Hey Guys~!
I noticed that in the news there have been many stories involving clothing stores that are targeted for preteen girls, teenagers, and women in general have been using harmful marketing techniques in the selling on their clothing. Two examples that I'll be discussing here are Victoria Secret and Old Navy. Both of them have been discriminatory in referring to a woman's body by using sexism and size-ism in the selling of their clothes.
Normally I don't read too much into companies, especially fashion. The industry is there to make people feel like they need to look and have certain things in order to be happy and successful. Now please take note that I said both happy and successful, and not just one of them. Being successful doesn't make you happy. Yes there are positive parts of the fashion industry, like allowing one to express their creativity and individually. But in some cases the negatives are out weighing the positives.
In Victoria Secret's new campaign, they logo was a photograph of their angel models with the words, "The Perfect Body," written over them. This really angered me because many of the models have had plastic surgery or lived an unhealthy lifestyle in order to look that way. By claiming these women to have "The Perfect Body" Victoria Secret is basically saying that if you don't look like their models, then you aren't good enough to not only wear our clothes, but in life you're just not good enough. That message is itself is harmful to preteen and teenage girls who already are negatively influenced by the media. I am happy to say though that while writing this post, I found out that Victoria Secret changed the campaign to "A Body for Every Body" which I think is more positive and accepting.
Old Navy is under fire for the sexism involving their plus sizes. On Old Navy's website, there are two sections for women's clothing, Women's and Women's Plus. However this differentiating in sizes isn't used in their men's section. This alienates the "Women's Plus" section, and not the men's plus. Therefore making the women who have to wear plus sizes not feel like they too are women, but instead there own entity.
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| "Women's" |
When you look at items in the Women's section, there are the exact same items in the Women's Plus. But the harmful difference isn't size, but cost. For example, these Women's Pixie Patterned Ankle Pants, are sold in both sections. Here in the "Women's Section" the pants cost originally $34.94. And some of the different colors and prints are on sale, ranging from $32 - $12. However in the "Women's Plus Section" the same pants are sold, same style, but for $44.95~!!! Are you kidding me Old Navy~?! That's a different in cost of $10!!!
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| "Women's Plus" |
However in the overall Men's section, there isn't a difference in price. Men's sizes go from XS to XXL. I found these Men's Cargo Pants that were on sale for the same price as the "Women's Section" pants. No matter what size combination I put in, they stayed at the price of $35. Why do women have to pay more if clothes don't fit them? Yes in some cases spandex and other materials have to be added to make it wearable to larger sizes, but the customer shouldn't have to suffer because of that.
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| "Men's" |
Basing price off of the amount covered and material would mean that boxers should cost more than a thong since the boxers cover more area than a thong. But that's not how it works~! I've seen a single thong or panty cost from around $11 to $36. But a single men's brief or boxer costs around $7.
It's ideas like these that are why eating disorders are becoming more common. Seeing that there is a "Perfect Body" and that buying clothes in larger sizes can be more expensive, teaches girls to be unhappy with themselves. It's telling them that they're not good enough, which isn't true. Just because you don't look like a model, or that you can't afford to buy a certain store's clothes because it isn't catered to your size doesn't make you lesser of a person. If anything it makes you and shows you to be an individual.
You don't need to shop at certain stores just to make you "cool" or "popular," what you need to do is just be confident with who you are and in your own skin. I personally know that it's not the easiest lesson to learn, but once you realize that, you'll not only be happier with yourself, but with your life in general.
So I hope you guys enjoyed this rant post. I did a lot of research and put a lot of effort into this post in particular because this issue really bothers me personally. If you want a post about body image and my personal experiences with it, let me know in the comments. Also I'd like to hear your opinions on this in the comments too. Thank you guys so much for reading and I'll see you at my next post.
xo
Alyss
