I love shopping, and I'll even admit to you that I am not always a smart, conscientious shopper. Which is sad. I need to work on that. I still buy things from companies that have been known to use child labor, pay unfair wages to their workers, and produce overseas. We are lucky in America to be able to choose intelligently where and how we spend our money. We have options. And maybe the most conscientious and intelligent options are more expensive or less convenient, but the point is, they exist.
One of the most well-known companies that produce clothing in America, pay their workers fair wages, and provide benefits for said workers is American Apparel, "a leading basics brand for people of all ages." They claim themselves as an "industrial revolution," use a vertical integration business model, support causes like immigration reform and gay rights, and implement environmentally-friendly production processes as well as sell organic products. Their "sweatshop-free" factory is located in downtown Los Angeles. Through their website, you can even meet people who work in the factory. Basically, from this info, it seems that American Apparel is a very responsible and smart company, attracting young, socially-minded consumers worldwide.
But American Apparel isn't perfect. Far from it. While they stand for all-around good things as a company, their advertisements and CEO have attracted negative criticism.
American Apparel's advertisements exploit biracial and multiracial models in its quasi-pornographic ads, often explicitly spelling out their mixedness by listing out their ethnicities (e.g., “Meet Carrie, Chinese/British/Canadian”). The New York Times picked up on this, writing that the CEO/founder Dove “Charney embraced the notion of “real” advertising, photographing young ethnic and mixed-race men and women with asymmetrical features, imperfect bodies, blemished skin and visible sweat stains on the clothes they are modeling.” (source) Many of American Apparel's ads portray women in demeaning poses, objectifying them outright. Models even have to sign a gag agreement, seeming to "presuppose that the model will, eventually, feel like suing the company."
Charney has been accused multiple times of sexually harassing his employees. Here is one example, as well as a video interview with another accuser. Some say that's just his style; that he's just sexually upfront, and prides himself in mixing business and pleasure (source), which to me, conjures up images of Hugh Hefner and a pre-feminist workplace. The deceased Jane Magazine quoted him as saying, "masturbation in front of women is underrated... It's much easier on the woman. She gets to watch, it's a sensual experience that doesn't involve a man violating a woman, yet once the man has his release, it's over and you can talk to the guy." It seems as though Charney can only relate to women in a sexual way. And that his views on "violating" a woman don't include exposing them to porn against their will (which he has done multiple times to his employees). Oh, and also there are accusations like this. He must have an amazing legal team, as he's never been officially charged of anything.
So. What do we do with all of this shit? Because it is shit, a big stinking pile of shit. I don't know...
Which of the two is the lesser evil? Choosing to support a store with smart business practices while turning a blind eye to the sexually-abhorrent practices of its CEO, or choosing not to shop there because you don't want to support a company that is continuing to objectify women in really horrible ways... and maybe shop at other places that perhaps don't have the greatest business practices?
I've tried to avoid shopping at American Apparel, but I am not perfect, and I've bought a total of three articles of clothing from them since I knew of its existence. The third and most recent piece of clothing, I purchased a couple weeks ago. And I have to say, I had mixed, mostly guilty feelings about it. Was I compromising my feminist beliefs in order to appease my desire to shop?? That's what spurred me on to write all of this, and kind of explore how I feel, as well as hear from readers of this blog on what they think of this American Apparel dilemma.
Thanks for reading.
But American Apparel isn't perfect. Far from it. While they stand for all-around good things as a company, their advertisements and CEO have attracted negative criticism.
American Apparel's advertisements exploit biracial and multiracial models in its quasi-pornographic ads, often explicitly spelling out their mixedness by listing out their ethnicities (e.g., “Meet Carrie, Chinese/British/Canadian”). The New York Times picked up on this, writing that the CEO/founder Dove “Charney embraced the notion of “real” advertising, photographing young ethnic and mixed-race men and women with asymmetrical features, imperfect bodies, blemished skin and visible sweat stains on the clothes they are modeling.” (source) Many of American Apparel's ads portray women in demeaning poses, objectifying them outright. Models even have to sign a gag agreement, seeming to "presuppose that the model will, eventually, feel like suing the company."
Charney has been accused multiple times of sexually harassing his employees. Here is one example, as well as a video interview with another accuser. Some say that's just his style; that he's just sexually upfront, and prides himself in mixing business and pleasure (source), which to me, conjures up images of Hugh Hefner and a pre-feminist workplace. The deceased Jane Magazine quoted him as saying, "masturbation in front of women is underrated... It's much easier on the woman. She gets to watch, it's a sensual experience that doesn't involve a man violating a woman, yet once the man has his release, it's over and you can talk to the guy." It seems as though Charney can only relate to women in a sexual way. And that his views on "violating" a woman don't include exposing them to porn against their will (which he has done multiple times to his employees). Oh, and also there are accusations like this. He must have an amazing legal team, as he's never been officially charged of anything.
So. What do we do with all of this shit? Because it is shit, a big stinking pile of shit. I don't know...
Which of the two is the lesser evil? Choosing to support a store with smart business practices while turning a blind eye to the sexually-abhorrent practices of its CEO, or choosing not to shop there because you don't want to support a company that is continuing to objectify women in really horrible ways... and maybe shop at other places that perhaps don't have the greatest business practices?
I've tried to avoid shopping at American Apparel, but I am not perfect, and I've bought a total of three articles of clothing from them since I knew of its existence. The third and most recent piece of clothing, I purchased a couple weeks ago. And I have to say, I had mixed, mostly guilty feelings about it. Was I compromising my feminist beliefs in order to appease my desire to shop?? That's what spurred me on to write all of this, and kind of explore how I feel, as well as hear from readers of this blog on what they think of this American Apparel dilemma.
Thanks for reading.
4 comments :
What a well-written opinion piece! I don't own anything from AA...but mostly b/c I've never been super into their styles. I've heard all of this about Dov and it makes me want to physically gag. Take him out of the equation (do you hear us, justice system of America?!?) and AA has my backing.
It's hard for me to buy things on a budget that doesn't come from a store/company/factory that hasn't exploited someone at one point. I often struggle with knowing I basically support these practices by buying products from them. I don't actually own anything from AA and I think a lot of their ads are downright disgusting, but I honestly wouldn't mind buying from them. I feel the company as a whole stands for more good than bad. Yeah, that guy is a real creep but you're buying from his company, not inviting him to your house. Certain issues are deal breakers for people and if it really bothers you everytime you wear whatever you bought, don't buy anything from them again. A shirt isn't worth that.
Living in Ireland, I don't have the option to 'buy Irish' and unless I want to dress like an old man, my options are very limited. Here, and in the UK we have a chain called 'Penneys/Primark" whose clothes are suspiciously cheap, and all made in Asia. While they deny use of sweatshops, I'm not quite sure I believe them. We have one American Apparel here, which is apparently the biggest in the EU. It opened in the middle of the recession (bold of Dov) and seems to be pretty popular. I've got a few dresses and hoodies from there, but I think Charney is disgusting. I agree with M Jacks, take him out of the equation and I'll shop there.
Worth mentioning too, a friend of mine applied for a job there, AA asked him to provide a full length photo with his CV. Outrageous.
Whoops, now that I read over that essay comment I'm not sure it makes sense!
I'm so glad you wrote this! At the beginning of college, I was totally all for AA. I figured if it was sweatshop free, that's where I wanted to spend my $$. But then the ads started to gross me out and I learned more about the company... and I was like "crap!". I don't feel bad wearing the pieces I already own... but I don't shop there anymore.
I know so many people who get amazingly cheap stuff at F21 and H&M, but I feel guilty buying anything that cheap. (It's cheap for a reason). Sadly, I think it's hard to avoid when you're on a budget. I love supporting independent designers when I can.. but it's undoubtedly more expensive.
Have you heard of Alternative Apparel? Some of their styles are similar to AA, but from what I can tell, their company is doing good things.
Post a Comment