Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
In response to a firestorm of criticism, Land’s End, a popular family oriented clothing retailer, has removed a glowing article about pro-abortion feminist Gloria Steinem from its website, but the company still hasn’t said whether it will discontinue a program that will donate to Steinem’s organization.
The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel is reporting on the rapid backpedaling being done by the company after it received a flood of complaints for including a glowing feature article about Steinem in their new spring catalog.
Land’s End CEO Federica Marchionni interviewed Steinem to kick off the retailer’s “Legend Series” which features “individuals who have made a difference in both their respective industries and the world at large.”
Steinem’s biggest “contributions” to mankind include a radical form of feminism that every day women never fully embraced as well as advocacy for abortion rights. She once blamed the Pope for global warming because of the Church’s position against abortion and birth control and is a staunch supporter of the scandal-strewn abortion giant, Planned Parenthood.
Needless to say, it was a poor choice for what is supposed to be a family-friendly clothing retailer and the company quickly realized its mistake.
“We understand that some of our customers were offended by the inclusion of an interview in a recent catalog with Gloria Steinem on her quest for women’s equality,” the firm said in a statement. “We thought it was a good idea and we heard from our customers that, for different reasons, it wasn’t. For that, we sincerely apologize. Our goal was to feature individuals with different interests and backgrounds that have made a difference for our new Legends Series, not to take any political or religious stance.”
However, questions still remain. Part of the association with Steinem is an agreement to donate $3 to Steinem’s Fund for Women’s Equality, Inc. for every buyer who orders an ERA Coalition logo monogram on one of its items. The campaign runs until January 31, 2017.
Steinem is heading up a movement to resurrect the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) which would amend the U.S. Constitution to prohibit all discrimination against women. The ERA never managed to receive the backing of all fifty states during a 10-year battle for ratification that took place between 1972 and 1982.
Opponents of the amendment correctly point out that discrimination against women is already against the law. Writing the ERA into the Constitution could result in pro-abortion lawmakers using the amendment as a weapon to not only overturn all abortion restrictions but could also be used to nullify the Hyde Amendment which prevents taxpayers funding of abortion – something the public is largely against.
Land’s End found out the hard way that Gloria Steinem and her radical pro-abortion and anti-family positions have more opponents than supporters.
“Opponents of abortion rights peppered the Lands’ End Facebook page Wednesday with vows never to shop with the firm again,” the Journal-Sentinel reported. “A few Steinem supporters also weighed in, but they appeared to be far outnumbered by the critics.”
The dust-up is far from over, however. Should Land’s End decide to continue to contribute to Steinem’s organization, they stand to lose a substantial amount of business, including its school-uniform business which serves private and religious schools. In just the few short days that this controversy has raged, two Missouri schools – School of the Ozarks and Fr. Tolton Catholic High School – already vowed to buy their uniforms elsewhere.
This is the second time in recent years that Land’s End seriously misread its customer base. In 2014 it was forced to apologize to customers by rewarding their patronage with subscriptions to the men’s magazine GQ which featured a nearly naked model on the cover of the first issue.
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