Martha Stewart fans sing thongs of justice
Nothing screams injustice like a thong emblazoned, “Free Martha.”
Across America, Martha Stewart followers are showing their support for their homemaking heroine by donning “Martha is My Hero” camisoles and “Camp Cupcake Bad Girl” aprons, and even dressing their children in “Martha Is Not the Enemy” bibs. It’s all thanks to a California-based Web site called The Martha Prison Gift Shop (themarthaprisongiftshop.com).
The merchandise serves as a tongue-in-cheek outlet for the anger some people are experiencing over Stewart’s five-month sentence to Alderson Federal Prison Camp for lying to federal investigators about a stock deal. Although the pro-Martha tote bags, teddy bears, coffee mugs, thong undies and other novelties take a lighthearted approach to the situation, “it’s a question of who’s getting poked fun at,” said Shay Roberts, the Web site’s designer.
Roberts, a Web consultant, got involved in starting the site to help a friend, an outraged Stewart fan with an entrepreneurial streak but no Web design experience. Until then, he admitted, he wasn’t especially tuned in to the situation.
“This isn’t a part of my world,” he said. “I didn’t watch Martha’s show every day. …But that doesn’t mean I can’t feel this (prison sentence) is not right.”
So he wasn’t prepared for the depth of feeling among the Web site’s customers.
When the site posted a poll question, “Would a man receive the same punishment as Martha?” more than 9,000 responded in the first week — a pretty hefty response for a little-known Web site, Roberts said. An overwhelming 85 percent voted no.
“I think it’s awful that our society, run by men, feels threatened when a woman becomes so successful,” one Martha fan wrote. ” … ‘Absurd’ is too mild a word for this situation.”
Not everyone agrees, of course. “She doesn’t care at all about the little people and is only interested in herself,” another woman wrote. “She has lied and is paying for it now.”
Roberts figures the passionate support for Stewart among the Web site’s visitors stems from the fact that many of them consider her a role model. “It’s really incredible how emotionally connected people are to what’s happened to her,” he said.
Still, the angry horde hasn’t lost its sense of humor. The site’s most popular item, at $29.99, is an apron decorated with an official-looking seal featuring an eagle gripping a spoon and spatula in its talons. Around the seal’s edge are the words, “Alderson Federal Prison – Protecting you from homemakers.”
The Martha Prison Gift Shop hasn’t heard anything from Martha’s minions about its wares, Roberts said. He figures Stewart herself probably isn’t aware of it, because his understanding is she doesn’t have access to the Internet in prison.
But even if her people have come across the site, they’re not complaining, he said. “I get the impression she’s just happy the public is supporting her.”