by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
(Feb. 7, 2008) Angry parents in Virginia Beach were unable to convince authorities to permanently remove posters of scantily clad teens on display at an Abercrombie & Fitch store in a local mall because the risque photos do not meet local obscenity standards.
The posters depict teens dressed scantily enough to offend residents who felt they were inappropriate for the store’s primary clientele, teens and pre-teens. Police were summoned and they initially seized the posters, citing a city code which says it is a crime to display obscene materials in a business open to juveniles.
However, local obscenity laws require that an image show sexual activity or a lewd display of genitals in order to qualify as obscene, and police were forced to drop the charges.
“While these posters are clearly not obscene as defined by law, this is Abercrombie’s attempt, once again, to push the envelope as far as possible,” said Jack Samad, senior vice president of the National Coalition for the Protection of Women and Families, in a press release.
“For years, Abercrombie & Fitch has forced this advertising on its customers in an attempt to be creative and desensitize young people. They are selling a philosophy of sexuality that not only doesn’t work but also is harmful.”
In 2003, the National Coalition spearheaded a boycott against the clothing company for its Christmas Field Guide, a publication that targets 10-13 year olds, because it contained 45 portrayals of sexual imagery in the first 120 pages. This imagery included overt portrayals of group sex, male and female nudity, and men kissing.
The issue also included a “sexpertise” column where an expert advised teens heading off to college to look for experience rather than a mate. She also gave advice on “sex for three” and how to have sex in a movie theater without disturbing others.
Public outrage over the Guide resulted in a successful boycott that hit the company at the peak of the 2003 Christmas season. Abercrombie folded under the pressure and withdrew the Guide. It has not published it since, but is planning to relaunch the publication in London this spring.
Abercrombie & Fitch used to be known as a high-end sporting goods and apparel store until it began to experience a sales drop off in 1993. They were taken over by The Limited, and the company brought in Sam Shahid, the mastermind behind the sexy ads for Calvin Klein and Banana Republic, to give the company a make-over. Shahid’s sexually charged imagery appealed
to youngsters and stores sales jumped from $6 million in 36 stores in 1993 to $1.3 billion and 500 stores by 2002. They now boast as many as 700 stores nationwide.
Unfortunately, marketing sex to teens just because they like it is no reason to do so, especially not at a time when sexually transmitted diseases are at epidemic proportions among American youth under the age of 25. Studies have also shown that this kind of overt sexualization of children is causing serious health problems in young girls such as eating disorders, low selfesteem and depression.
“The consequences of the sexualization of girls in media today are very real and likely to be a negative influence on girls’ healthy development,” said Eileen L. Zurbriggen, Ph.D, chair of an American Psychological Association Task Force that conducted an extensive study of the problem in 2007.
Movies, television shows and magazines in particular were cited as creating impossible body images for girls, and encouraging them to think of their self worth only in terms of their sexual attractiveness to men.
“The content of these magazines encouraged young women to think of themselves as sexual objects whose lives were not complete unless sexually connected with a man,” researchers concluded.
Marketers are also targeting younger and younger girls with sexually charged advertising and product lines, such as Abercrombie & Fitch whose 2003 Christmas Guide featured thongs for seven year old girls.
Even though parents in Virginia Beach were unable to keep the offensive posters out of storefront windows, they did exactly what experts recommend and that is to intervene in any way they can to prevent their children from being the targets of irresponsible advertising.
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