10th
Recently I went to an American Apparel store, I had not gone in a relatively long time, and I noticed that the store is very big on what I think is sexualizing women. I saw that there are a lot of pictures of girls with their legs opened in the store catalogs and even on the posters within the store. Even some of the mannequins are arranged in very suggestive positions, they are obviously intended to be girls because they are displaying leggings and tights…these mannequins are all bending over. In the past, I might have not even noticed but now this really kind of upset me. I really like that store but I think it is giving a very negative image of girls and to girls. I mean, the catalog goes as far as showing very young topless girls; I know that that is just a technique to sell products, by making the store seem much more sexy than it has to be, because it’s a know fact that sex sells. I just think that it presents a very distorted image to it’s consumers, many of who are girls. This representation of women in positions that seem so sexual gives young girls the wrong idea about what they need to grow up to be; it shows that that they need to be as sexy as the beautiful models that are shown. And I’m not saying that being sexy is a negative thing, but it is intended for a particular stage of life. These are the images that are urging little girls to try to become woman way earlier than they need to. I know that this is something that happens in a bunch of other stores, like Victoria’s Secret, but American Apparel is not specifically a lingerie line. I just don’t see why I needs to use the female form so strongly just to sell its products.
