By Nikki Dabney
Staff Writer
American culture is over sexualized and superficial. In a world where girls starve themselves and even kill themselves for not feeling skinny, popular or beautiful enough, the media and advertisements fuel this fire, crush self-esteem and distort beauty. Retail store Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is helping lead this charge.
A&F CEO Mike Jeffries’ comments from a 2006 Salon interview have recently been leaked.
“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” Jeffries told the site. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”
Jeffries’s comments disgust me. His policy is the ultimate form of bullying and discrimination. A&F does not sell women’s clothing above a large (and their large is not very large). This could lead to more disastrous consequences than they think.
Imagine walking into a store as a typical, average woman with an actual shape and having absolutely none of the clothes fit you. And then imagine haughty sales clerks looking at you as if you were inferior and as if they are wondering why you even came in.
Shopping is a stressful experience for many women. It can make them self-conscious when they just can’t seem to find anything that fits quite right, and this store’s policy compounds the effect.
These size restrictions teach women that if the clothes don’t fit them, something is wrong with them. That is ridiculous. There are so many shapes and sizes and if you don’t fit into any of the four (XS, S, M, L) then you’re suddenly not cool? No. Just because clothes don’t fit your body type doesn’t mean you don’t fit in.
It is shameful for a national retail company to take this approach and be almost proud of their “marketing scheme”. A company worth $5 trillion should put that energy and innovation into making everyone feel beautiful.
Abercrombie’s biggest competitors, H&M and American Eagle, both offer XXL sizes for men and women. And while the largest pant size Abercrombie has is 10, H&M has size 16 and American Eagle has size 18. The real outsider here is Abercrombie and Fitch, not plus size, “unpopular” teens.
It gets worse.
In an interview with Salon from two years ago with an A&F district manager who requested to remain nameless, he admitted that the company downright refuses to send any clothing to those in need. They have been accused of sending representatives to thrift stores, collecting their clothes and burning them so those with a “less desirable” stature don’t wear them and ruin their brand.
Abercrombie is run by some of the most hideous personalities known to man. Companies and leaders who dedicate their time to giving and making a positive impact in the world should be the ones who are endorsed and supported, not an elitist company like Abercrombie and Fitch.
At 61 years old, Jeffries is still trying to be the cool kid. He wears A&F polos, ripped jeans and flip-flops to work and his face looks as if it is completely made of plastic.
Jeffries also made a comment about how he hires attractive employees because attractive people attract other attractive people. Employment discrimination? I’d say so. This must mean A&F employees must be a certain size and have certain attributes to be hired. But who is to determine who is attractive?
Attractiveness is subjective. People are attracted to different things. Some like blondes, some like muscles, some like curves. That is why there is not one definition of beauty.
So not only can these women not buy their clothes, they are sent a message that they can’t get hired, can’t fit it and don’t belong on A&F’s sensual – I’d argue explicit – ads.
Abercrombie distorts reality. I have never seen one of their ads that does not feature a shirtless man with washboard abs. In fact, when I visited New York, I passed by an A&F store, and they were having a screen test for their models. A man was standing outside the store without a shirt for passers-by to stare and take pictures. It sounds like a joke, but it’s not.
Abercrombie and Fitch is superficial. They care way too much about an unachievable level of beauty. A number cannot define beauty, whether it is how many people stop to take a picture of that shirtless A&F model or the size of your pants. I mean why is there even such a thing as a size zero? Does that mean you’re invisible?
Granted, Jeffries did retract his statements. Somewhat. He posted on the Abercrombie & Fitch Facebook page apologizing if his comments were interpreted in a manner that caused offense. He claimed that they are completely opposed to any discrimination and bullying, but maintained that they market to a particular segment of customers.
I have always been taught that a real apology does not include the phrase, “I’m sorry if I hurt your feeling.” You should be sorry for what you did. I think Jeffries is just sorry that he is under heat and customers are reacting.
No one should feel like they are invisible or don’t exist or that they don’t belong. So no matter what size you are, don’t listen – or support – anyone who believes differently.
