Girl power forces retailer to back down
Sussex County - A new line of t-shirts for girls launched recently by teen-popular Abercrombie & Fitch created a stir nationwide, but for local teens and parents the fuss is more a battle of the generations. The shirts with messages such as “Who needs brains when you have these?” and “Blondes are adored and brunettes are ignored,” prompted a backlash against the retailer by a group of Pennsylvania teens who said the shirts were degrading and insulting to women in general. The girls organized a movement, later nicknamed a “Girlcott,” to stop the sale of the shirts. The effort went public appearing on NBCs Today Show, where members of the group encouraged a national boycott among their peers. Local teens and their parents are familiar with Abercrombie & Fitch, which has a store at the nearby Rockaway Mall. They are also familiar with the shirts at the center of the debate. Interviews conducted last week to determine the level of support for the Girlcott uncovered that for local families, the fault in the controversy falls, for the most part, along generation lines. “I personally have a problem with the entire store and the type of clothing they sell in general,” said Karen Granelli, mother of a Lenape Valley High School junior. “Not only are clothes geared towards a specific body type, designed for tall and thin, and not your average teen, but the retailer also seems to look for that same body type when hiring their young employees.” Granelli’s daughter Sarah, on the other hand, dismissed the controversy and said she found the t-shirts humorous. “Although I am impressed with the power of this Girlcott group, I admit that I think a lot of the t-shirts are funny. I have noticed though that the messages on them seem to have gotten worse, a bit raunchy. However, I do think some parents are overreacting to them,” said the younger Granelli. In a statement released on Saturday Abercrombie & Fitch said the line of shirts were meant “to be humorous.” But the retailer acknowledged that some of the sayings may be offensive to some women. “We recognize that the shirts in question, while meant to be humorous, might be troubling to some,” read, in part, the retailer’s statement. A glance at the Rockaway Mall location on Saturday showed no sign of lost business with a steady flow of teens and their parents coming through the doors throughout the weekend. Although staff at the Rockaway store would not comment officially, a store employee who declined to be identified for this story, said the store may register an increase of customer traffic because the controversial t-shirts were attracting curious customers into the store in addition to the regular clientele. Dara Shugart, a junior at Sparta High School will remain a customer to the popular retail store. “I wouldn’t wear a degrading shirt like these anyway, and I wouldn’t stop shopping at the store because of them. Shirts like that are an easy way to get the wrong attention. We (girls) should get attention by showing our personalities, and abilities, rather than emphasizing on what we’re wearing,” said Shugart. As a result of the national Girlcott, on Friday, Nov. 4, Abercrombie & Fitch agreed to stop selling some of the t-shirts. However, the retailer did not specify which shirts.