Uh Oh Abercrombie!

Before I begin I will share that I’m a little nervous about this next blog. I have tried to not get political or current event sensitive on this blog. Not because I don’t have an opinion on things. Those who know me know that I have MANY opinions and I often share them even when they are unsolicited. This next topic just caught my attention and I can’t seem to get it out of my head.

So as I’m getting ready for work Monday morning I’m listening to The Today Show and they are teasing a story about Abercrombie & Fitch selling a push up bikini top for 7 year olds and parents were outraged. Of course I had to leave for work before the story aired but I thought about it on my drive to work. I thought at first it was kind of silly. Really? A push up bikini for little girls? Yep, silly! I mentally giggled and thought “what the heck are they pushing up?” The fact that parents and parent groups were in an uproar wasn’t surprising. Of course they are. It’s not the first time Abercrombie has ticked off parents and it more than likely won’t be the last.

As I thought more about it I got a bit curious about the actual story. I wanted to understand this controversy. In pure Jami fashion I Googled “Abercrombie girls bikini” and up popped several articles/videos about the current topic. I read a couple of articles and started to understand why so many people are upset about this particular piece of clothing. The main argument seems to be is that retailer and society in general is trying to force our daughters to grow up faster than they should. This bikini top sexualizes 7-8 year olds. Well, when you put it that way I get a bit outraged, too. I have a fifteen year old daughter. I also have friends with younger daughters and it makes me cringe to think of any of them being made into sex objects. Ick.

Once I got over that icky feeling I started to really think about another argument in this debate. Who’s responsiblity/fault is all of this? Sure we can blame retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch who made the really poor choice of actually advertising this bikini top originally as a “push up” bikini. (It has since been changed to “striped”). I would love to blame retailers for the super short shorts that are sold almost exclusively in the Juniors section at places like JCPenny, Kohl’s and Target that my daughter cannot really wear because they are too short for either of us and because she has long legs that only exacerbates the shortness. Not to mention other fashions that seem a bit “adult” for my teenager. They sell this stuff so it must be their fault our young girls are feeling the need to grow up too fast, right?

Or maybe it’s not the retailers at all (or completely)…maybe, just maybe, as parents we are to blame. Aren’t we the ones who still hold the actual purchasing power? I don’t know any seven-year olds who have enough money to independently buy a bikini from Abercrombie & Fitch or any other retailer. Do we as parents not have the power/ability to say “no?” I’m not even advocating having that “why do you think you need a push up bikini top at the age of seven” conversation. While that would be a great discussion to have if the instance arose, shouldn’t the end result still be NO? No, you do not need to have a push up bikini. No, you do not need to wear shorts where your bottom hangs out. No, that shirt is attempting to show off cleavage you don’t even have yet.

The truth is,  we do not have to buy this stuff. Not one parent actually is being forced to purchase the bikini in question. If your seven-year old is forcing you to buy it then I hate to tell you but there are much bigger issues you need to address (like who is the parent?) Here is the thing about retail in general: If a product does not move off the shelves, if it stays there to fester and eventually be marked down to 80% or whatever you can bet that it will not be on the shelves next year. Retailers only stock what the public will buy. I worked for a small, independent dance store in my early 20’s. If a leotard or shoe didn’t sell I can guarantee you that the owners would not order that item again. Companies do not like to lose money. Once that item is marked below 50% off than the company is likely taking a loss.

There is one more thing that always gets me in these public outrage stories. The public contempt at Abercrombie & Fitch over this swimsuit has just earned it wide-spread and very free advertising. Whenever a group speaks out against a retailer for this kind of thing that retailer’s name is splashed all over the news. I can honestly say I do not shop at Abercrombie. My daughter thinks that the stores (along with its sister company Hollister) smell bad, literally. She gets migraines from walking through them with her friends. So I have been spared their outrageous prices. But in doing a little research for this blog I actually went to their website twice. And I’m betting that I’m not the only one who went to the website to get a peek at the offending bikini top (which, by the way, I couldn’t identify because of the name change). In this blog alone I have written their name at least six times. All the major news stations have run this story. Their name is out there more this week than it was last week and I’m sure they aren’t losing any sleep about it.

I guess my point in all of this is that we, as parents, hold the ultimate responsibility in how are children grow up. Yes, there is always outside pressure from magazines, television, peers and the like but we still hold the ability and power to just say no especially when they are young. We are the ones who are supposed to teach them that they do not need to grow up too fast and that their bodies are perfect just the way they are. If we let retailers and pop culture decide what our kids should wear and guide them in their life choices than our kids are in big trouble.