Remember This?

Remember back in February when I was complaining about American Apparel? Well apparently somebody else hates them too. The best way to explain is to quote the site itself (I bolded the pertinent parts):

" 'American Able' intends to, through spoof, reveal the ways in which women with disabilities are invisibilized in advertising and mass media. I chose American Apparel not just for their notable style, but also for their claims that many of their models are just ‘every day’ women who are employees, friends and fans of the company. However, these women fit particular body types. Their campaigns are highly sexualized and feature women who are generally thin, and who appear to be able-bodied. Women with disabilities go unrepresented, not only in American Apparel advertising, but also in most of popular culture. Rarely, if ever, are women with disabilities portrayed in anything other than an asexual manner, for ‘disabled’ bodies are largely perceived as ‘undesirable.’ In a society where sexuality is created and performed over and over within popular culture, the invisibility of women with disabilities in many ways denies them the right to sexuality, particularly within a public context.

Too often, the pervasive influence of imagery in mass media goes unexamined, consumed en masse by the public. However, this imagery has real, oppressive effects on people who are continuously ‘othered’ by society. The model, Jes Sachse, and I intend to reveal these stories by placing her in a position where women with disabilities are typically excluded."

Personally I think this is totally awesome, although it brings up conflicted feelings. On the one hand, it is totally unrealistic and kind of sick that we only use models that look completely different than the majority of people in society, and marginalize anyone that looks different. On the other, if I were a clothing designer and I wanted to show off my new line, of course I want to do it on fit, attractive people (at which point the problem ceases to be with fashion per se, but with the warped minds of the people, which are heavily influenced my magazines, back and forth, on and on. Phew!). You're selling America a fantasy, saying "if you buy this Marc Jacobs dress you'll be 93 pounds and gorgeous too". At least most runways don't claim to host "normal" people, they admit they deal with fantasy. Which is not to say that it makes it OK for designers to do that, just that I appreciate that man of them seem to recognize that they are fostering unrealistic expectations.

I think what bothers me so much about American Apparel is exactly what she says above, their claim to normalcy. It's normal to be stick thin with a huge rack and booty, to wander around all day scantily clad and be as sexual as possible. Hey little girls, everyone is like us, we're normal.

But then again, maybe I'm just taking this all way too seriously. What do you think, of the photos, the reasoning behind them, everything?

ETA: Another "article" on the subject (I say "article" because it's on Perez Hilton)

Everything That Is Wrong About Us

I'll admit it, I shop at American Apparel. They have great basics and the concept of plain block colored clothing is a great one. However, often when I'm forking over cash in that store I find myself cringing. Yes, they're over-priced and cheaply made, but more than that I find their oversexed marketing to be a turn off.

The two models pictured above are professional (in fact I believe one is a porn star). If you'd like to see an example of America Apparel ads that are nearly soft-core porn, there are plenty of those too (NSFW). These ads I don't like, but if some aspiring model/actress wants to get naked for a brand, it's her business. To me there's a difference between having a professional model signing a contract and American Apparel's amateur ad campaigns. A model is in the business, chooses to wear next to nothing, be plastered all over the US, and (most importantly) he or she gets paid and a clear stipulation of how the image will be used. On the other hand, American Apparel now encourages young women to submit their own mostly-nude photos on their own time for free. Maybe I sound like a prude but there's something about an underage girl buying see-through mesh booty shorts, then going home to photograph her nearly naked ass and hopefully submitting those photos to a company to put all over the Internet, for free, that seems exploitative. Not to mention all the allegations of sexual harassment going on at American Apparel head quarters (apparently the boss likes to get handsy with his employees).

The latest American Apparel gimmick is a "search for the best bottom in the world" where users (pretty much all female, as far as I can tell, no naked male butts to ogle) can submit photos of their ass in some form of American Apparel clothing and vote on which are the best butts. Most of the women are next to naked and seem pretty young. There's just something so sad about these women's eagerness to be pure sex objects and to have their looks degraded online. People vote on these photos, like an all ass version of "Hot or Not". I seriously doubt the girls who submit photos spend a lot of time considering what it will feel like to have strangers call their butts ugly. One could argue that American Apparel is doing a good and anti-elitist thing, allowing normal girls to get a chance at modeling. I did a little checking up on this and I have to say after surfing the site, I did not see a single heavy girl, or less than attractive, or even remotely normal looking person. All the amateur models are very thin, pretty, and have nice racks. No diversity here.

Obviously I have some pretty strong feelings about this latest ad campaign, but maybe I'm totally off the mark. Are these girls taking ownership of their bodies or allowing themselves to be used? Is it a sexy ad or just trashy? Would this stop you from buying American Apparel?


UPDATE:
Apparently others are pissed with American Apparel too
NYC Protest