24-05-2002 02:05									#91
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Was sent this link on another forum.

quote: the second time in two months, retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Inc. finds itself in trouble for the kind of clothing it sells, this time for hawking sexually suggestive thong underwear to young girls. The thongs are adorned with the images of cherries and candy hearts and also include the words "kiss me" and "wink, wink." They are appropriate for girls as young as 10 years old, according to a company spokesman. "It's not appropriate for a 7 year old, but it is appropriate for a 10 year old," said spokesman Hampton Carney. "Once you get about 10, you start to care about your underwear, and you start to care about your clothes." Conservative family groups are outraged. They have launched another boycott against Abercrombie, an action that has been taken in the past to protest the retailer's catalogs featuring nudity and sexual language. The company stirred up controversy last month when it introduced a new line of T-shirts depicting stereotypical images of Asians, prompting protests and boycotts from many in the Asian American community. The company immediately pulled the shirts from its store shelves, while embarrassed officials said they thought Asians would like the T-shirts. The thong underwear disappeared from Abercrombie's Web site recently, but company officials would not confirm that they were pulled due to complaints. A sales clerk at the downtown San Francisco store said the controversial thongs had never been sold at the store. An Abercrombie spokesman said today that the girl's clothing line targets ages 7 through 14 and that the thongs were made in sizes medium, large and extra large, but not small and extra small. Company officials would not comment about the boycott and issued a statement saying: "The underwear for young girls was created with the intent to be lighthearted and cute. Any misrepresentation of that is purely in the eye of the beholder." Bill Johnson, president of the 2-year-old American Decency Association, based in Michigan, called the thongs pornographic and said the company has sunk to new lows. "The size of the underapparel is really small enough for 7-year-olds to easily wear," Johnson said. "What (Abercrombie is) doing is sexualizing our youth and setting them up to view themselves as sexual objects or sexual toys." Johnson said his organization had hoped that Abercrombie was moving away from controversy by toning down its sexually suggestive catalogs. But when he saw the images of the girls' thongs, he launched another boycott. "We stand amazed," Johnson said. "They have great sensitivity about a racial discrimination issue but there have been thousands of people who have weighed in on what Abercrombie & Fitch is doing relative to marketing pornography, but they don't respond to those concerns." The American Family Association is also calling for a boycott of the company because of the thongs. Steven Addis, chief executive of the Addis Group, a Berkeley brand-strategy and design firm, said Abercrombie owes its success over the past several years largely to controversy over its clothing lines and catalogs. He said the thong controversy is the latest attempt to cash in. "It's really lower common denominator stuff when you have to resort to this kind of surreptitious type of product to get people in the store," Addis said. "Bringing this down to children's sizes is totally inappropriate." Despite his objections to the marketing attempt, Addis said the company will probably get what it wants out of the controversy. "Cherries on a thong -- that's just being naughty and trying to differentiate their brand around what's taboo and is going to get them exactly what they want," Addis said. "They're trying to sustain a campaign where they welcome the backlash. As kids are witnessing the backlash, they're going to run to the stores and empty the shelves."

Bugs, the problem isn't that that sexually suggestive styles are popular, it is that they are being sold for so young an age.

	24-05-2002 02:17									#92
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"It isn't underwear!! Jeez "

What is it then?

	24-05-2002 02:30									#93
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quote: Originally posted by Saint Marcus also, our papers here report that swimming clothes (bikinis, etc) will be the next trend for nightlife clothes to wear to clubs and bars.

Do our papers report that? Which papers?

Whilst awaiting your answer I'll ask my friends whether they intend to go out in bikinis and swimming shorts in the near future.

	24-05-2002 02:48									#94
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quote: Do our papers report that? Which papers?

Dutch papers

I'll look up a link

	24-05-2002 02:51									#95
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it was in the Metro, Spits and BN/De Stem. Those were the only papers I read that day though, can't say if it's in others too or not.

	24-05-2002 02:53									#96
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quote: Originally posted by Shi Huangdi Was sent this link on another forum. Bugs, the problem isn't that that sexually suggestive styles are popular, it is that they are being sold for so young an age.

Which part of "Providing she finishes her potty training first" is causing confusion?

What's more, I read earlier that "sexually suggestive" logos were being used. Does that mean "Kiss me"? or "Wink, wink"?

I strongly recommend going out more. Go on- rip those decency frills off your sinful table legs and start getting lives.

	24-05-2002 03:47									#97
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quote: Originally posted by Saint Marcus it was in the Metro, Spits and BN/De Stem. Those were the only papers I read that day though, can't say if it's in others too or not.

So they all reported about this "trend" on the same day? Can I presume there was a single source?

	24-05-2002 04:40									#98
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Is it even possible to sexualize 10 year-olds girls? I mean, only a pervert is going to find a 10 year-old girl's clothing or the contents contained within sexy anyway... =o

	24-05-2002 05:35									#99
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quote: Originally posted by RedFred Then he brightened and said "Oh, you mean your flip-flops" looking at my feet. So maybe that is the new term.

It's been the new term in Utah for about 25 years.

	24-05-2002 06:48									#100
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a thong is something you wear to a beach

	24-05-2002 08:38									#101
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quote: Originally posted by Bugs ****ing Bunny Which part of "Providing she finishes her potty training first" is causing confusion? What's more, I read earlier that "sexually suggestive" logos were being used. Does that mean "Kiss me"? or "Wink, wink"? I strongly recommend going out more. Go on- rip those decency frills off your sinful table legs and start getting lives.

Considering that they are putting "Kiss me" on the underwear, yes.

Your entire argument on this thread seems be based on a deep seated aversion to anything resembling traditional morality. I agree that Victorian social conventions such as covering table legs because it might make men think of Women's legs are absurd, but that it so far away from saying what Abercrombie hre doing is wrong. There has to be moderation, just because we aren't going to follow Victorian Social Conventions doesn't mean we should attack attempts to avoid "sexualization of prepubescent children" as Chegitz said like it's the devil.

	24-05-2002 15:55									#102
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quote: So they all reported about this "trend" on the same day?

Yes. It was a prediction of a trend, made by fashion designers I believe

quote: Can I presume there was a single source?

Yes, and the articles were just about the same.

	24-05-2002 15:56									#103
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There was also the same picture in all of them, of a asian girl wearing a bikini and cowboy hat.

	24-05-2002 16:59									#104
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Oh, yeah, I see, girls wear thongs with tight trousers because they don't want people to see their underware...

But then how come most of them tend to wear BLACK thongs with WHITE trousers?

	24-05-2002 21:27									#105
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quote: Originally posted by Shi Huangdi Considering that they are putting "Kiss me" on the underwear, yes. Your entire argument on this thread seems be based on a deep seated aversion to anything resembling traditional morality. I agree that Victorian social conventions such as covering table legs because it might make men think of Women's legs are absurd, but that it so far away from saying what Abercrombie hre doing is wrong. There has to be moderation, just because we aren't going to follow Victorian Social Conventions doesn't mean we should attack attempts to avoid "sexualization of prepubescent children" as Chegitz said like it's the devil.

Crap. My entire argument is based on the fact that it isn't "sexualising children" (clumsy phrase). The problem lies firmly with the beholders in this case- the young girls just think they're pretty and fashionable.

Like I said- if the sight of a few square inches of child's buttock causes people to feel sexually threatened or sickened, then I think they've got problems.

	24-05-2002 21:34									#106
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so you would fine nothing wrong with girls wearing lingerie

face it Bugs

guys associate certain clothes with sexuality (which makes sense, we are a visual species and clothes are the main way we modify our appearance)

and to have young girls wear those clothes is just going to make guys associate sexuality with young girls more than they are already

considering that young girls are already sexualized at to oyung of age, this is not going to help matters

we will get to the point (like we have in the past) when young girls will be considered open for sex

this will be bad for them because they will not be emotionally ready for them and so they will be preyed upon (even by those who do not have any preditory inclinations in mind)

Jon Miller

	24-05-2002 21:40									#107
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"Oh no! I can see a bit of her bottom! I must fiddle with her!"

Nope. I don't see anything wrong with girls wearing lingerie. I'd advise agaist wearing it outside or they'll freeze, however.

	24-05-2002 21:43									#108
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so you don't think guys associate clothes with sex at all

this is patently untrue

I am done talking to you

Jon Miller

	24-05-2002 21:46									#109
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Of course I do, you berk. I don't think any sane man associates children with an acceptable sexual target, however. What's more, anyone twisted enough to do so is already so screwed in the head that the latest fashion in underwear is going to make little odds to them.

Still done talking with me? Aw, don't go.....

	24-05-2002 21:50									#110
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If they do, that's their problem, and only becomes the wearer's problem if men are unable to contain themselves. There are no clothes that a 10 year-old girl can wear that will make me think about her sexually; but hey, I can't speak for you. If a 10 year-old girl showed people her pants with "kiss me" written on them, the only people who would find that attractive are those who already have a problem.

	24-05-2002 21:51									#111
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Well said, that twitching blue thing.

	24-05-2002 22:26									#112
	Tired of ads?

This is in some ways quite silly. I am sure that somewhere, at some point in history, young girls have worn what we would consider thongs under nothing but a grass skirt without anyone thinking of them being "sexualized".
A&F's inclusion of phrases like "wink, wink" and "eye candy" is idiotic and wrong, but I don't find the selling of thongs for ten year olds per se to be immoral.