pimped by Abercrombie & Fitch

[nicedream]

just wanted to share this article:

http://www.hardboiled.org/5.5/55-08-af.html
pimped by Abercrombie & Fitch:

How the whiter-than-thou clothing giant is selling Asian self-hate and shame



<!--EDIT|nicedream|Oct 19 2002, 07:49 PM-->

[angel nympho]

As you might have figured out, in an age where there is no such thing as bad publicity, Abercrombie hit a gold mine. The kind of publicity they received was so priceless they might as well have paid for the production of the t-shirts with a MasterCard. Email messages are flying right and left, newspaper articles are being written, local and cable TV news crews are broadcasting the story, and protesters are attracting attention toward the stores they picket. It’s millions worth in publicity, all for the cost of a few measly T-shirts.

and WHO gave them that publicity...?

[loserbutt]

lol if I actually could stand being in a mall and being in an A&F store, sorry to say, I might have bought one of those.

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by loserbutt@Oct 19 2002, 09:30 PM
lol if I actually could stand being in a mall and being in an A&F store, sorry to say, I might have bought one of those.
I saw em in a store before they got pulled and thought they were cute. If I'd known they weren't going to be available longer than a few days, I would have bought one then.

[purezero]

My friend actually has two of the A&F Wong Bros. shirts. The thing is, his last name is Wong, and he has a brother. As offensive as some people thought about these shirts, I think they're okay. They're not as bad as some other things. I guess it's really because of who is behind it. I know of this company in Vancouver, I think, that is run by Asians. They made a shirt that said "Chink" on it to kind of poke fun at how most people think of Chinese people whenever they think of Asian. They're argument was that they're trying to make the word so overused that it doesn't hold so much of it's offense anymore, kind of like how African-Americans use "nigga."

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. :blush:



<!--EDIT|ti12amisu|Oct 19 2002, 10:44 PM-->

[nicedream]

I find them offensive and despise A&F for producing them. Maybe I am being too sensitive? Maybe it was all of the childhood teasing that has made me this way.

Maybe it would be better if Asians were depicted with much more diversity in the media and once in awhile, if Asians were the butt of jokes it wouldn't be too bad. But to me, all I see are jokes. From the movie Rush Hour 2 to these t-shirts. They all remind me of the teasing and harassment of my youth. Oh well.

[kimpossible]

There are a few old threads about this in the Rant Room forum. Look back about 5-7 pages. Or use the search function I guess. That was a big ol' knockdown drag-out discussion.

It got pretty nasty and it kind of got put to bed a while ago, so I would advise not dragging it back out again. But it should be what you're looking for.

[nicedream]

sorry. before i started this thread, i did do a search on "Abercrombie" which returned nothing. story of my life.

[kimpossible]

Originally posted by nicedream@Oct 19 2002, 07:38 PM
sorry. before i started this thread, i did do a search on "Abercrombie" which returned nothing. story of my life.
You're too hard on yourself. :) If you want the A&F thread, use the Personal Messenger function and I'll send you the link.

[purezero]

Originally posted by nicedream@Oct 20 2002, 03:14 AM
I find them offensive and despise A&F for producing them. Maybe I am being too sensitive? Maybe it was all of the childhood teasing that has made me this way.

Maybe it would be better if Asians were depicted with much more diversity in the media and once in awhile, if Asians were the butt of jokes it wouldn't be too bad. But to me, all I see are jokes. From the movie Rush Hour 2 to these t-shirts. They all remind me of the teasing and harassment of my youth. Oh well.
I guess that it is a whole different story if you were treated differently in the past. And also where you're from as well. I'm sure that there are different tolerance levels in different places. And I do get a little queasy stepping into an A&F store sometimes.

I would like to see more diversity in the media as well. The jokes aren't funny anymore (if they ever were). And the "damsel in distress" Asian girl or the "exotic" one needs a modification.

[angel nympho]

I don't mind the jokes so much. There's racist jokes out there for just about every race on earth. I mind when people believe them. And when they let those beliefs stand in between treating people fairly.



<!--EDIT|angel nympho|Oct 20 2002, 10:52 AM-->

[purezero]

Originally posted by angel nympho@Oct 20 2002, 10:52 AM
I don't mind the jokes so much. There's racist jokes out there for just about every race on earth. I mind when people believe them. And when they let those beliefs stand in between treating people fairly.
True, true.

So what would other people think of Asians if they wore those shirts with jokes on them?

[kasia]

Perhaps the city/state in which you reside all makes a difference on your reaction to these shirts. There are many places where Asians are the clear minority and are, to this day, face racism on a daily basis.

These stereotypes may seem insignificant until you look at the real effects they have. If, for example, something like 9/11 takes place and an Asian country is named as the enemy, these continuing stereotypes will make it easy for us to be labeled as "the other" and violence will ensue.

Also, the glass ceiling for Asians is still very real. That is, many Asians, especially in the tech field, may not have trouble getting hired but will trouble getting promoted to managerial positions. This is the case even if they are completely qualified for the positions. This is the result of the constant stereotype that Asians are geeky, foreigners (and therefore unable to speak English properly), and so on.

[purezero]

I know this is a little off topic, but like the whole 9/11 thing, when the Japanese were sent to those internment camps, as cruel is it is, would it have sheltered them from society, from the violence? I know that there were posters being hung up during that time to "help" people differentiate a Chinese from a Japanese person.

[kasia]

Originally posted by ti12amisu@Oct 20 2002, 06:51 PM
I know this is a little off topic, but like the whole 9/11 thing, when the Japanese were sent to those internment camps, as cruel is it is, would it have sheltered them from society, from the violence? I know that there were posters being hung up during that time to "help" people differentiate a Chinese from a Japanese person.
i've heard this theory before...but isn't there something weird about putting innocent victims in prison? would it be appropriate for us now to place muslims and south asians in a camp to protect them from hate crimes?

[Green_Circle]

Originally posted by ti12amisu@Oct 20 2002, 06:51 PM
I know this is a little off topic, but like the whole 9/11 thing, when the Japanese were sent to those internment camps, as cruel is it is, would it have sheltered them from society, from the violence? I know that there were posters being hung up during that time to "help" people differentiate a Chinese from a Japanese person.
:ph34r:

That's a very interesting point. The US govt claimed it was for their own good and to keep them from harm. Perhaps the Chinese used the signs to keep them from being clocked or worse.

[kimpossible]

Originally posted by ti12amisu@Oct 20 2002, 10:51 AM
when the Japanese were sent to those internment camps, as cruel is it is, would it have sheltered them from society, from the violence?
Losing your home, dignity and freedom to be shuttled around in cattle cars? Americans of German and Italian heritage seemed to deal with that same society just fine.

[purezero]

Just trying to see it from a different perspective. I have friends who have gone through those camps. But even now, hearing that there are Asians being murdered, whether because of their background or being mistaken for another, is really sad. I'm sure that I wouldn't like to be put into a camp type, in cattle cars and stuff, but to me, violence doesn't justify anything.

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by ti12amisu@Oct 20 2002, 06:17 PM
Originally posted by angel nympho@Oct 20 2002, 10:52 AM
I don't mind the jokes so much. &nbsp;There's racist jokes out there for just about every race on earth. &nbsp;I mind when people believe them. &nbsp;And when they let those beliefs stand in between treating people fairly.
True, true.

So what would other people think of Asians if they wore those shirts with jokes on them?
I probably wouldn't care. Like I said, jokes and things of that sort don't seem to bother me as much as they do others.

[himura-dono]

Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Oct 20 2002, 03:23 AM


It got pretty nasty and it kind of got put to bed a while ago, so I would advise not dragging it back out again. But it should be what you're looking for.
i bet. here at davis we had people actively campaigning against it. i had no idea what was going on, never saw the shirts and joined cause i hated a&f. whenever i heard the name i always remembered my friends lil sis' favorite song by those lfo rejects. the one where it's all, "...chinese food makes me sick..." in some cutesy-ass lamer song. x_X

after having seen them (previously) i thought the laundry service one was ok, but the others were kinda over the edge. i had originally been told that it said "two wongs can't make a white" and i thought that was F$%#ed, but it showed that some people didn't even know what they were talking about, but then again, neither did i.

[angel nympho]

Originally posted by himura-dono@Oct 22 2002, 02:42 AM
Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Oct 20 2002, 03:23 AM


It got pretty nasty and it kind of got put to bed a while ago, so I would advise not dragging it back out again. But it should be what you're looking for.
i bet. here at davis we had people actively campaigning against it. i had no idea what was going on, never saw the shirts and joined cause i hated a&f. whenever i heard the name i always remembered my friends lil sis' favorite song by those lfo rejects. the one where it's all, "...chinese food makes me sick..." in some cutesy-ass lamer song. x_X

after having seen them (previously) i thought the laundry service one was ok, but the others were kinda over the edge. i had originally been told that it said "two wongs can't make a white" and i thought that was F$%#ed, but it showed that some people didn't even know what they were talking about, but then again, neither did i.
I believe it said "two wongs can make it white." Was just a stupid pun about dry cleaning... *Rolls eyes*

[kitty]

Originally posted by angel nympho@Oct 22 2002, 08:51 AM
I believe it said "two wongs can make it white." Was just a stupid pun about dry cleaning... *Rolls eyes*
Not to dredge up old arguments, but I thought it was really offensive, because it puts Asians back in the position of servitude for whites.

Asians were dry cleaning because they couldn't get better jobs, because of discrimination against them ... I don't think it's very funny now.

[angel nympho]

^-- I don't really care too much about it, however, because they're basically making a joke. Like when people joke about Irish people drinking too much... Jewish people being stingy... And I don't even think it was to the extent of making fun of us with a direct comment about our race. It was more... I don't know. Nevermind. I know everybody thought it was offensive, but the first time I saw it, I laughed without thinking.

Now if they had said something racist that WASN'T up for interpretation, I would be pissed.