Old Navy prints t-shirts with salacious handshapes
Deaf people on social media noticed that several new designs from Old Navy had two handshapes positioned identical to the sign for “fuc****.” It is an archaic sign for sex. The handshapes are in different skin colors and there is a slogan that says, “Love One Another.” See these images.
To be fair, you could say that it’s two “V” handshapes facing away from each other, or following each other in the same direction. It’s hard to tell.
Deafmeme.exe, an anonymous online comedian, tweeted that the clothing makers should consider hiring a deaf artist next time.
@DeafmemesExe: “.@Gap .@OldNavy .@BananaRepublic .@Athleta Please consider hiring a deaf artist next time. The two hands coming together is actually the sign for "FUCKING" in ASL. Deaf people would have no problem telling everyone about this fuck up.”
(The tweet was a response to a tweet by @ratlennon who said, “absolutely begging to know who designed this bag” with an image of a cloth bag with the handshapes and slogan)
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I reached out to Gap, Inc, the parent company of Old Navy, to ask what the goal of the design was and whether it was related to sign language or the “peace” sign. I also asked about whether they worked with deaf consultants.
A senior Gap, Inc. representative named Sandy Goldberg responded via email. Here is what she said.
“The graphic is meant to depict the peace sign as a symbol of unity, equity and the call to “love one another”. The team is evaluating the feedback and working on the graphic review process to address this issue in the future and ensure that any graphics using hands are vetted by an employee or consultant from the Deaf community to avoid any unintended meaning.” — Gap, Inc.
So, we see that they intended to use the peace sign and they “hear” the feedback. We also see that they want to vet any graphics using hands with an employee or consultant from the Deaf community to avoid any unintended meaning.
I’ve seen some deaf people eager to buy the items and pose with it. Some said the handshapes do represent “loving one another.” So, that’s the story behind the design. They’re still up on the Old Navy website.
https://twitter.com/DeafmemesExe/status/1366197559715364868
https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=676490052&pcid=999&vid=1&searchText=love+one+another#pdp-page-content