel are very similar hypothetical scenarios in which the conservative fundies are guilty of the same thing. I assume that the airline employees are all Republicans and will not be convinced otherwise. F@#ng 1%.
- Virtual_Anthropologist
  
  In case you missed my post on the other thread, which seems to have died down:
  
  Hello,
  
  I’d like to introduce myself on this website. I am a doctoral student and am getting ready to write my dissertation for Sociocultural Anthropology.
  The title will be “Cultural anthropology in the virtual space: How
  tribes are re-emerging as the basic social unit online. Or,
  investigating the development of social order on internet forums.”
  
  As you can imagine, I am currently conducting research for this
  paper; the subject of which I find most intriguing. I have been reading
  the posts on ‘Disinfo’ for some time now, trying to gauge the tone of
  the social order. It is interesting to note that a very defined order
  has been long established here, and yet, from time to time someone new
  comes along and upsets the equilibrium.
  
  Not only do you seem to have recently become a rather established
  poster on this forum, I have also identified you as a rogue element in
  the ‘Disinfo’ tribe. As such, I believe that you would be an ideal
  subject for me to study. You shall be the lens through which I can
  better examine the true natures of the other members of the ‘Disinfo’
  tribe who hew closely to their established social norms.
  
  I find it interesting to see how a group of clearly intelligent
  individuals who claim to self-identify as non-conformists fall so
  smoothly and easily into groupthink. In the comments of virtually every
  article here, and consensus swiftly emerges as the herd closes ranks.
  Such an interesting phenomenon.
  
  So, EP (if I may call you EP), what do you say to my proposal?
  
  Consider me Jane Goodall to your clan of over-educated chimps.
  
  -Virtual Anthropologist
  - Established Poster
    
    Are you catholic, evangelical, republican or pro-Israel? Because I won’t talk to you if you are, they are racist fundies who conform to the majority. We are all uniformly against those ideas…every last one of us. Don’t bother trying to “reason” with us either. We believe in the fundamental truths of liberty, freedom and sovereignty. We believe that the laws of logic and grammar are also unshakably fundamental as well. Specifically how WE define all of those things, not your definition of them.
    - Virtual_Anthropologist
      
      For the purposes of our interaction, I am none. I am nothing. I am a camera, a phonograph, a blank and wet clay tablet. I have no opinion. I have no position. I am a lens, through which the activities, interests, and interactions of your ant-colony can be better observed.
      
      YOU are the stylus, the sound, the image. Or rather you wield the stylus, you conduct the orchestra making the sound, you direct the model in the picture. You are at the same time the subject of my investigation, and the foil that will trigger my actual investigation. That of your tribe.
      
      We all know that no observer can ever observe without impacting that which they observe. However, I hope to minimize that impact by funneling my observations through you – who already seem to be preternaturally self-aware (or you identity a an individual, and as a part of the group).
      - Established Poster
        
        Good. All of us realized that we were not conformists in high school. We were not popular. We realized that it was the snobbish majority that were wrong and just heeding to their xenophile tendencies. Those people are asleep. Those type of people that we are rebelling against are comprised of the 1% majority. We are trying to wake them up by gathering an exclusive club of like minded nonconformists in which they are not welcome. We protect ourselves from the propaganda of the bias media by carefully picking mainstream media articles and re-posting them here. We then reenforce our views by agreeing that those articles are lies trying to herd us down the path of oppression and quiet servitude.
      - Critically Acclaimed
        
        I feel so much more educated.
        
        I know more about disinfo from your posts here then I did from visiting the site for 2 years.
        
        Bravo.
      - Adamsshadow
        
        Hi, I’m an established poster, but not “the” Established Poster. I realize that many other established posters (but of course, not “the” Established Poster) express their views through hyperbole and with less than perfect diction, and that they are often less than completely knowledgeable about a subject before commenting on it; I include myself in this category. There does indeed seem to be evidence of group-think in our aversion to and disavowal of “mainstream” American culture, often tending towards a left-liberal philosophy in the comments on this site by many established posters (but not “the” Established Poster).
        
        That having been said, your comments of late are some of the most transparent self-congratulatory lines of inane criticism and some of the most ineffective and feeble attempts at pseudo-intellectual satire that I have ever read on this site; and that’s saying a lot because I am an established poster on disinfo (but I am not, of course, “the” Established Poster).
        
        In short, I call bullshit.
      - Andrew
        
        Speak for yourself. I’m a conformist, but a fuck-up.
  - Established Poster
    
    Forgot to mention, beware that there may be some “newbies” on here that may not agree with me. They are the minority and we are trying to bully them out of here. I estimate that they make up about 10% of people who post here. People who think as I do make up roughly 99% of the nation though.
    - Virtual_Anthropologist
      
      It is interesting how many people of divergent views all believe that their view is in fact the majority. Even when they are mutually exclusive.
      
      I would not be surprised to discover that, statistically speaking (writing), the views that you espouse (and at the same time mock) do in fact reflect a significant majority of the regulars here.
      
      Of course, they would not couch their ideas in such a transparent manner, but then, that is why I am writing to you.
      - Established Poster
        
        As you can see we tend to eat our own. Sometimes we disagree over certain issues. We have a hard time handling the issues of feeling inadequate that were developed in our youth. When people disagree with us we lash out emotionally. How we do this is by trying to appear smarter than them while bringing them down with clever ridicule as to make others laugh at them. If we can’t think of anything clever we will just pick out some spelling errors or grammar issues to establish our sense of superiority. There is a good example below. Monkey see monkey do does not like my sarcasm and wants to bring me down a notch. Others who agree with him will give him “likes.” That is our system of voting.
      - Virtual_Anthropologist
        
        And yet, this system of ‘voting’ seems like nothing more than a high school popularity contest. Just one more tool to reinforce the in-group’s viewpoint.
        
        A viewpoint, I might add, that does not necessarily seem to be per-existing, but rather an emergent phenomenon. It only takes a few post to mature, but there is a measurable convergence of opinions within the inner circle.
        
        To put it crudely, it seems like intellectual double-Dutch-ruddering.
      - Monkey See Monkey Do
        
        I wish I could be part of the inner circle, please I beg you, I want their names in that dissertaion your writing. Did you tell your superiors your writing a dissertation on ‘Established Poster’. I think you better discuss it with them before proceeding.
      - JaceD
        
        lol you’re Established Poster reinforcing your own comments aren’t you?
        
        You’ve come to some interesting conclusions about the people who post on disinfo. As for calling yourself an anthropologist you’ve made a poor attempt at getting a subjective view of the “tribe” that frequently comment here.
        
        Like minded people are going to be drawn to each other, whether in reality or in the virtual world, that’s what creates social cohesion.
      - Monkey See Monkey Do
        
        He must be lonely, no one will talk to him but us. “intellectual double-Dutch-ruddering” is another phrase for “I can’t incorporate these ideas into my belief system so I think i’ll put my head back in the sand”
      - Established Poster
        
        As you can see. The defense mechanism is managed by us. You were cool until you mentioned “high school popularity” and “double-Dutch-ruddering.” Now we will proceed to what we deny as being ad hominem. I will question your methods and declare them to be questionable. If you are trying to figure out who the guardian ants are, start taking names. We will begin to prod and project until we feel you biting on the tackle. It is only a matter of time before we find out how to invoke an emotional response from you.
      - monday
        
        Lol what I find amusing is your (want of) ability to offend(?) the regular posters here, yet you fail to understand that the regular names that appear here (15 if that?) come from all across the world and who take an interest in fringe news / interesting articles and comment, whether in a serious sense or to take the piss, but either way enjoy what disinfo and its posters / publishers have to say.
    - Monkey See Monkey Do
      
      I never knew there was a place called ‘The nation’.
      - JaceD
        
        Um, have you heard of America? That is the nation, the only nation, everywhere else is just communist terror tribes.
      - Auto
        
        I want to see the full roster of polled individuals who declared EP a 99%’r………I think he’s a sleeper in cahoots with the one in the middle, who was on the right, ’cause the one on the right, was on the left and the guy in the rear got shafted.
Calypso_1

The airline shills are working overtime on every news site carrying this piece. AMR’s Chpt 11 creditors must really want public opinion on lockdown so those merger plans look good to share holders.
http://twitter.com/mattstaggs Matt Staggs

Everyone has a right to be a jack-ass, and putting a word that most people consider offensive on your shirt probably falls into jackass territory. I’m sure the wearer knew that going in. I personally don’t give a fuck, but I’m not most people. If you’re on a private means of conveyance or private property, your freedom of expression is subject to some degrees by the decisions of management. Chances are if you wander off to the mall with a shirt that says “fuck” on it then someone is going to ask you to leave. The “profanity issue” is an entirely separate one from the political issue. I think the shirt is funny, and I completely agree with her sentiment, but it’s stupid to assume you can wander about wearing something like that without someone becoming offended and you bearing the brunt of any possible consequences that may result. I suspect very few here would be rushing to this person’s defense were they wearing a shirt that said “Fuck Occupy Wall Street” or “Fuck Marijuana legalization”.
- Monkey See Monkey Do
  
  All those ‘fucks’ in that post were quite offensive actually. You do realize ‘Established Poster’ is under 18 right?
  - http://twitter.com/mattstaggs Matt Staggs
    
    Looks like I’m fucked, then.
    - Monkey See Monkey Do
      
      Hey Matt, off-topic, You might know how to help. When I expand my profile in the comments section it says ‘Anti-Crowley’ at the top. I posted as him once a while back to try and ‘out-troll’ a ‘troll’. Now I have his name at the top of my profile when I expand it, I feel so dirty, lol. Please help, cheers.
- Josh Steves
  
  I would depend on how hot she is.
Shannon S

i just want to know why the flight attendants and Captain was allowed to make such a big deal out of this?! yes the word FUCK clearly shown on the shirt, but seriously, dont look if you dont like.. isnt that our right. im pro choice. isnt that my right? I THINK YOUR UGLY, ISNT THAT MY RIGHT? we’re americans .. this is who we are opinionated , spoiled by so called freedom, guess what? its our right!
LOOK THE “FUCK” AWAY AND MIND YOUR DAMN BUSINESS

i was recently on an AA flight and the flight attendant had me detained by the police and the FAA because she thought i was smoking.. I WAS EMBARRRESSED TO SAY THE LEAST… 3 hours into the flight, 20-25 different ppl in and out of the bathroom, no smoke alarms went off , no cigarettes on my person, and wasnt caught in the act.. this is what i paid for in first class?? granted she looked like a fool when all is said and done.. next theyre going to give these idiots a badge and gun lol..
Riley.Rifle

Two things:
1. We’re all adults, people cuss, get over it. It’s a damn word, nothing more, nothing less.

2. I’m fairly certain this has NOTHING to do with other passengers, this happened because the CAPTAIN and CREW were offended by the message on her shirt.
- Rishi
  
  You might be right, but the company has this right and rightfully so. As a company, if they feel that profanity is not good for business, then so shall it be. However, the situation could have been handled in a more practical manner. They could have asked her to keep her shawl over the word or put duck tape over it… etc.
  - Jin The Ninja
    
    you misunderstand the nuance of the story, the offense was caused because of the nature of the shirt, not solely the profanity.
  - Auto
    
    Fuck the company, they should have put a notice in the small print, stating which words and/or combinations of words would be allowed on shirts before selling the ticket which the woman paid for and the Company was contractually obligated to honor. Who in the hell gave that captain the right to revoke the womans right to free speach, or to cancel the ticket (contract) without due process of law.