Exploting the Hindu

"SYMBOLOGY.biz" is one of those CafePress companies. I guess companies like CafePress could care less about what is featured on their cheap garments. The owner of this company probably didn't think twice about which graphics to throw on what or where. Hence the carelessness of ventures through CafePress.

We recently featured our products at an Indian Independence Day festival in New Jersey. We were asked if we had an religious themed shirts? We stated that we avoid the use of religious context, because mainstream media has exploited the use of Hindu related graphics. It is demeaning and thoughtless when used on items such as above. There is a lot more to India than religion. Definitely more than anyone could ever achieve on a garment.

The graphics on the garments that you see above are of the Hindu God, Lord Ganesha. As you can imagine, this could cause quite a stir, as it did with us. A similar situation was reported by Abhi on Sepia Mutiny's (February 10, 2005) website, where the Om symbol was printed on a thong. The company no longer exists, but one might think that CafePress would have some sort of screening process to avoid any future issues.

For those that are not Hindu or South Asian, this may not seem like a big deal, but imagine if your religion of choice was portrayed near someones genitalia? Chances are it wouldn't sit to well with you either?