Just 21 Years Ago, Wal-Mart Pulled "Someday a Woman Will Be President" Shirts from Shelves

"It was determined the T-shirt was offensive to some people."

Flag, Flag of the united states, Happy, Public speaking, Facial expression, Government, Gesture, Orator, Speech, Electric blue,
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Last night, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party. But just two decades ago, the concept of a woman president was deemed "offensive to some people."

Nick Kapur, a Rutgers University professor, first tweeted out an article from 1995 with the headline, "Wal-Mart pulls shirt from store," which describes the controversy surrounding a shirt predicting a female president. And the Internet can't stop talking about how absurd it is that this news ran so recently.

See more
See more

The Associated Press story, which ran in the Lodi News-Sentinel, describes how a Miami Wal-Mart stopped selling T-shirts reading "Someday a woman will be president," because it was "offensive to some shoppers."

The company's spokesperson Jane Bockholt told the paper, "It was determined the T-shirt was offensive to some people and so the decision was made to pull it from the sales floor."

A Wal-Mart buyer in Arkansas said the chain refused to carry the shirt nationwide because the message "goes against Wal-Mart's family values."

The shirts featured a cartoon of Margaret, a friend of Dennis the Menace.

See more

A Walmart spokesperson tells MarieClaire.com: "Wow, it still pains us that we made this mistake 20 years ago. We're proud of the fact that our country – and our company – has made so much progress in advancing women in the workplace, and in society."

According to an articleThe Miami-Herald posted from its archives today, the original article led to customers threatening to boycott the store. The shirts briefly returned to the shelves, but were eventually pulled for good because "they didn't sell."

Bet they'd sell now.

Lip, Cheek, Hairstyle, Sleeve, Chin, Forehead, Eyebrow, Photograph, White, Happy,

(Image credit: GIPHY)

Follow Marie Claire on Facebook for the latest celeb news, beauty tips, fascinating reads, livestream video, and more.

Kate Storey

Kate Storey is a contributing editor at Marie Claire and writer-at-large at Esquire magazine, where she covers culture and politics. Kate's writing has appeared in ELLE, Harper's BAZAAR, Town & Country, and Cosmopolitan, and her first book comes out in summer 2023.