Zoe Saldana's "Guardians of the Galaxy" character, Gamora, plays a big part in the hit film — but you wouldn't know it based on the film's merchandise.
A current controversy is brewing over this T-shirt from kids’ clothing retailer, Children's Place, that only features male characters:
One disturbed mom tweeted her outrage:
Who's missing from this #GuardiansOfTheGalaxy shirt at @childrensplace? WHY NO GAMORA SERIOUSLY. pic.twitter.com/QJLif6Fyve
— Kristen (@kristenrapp) August 17, 2014After contacting the company for an explanation, she received a surprising reply:
.@justjenn@amy_geek@HiddlesEducates@Guardians FYI, I got a reply from @childrensplace and... this IS 2014, right? pic.twitter.com/MT3A855HcF
— Kristen (@kristenrapp) August 18, 2014She wasn't satisfied with Children's Places' response:
.@childrensplace So, I tell my daughter, “there’s no female on this because the shirt isn’t for you in the first place" and that's OK?
— Kristen (@kristenrapp) August 18, 2014The Internet humorously weighed in on the situation:
@TheMarySue@metaAnnelies@childrensplace@Guardians I hadn't realised they sell more shirts to racoons and trees, than they do to girls
— Jo Wright (@kvetchup) August 18, 2014@anneursu@kristenrapp@childrensplace Little boys don't have a prob wearing girls on shirts unless someone tells them to.
— Brandy (@brandymuses) August 19, 2014.@annesobe@awarenews@kristenrapp@childrensplace My 10yo boy thinks this is dumb. "If it doesn't have everybody, it's not a GotG t-shirt."
— Amy Jo Cousins (@_AJCousins) August 19, 2014Then people even started taking to The Children's Place Facebook page:
Oh my god, there's a bunch of irate posts on @childrensplace's FB page now: pic.twitter.com/lGd5yg8wPd
— Kristen (@kristenrapp) August 19, 2014But the mom eventually fixed Children Place's mistake:
Fixed your glaring #GuardiansOfTheGalaxy mistake for you, @childrensplace. Please send a check c/o my kid, thanks. pic.twitter.com/TkeIdgmxZg
— Kristen (@kristenrapp) August 17, 2014But this isn't an isolated incident, Gamora has actually been missing from a lot of the movie's merchandise.
A quick search on the Disney store website reveals a similar situation:
Blogger Amanda Ratcliffe started the hashtag #WheresGamora after noticing that Walmart was selling tons of merch featuring the male stars of "Guardians," but no females. See photo proof on her blog here.
The #WheresGamora hashtag has since gone viral, with some great observations being brought to light:
Hey @Marvel and @Disney, 44% of your opening week audience for Guardians were women... so where's my Gamora merch??? #wheresgamora
— Kat (@thekatosaurus) August 7, 2014Gamora deserves equal amounts of merch and exposure for both girls and boys. Same goes for Black Widow. @Marvel@DisneyStore#wheresgamora
— Diego Armando (@phanta5magoria) August 7, 2014When even a 4 yr old with an empowering family says "maybe superheros aren't for girls" it's a problem. #wheresgamorahttp://t.co/GY5MTF7C9A
— Andrea (@tinytall) August 8, 2014Um... #WheresGamora? Superhero-crazy Anya & Stella scour toy aisles to find her [VIDEO] http://t.co/ikETnyDNNXpic.twitter.com/lhn55JqyW2
— WomenYouShouldKnow® (@WomenYSK) August 12, 2014Here's what happened when young "Guardians" fans, Anya and Stella Marcotte, went to target to find a Gamora action figure (spoiler alert: there isn't one):
The girls' dad further explained what happened on their Target outing to WYSK:
“The only female action figure we were able to find in the entire aisle was Wonder Woman, and she was only available as part of a seven-hero set that cost $50. So in order to get one Wonder Woman, the girls would have to buy six heroes they didn’t want and pay $50 for the privilege. That was a non-starter.”
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