I try really hard to not go on major rants in my blogging. I take pride in the fact that I make a conscious effort to keep my writing clean, logical and as unoffensive as possible.
Before I start, please feel free to read this article. It will give you something to reference as I proceed to go a little bat-shit crazy.
Mike Jeffries, CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch, is a pompous ass. (And he's ugly to boot, but that's besides the point.) He also has an extremely skewed viewpoint on what makes people "cool."
Statement #1: "According to this popular teen clothing retailer, fat chicks will just never be part of the 'in' crowd."
**Issue #1: What constitutes a "fat chick?" According to Abercrombie and Fitch, any woman who wears anything above a size 10. So, the following women could either just barely, or not at all, wear clothes from this retailer:
Marilyn Monroe--size 12
Cindy Crawford--size 10
Kate Winslet--size 10/12
Jessica Simpson--size 10/12 (pre-pregnancy); she's kept some of her curves since then, and just let me say how much I admire her for having the nerve and the self-confidence to shoot that magazine cover.
Beyonce--size 10 (pre-pregnancy)
Jennifer Lopez--size 10
Adele--size 18/20
**Issue #2: What constitutes the "in" crowd? Last time I checked, all of the women above were beautiful, successful and rich people. I'm pretty sure they would all be considered "in." Marilyn Monroe is remembered as being the most famous "sex icon" in history. She's considered one of the most beautiful women of all time. Cindy Crawford is likewise considered one of the most successful models of all time. Jessica Simpson is an actress, singer and fashion designer and I couldn't put a number to the amount of adolescent boys' wet dreams she's shown up in. The same can be said of J-Lo. And every aspiring female singer today at some point wishes they could be Adele. She has sold millions upon millions of albums and has won a Grammy. She's also not ashamed of her weight. She has no reason to be.
Alright, so maybe Mr. Jeffries didn't have the rich and famous in mind when he decided that "fat chicks" were not welcome in his store. In an interview he stated that "in every school there are the cool and popular kids and then there are the not-so-cool kids." So we're talking high school, here. Okay, fine.
Jacob Becerra, Lauren Calbreath, Camille Carpenter, Wesley Copper, Anisha Davis, Katie Ivie, Alicia Kirgan, Melanie Mayes, Doug Pritchett, Crystal Wilson, Lexi Batsios, Lindsay Bayer, Chris Crider, Amanda Gass, Carolyn Kinnunen, Mary Miller, Melanie Mooshegian, Liz Moulton, Josh Turck, Cory Fischer, Emily Gavilsky, Adrian and Leandro Gonzales, Amanda Marti, Karolyn Page, Maggie Ronk, Kelsey Roseman, Rebecca Vance--These were all people that I went to high school with that were "popular" or "cool." They were all also of a size that would have prevented them from shopping at Abercrombie and Fitch. So Mr. Jeffries assumption that "fat chicks" or just fat people in general will never be part of the "in" crowd? Yeah, guess that's been blown straight to hell.
Statement #2: "We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends."
Issue: I went to high school (as most of us did). I don't know about other people, but in my case, the "attractive all-American kids"--the popular kids--were assholes. They didn't have great attitudes. They had superior, pompous, snobbish and mean attitudes. They took pleasure in talking down to the "un-popular" kids--whether they were skinny or fat--and were downright mean and nasty to a lot of people. And sure, they had a lot of "friends." Friends who talked consistently about each other behind each other's backs, friends who didn't hesitate to steal a boyfriend or girlfriend because it might raise their status in the popularity food chain, friends with squeaky clean facades for faces and nasty personalities underneath.
Sure, they all dressed nicely. The skinny ones with money wore Abercrombie and Fitch, American Eagle, and H&M. The heavier kids that were popular were just out of luck, I guess. They had money and it was evident. It didn't change the fact that many of those kids' "reigns" lasted up until graduation. And then we all entered this huge place called the Real World. And suddenly being popular didn't open nearly as many doors. Neither did an Abercrombie and Fitch label.
Statement #3: "Abercrombie is only interested in people with washboard stomachs who look like they're about to jump off a surfboard."
Issue: Does Mr. Jeffries stop every customer at the door, ask that they raise their shirts to prove they have a six-pack and if they are found lacking, are they turned away at the door? C'mon, man. Out of all the skinny and popular guys I went to school with, maybe a hand full actually had washboard stomachs. The number of girls with that physical attribute was even less. I know, because I changed with a bunch of them during gym class for four years.
Oh, and not be petty Mr. Jeffries, but you look like this:
So...if Abercrombie is only interested in "surfer-dudes" with washboard abs....you're missing the tan and you're missing the six-pack. You're setting a great example for your company's expectations. **dripping sarcasm found here** Why the hell is Abercrombie interested in you??
Statement #4: "Listen, do we go too far sometimes? Absolutely. But we try to push the envelope, and we try to be funny, and we try to stay authentic and relevant to our target customer."
Issue: You try to be funny? Do you hear anybody laughing? Surely the people who can't walk into your store for fear of being criticized or demoralized aren't. Oh, but that's right. You don't care about those people. You made that quite clear when you stated the following:
Statement #5: "A lot of people don't belong {in our clothes} and they can't belong."
and
Statement #6: "Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."
Now, there are those out there I'm sure would argue that you have the right to advertise however you like, you have the right to target a certain customer base and that Mike Jeffries is perfectly justified in his opinions. And those people would be right, he most definitely does have that right.
And I'm sure there are those out there who will say that I am only angry about this because I'm most likely a fat, unpopular woman who needs something to bitch about. I am indeed overweight, weighing in right now around 250 pounds and the list of people I consider real friends is very short.
However, in high school, I wore a size 12 jean, stayed physically active and was a fairly attractive person. I didn't believe I was an attractive person at the time--the media told me I wasn't because I was "fat," the people I went to school with told me I wasn't because I wasn't "popular," and I had no sense of self-confidence to tell me otherwise. But I wasn't fat in high school. I was healthy in high school.
Today, I've had two babies within two years and put my weight and self-image to the side to focus on my two daughters. My anger with the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch has nothing to do with the fact that I can't wear his clothing. I wouldn't wear it even if I could--it's cheaply made, way too expensive and I would in no way support a man whose vision focuses on ripping young girls apart. It has everything to do with the fact that I have two young daughters who before I know it will be facing the social pressure to buy "cool" clothes from places like Abercrombie and Fitch; who before I know it will be facing the social pressure to be a size 2 because that's what's "cool." Unfortunately, a size 2 is not in my daughters' genes. Before I know it I will be contending with everything from media to store advertising to anorexia and bulimia to diet and exercise to halter tops vs. t-shirts. It is a hard enough task for a mother to love herself and her own self-image enough to truly encourage her daughter(s) from early on to love themselves and their own body images. A mother has to take on the world--literally--and try to convince her daughter that she is right and everybody else is wrong. That being a size 10, or 12, or 14 is perfectly acceptable. Hell, that being a size 20, or 22, or 24 is perfectly acceptable too. That beauty does not equate the number on the label of your dress. That health is so much more important than anything else. That numbers are subjective and mean very little in the grand scheme of things. That a beautiful, compassionate, loving and non-judgmental personality is so much more important than a tiny waist. That a person's state of "coolness" is determined by them and the people who love them, not some dumb asshole who is so insecure about himself that he takes pride and pleasure in tearing other people down and making them feel inadequate.
Yes, Mr. Jeffries, you have the right to exclude people. You have the right to advertise to a certain audience. You have the right to hate fat people because deep down I think there's a good chance you hate yourself. You have the right to run your business however you see fit and however you think will make you the most money.
I can only hope and pray to God that by the time my girls are old enough to even consider shopping at a store like yours, your company has lost so much money due to your stilted and prejudiced opinions that Abercrombie and Fitch is no longer an option for them.
As I said at the beginning of this, I try really hard for the most part to not be crude, to not be rude, to write with a sense of maturity. But in this case, I feel the need to make an exception.
I'm sending a little birdie your way, Mr. Jeffries, and the message it carries is very short, simple and succinct:
FUCK YOU.
Thank you and have a nice day.
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