In Act of Desperation, Abercrombie Will Now Sell Plus-Sized Stuff

Jezebel contributor, Callie Beusman, writes a very witty, sarcastic piece calling out  the Abercrombie & Fitch corporation for its desperate, hypocritical advertising ploy to attempt to stay in business: a new plus-sized line of clothing. A&F shares have lost 30% of their values this year and they are running out of ideas on how to stay afloat. During the height of the brand's popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s, the company's CEO made a famous comment claiming that the brand should be exclusively worn by the, "rich, thin, cool kids" at school, and nobody else. The company's advertising often alienated any overweight bodies or bodies of color in favor of the stereotypically "All-American", toned, tan, blonde-haired, blue-eyed models. Beusman makes a call to action to all plus-sized shoppers, reminding them of Abercrombie & Fitch's roots of hatred and discrimination towards overweight and obese body types. The article utilizes humor in her opinion piece that enlightens with facts and cracks jokes in equal parts. Beusman's obvious argument is to boycott the brand out of business and let it suffer for its sins. My internal 13 year old has to chuckle. I remember learning that the store had size, racial/ethnic, attractiveness biases even in their hiring process of their employees. Even though I once worshiped the brand, squeezing into their ridiculously skinny jeans while choking on the clouds of potent cologne hanging menacingly in the air, as young teen, I understood that the brand discriminated against anything but the ideal standards for femininity and masculinity in the US... and it is indeed satisfying almost a decade later to find out that the same company that made so many of us wish we were platinum blonde and supermodel thin is now begging for forgiveness (a.k.a. $ cash flow $) from the very demographic they alienated in the first place. I hope the big boys and girl boycott. There is absolutely no way that this is a sign of any kind of acceptance towards alternative body types... A&F simply needs money, and I don't think they are going to get it.

For more, click here: In Act of Desperation, Abercrombie Will Now Sell Plus-Sized Stuff