MY SMILE IS NOT YOUR WAGE SUBSIDY.
The People’s Hospitality “My Smile Is Not Your Wage Subsidy” Activist T-Shirt takes aim at one of hospitality culture’s most intimate economic transactions: turning warmth, friendliness, appearance, patience, and emotional labor into variables determining whether a worker gets paid adequately.
Made for waiters, bartenders, hospitality professionals, artists, creators, service providers, and everyone whose personality has ever become part of somebody else’s profit extraction model, this organic cotton protest tee draws a clear boundary between genuine human connection and economic dependency. A smile can be generous, sexy, warm, funny, welcoming, or completely spontaneous. It should never have to negotiate your wage.
The People’s Hospitality Movement
People’s Hospitality is a human-first movement advocating for fair compensation, professional autonomy, meaningful consent, economic equality, and dignity throughout hospitality and the wider service economy. It challenges compensation systems that make workers economically dependent on pleasing customers while supporting fair wages for employees and genuine negotiating power for independent professionals.
The philosophy extends beyond hospitality into workers’ rights, artists’ rights, queer liberation, bodily autonomy, and the decriminalization of consensual adult sex work. Across each of these struggles lives the same principle: people deserve meaningful agency over their bodies, labor, time, creative expression, and economic participation.
Wear it to work. Let people read it. Let them think about who pays for the smile.
HARD NEW YORK'S Activist Fashion Gear Collection – Created by Maxwell Alexander
Created by Maxwell Alexander for HARD NEW YORK, the design extends his work as an artist, human-rights activist, photographer, publisher, and co-founder of the People’s Hospitality Movement. Through homoerotic art, publishing, hospitality, and wearable protest, Alexander explores human dignity, queer visibility, bodily autonomy, economic agency, and the right to receive fair compensation for human labor.
MY SMILE IS NOT YOUR WAGE SUBSIDY.
Human first. Profit later.
Made from 100% organic ring-spun cotton, this unisex t-shirt is a total must-have. It's high-quality, super comfy, and best of all—eco-friendly.
• 100% organic ring-spun cotton
• Fabric weight: 5.3 oz./yd.² (180 g/m²)
• Single jersey
• Medium fit
• Set-in sleeves
• 1 × 1 rib at collar
• Wide double-needle topstitch on the sleeves and bottom hems
• Self-fabric neck tape (inside, back of the neck)
• The fabric of this product holds certifications for its organic cotton content under GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and OCS (Organic Content Standard)
• The fabric of this product is certified according to OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 (Certificate No. 1112055, Centexbel). The product is also PETA-Approved Vegan.
• Blank product sourced from Bangladesh
The sizes correspond to a smaller size in the US market, so US customers should order a size up.
🌱 Crafted on Demand, Globally Mindful: Our store actively combats consumerism, overproduction, and landfill waste by producing most of our skincare, fashion accessories, supplements, apparel, and art to order. We utilize fulfillment centers worldwide, manufacturing as close as possible to each consumer to minimize carbon emissions. Our products undergo rigorous manual quality checks, adhering to a strict no-return, no-exchange policy, ensuring a sustainable and eco-conscious shopping experience.