The American Eagle Outfitters Inc. Sydney Sweeney “Good Jeans” controversy happened in late July — a lifetime ago in internet terms — but here we are, halfway through August, and people are still talking about it.

One of the latest references happened last Friday, when Dr. Phil, outraged that liberals found fault with the ad, announced plans to buy American Eagle blue jeans for every woman in his family.

It's easy to read this episode as yet more evidence of our degraded civic discourse. But what if this is merely the latest front in the decades-long battle over the meaning of blue jeans?

They’re part of our common culture, yes, but they have a long history of “triggering” one group or another — the inevitable consequence of the fact that so many groups think that this most ubiquitous a

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