Nice, today I got a notice that Abercrombie & Fitch (the bio sets New York as the location, though I notice the lack of updates and verification – are you spam??) is following this blog on Twitter. Normally I’d be all “wow! an international brand is following my little project in Richmond, VA; may wonders never cease” except that brand happens to be Abercrombie & Fitch, and that just makes me want to barf.
See, the reason that A&F sucks so hard is that they objectify everyone – men and women, but especially women. Manufacturing tshirts for the pre-and currently-pubescent females with slogans like “I see you’ve met the twins,” “Tie me up, don’t tie me down,”, and “Who needs brains when you have these” emblazoned across the chest is plain inexcusable and morally reprehensible of the brand. What’s their purpose behind having females parade around with these slogans on their chest? Do the designers feel as though they’re empowering women to be in charge of their sexuality?
Like I said though, it’s not just the ladies – A&F makes sure they pass around the awkward grip of sexuality equally and serve up the fellas too. You’ll find the majority of men’s shirts allude to sex, sex acts, one night stands, and make using and abusing women a badge of honor one should wear right on their shirt fronts. Sorry guys, seems you’re only as good as your penis is long. And if it’s not, or if it doesn’t come packaged with the torso of a personally trained athlete and male model, well, it’s really not worth very much.
Besides their trashtastic clothes, you can find objectification of females and males replete in the A&F glossy catalogs. Full of half-clothed twenty-somethings (I hope) in extremely suggestive poses selling, I don’t know, sex…or clothes…or both, it’s a voyeuristic dive into the shitty way an international brand really thinks of its customers.
And who is A&F’s target market anyways? From their kids line to their mainstream designs, I’d say anywhere from 8 – 22 years old. What the hell do children need to be advertising their breasts, dismissing their brains, and making every desperate attempt for cheap human intimacy? Why is this allowed to be? Why are we pushing this on our kids?
See, it’s not about the celebration of the human body, the perfection of imperfection, or the beauty of discovering who you are and loving your body. Their catalogs are not art. It’s not about how there are no plus sized models, or even a passable mix of races. You won’t find the LGBT community represented in these catalogs because far be it from A&F to depict real sexuality. Far be it from A&F to show real girls with real curves and REAL BRAINS, and men who are capable of having thoughts other than when their next hookup will be.
So, Abercrombie, I see you following me on Twitter and I think you’re gross. And a sorry excuse for a “fashion” brand representing America.
River City Dolls 
OMG! It’s cool a major brand would follow you but…not cool. When I was 22 I was an assistant manager at this store. They weren’t quite this bad back then. The overwhelming men’s cologne odor was still present, however. Their clothes for women are tiny and I remember even though I weighed less than three digits at the time I purchased their t-shirts in large for a normal fit. You can block them from your Twitter, you know. You should do it!