What Abercrombie & Fitch Should Be Teaching Us About America

There’s been a bit of a fabricated buzz in the news about Abercrombie & Fitch that has been going on for a while, and I thought I’d chime in, because, hey, if there is anything I am an expert on it is hip (is that word cool again? – Sorry, still cannot bring myself to use the word “sick” because frankly, I am too old to use that word) fashion for teens, young adults, college kids, older people trying to look younger, etc.

First off, let me say that the biggest and only role Abercrombie has played in my life is the raised eyebrow I gave to how close and friendly the dudes in their ads and those huge pictures at the entrance to their stores always seemed and how hard I laughed when Saturday Night Live finally made fun of them for those ads and pictures. I have never stepped foot in one of their stores (frankly, they are too loud and smelly), would never invest in the company (unless it was in a fund, of course), and honestly would never want to do work for them, but I am here today to do something that you might not have thought I would do…defend them…defend their right as Americans and an American business to sell whatever they want, market to whoever they want, not sell whatever they want, not market to whoever they want, and to be as biased and condescending as they want to be.

Get to 315 pounds and then go out and try to find clothes, worse yet, clothes at a reasonable, non-full-retail price. It is not easy in the least bit! Now that I am back down to about 260, it’s still not that easy, but trust me, it’s getting easier as I get smaller. But, where does it say that I have a right to find what I want in my size, and it is up to society, the government, activists, and whiners to force businesses out there to manufacture and sell the clothes that I want in my size? I believe it does not say that anywhere, nor should it.

We have a wonderful free-market system that allows you, the consumer, to buy what you want, and the businesses that you buy from to sell what they want as long as it meets certain safety standards, and I personally think that is a great system. If Abercrombie doesn’t sell clothes in my size, then hey, they don’t get my money. If Abercrombie wants to come out and say they don’t want fat or unattractive skinny people in their stores, then they have a right to say it, just as you have a right as a fatty or unattractive skinny person, or any person for that matter, to not spend money in their stores if you don’t like what they are saying. You also have a right, like I am exercising here, to open your mouth and get the word out about what you think of it so others can get on board and be aware of how a company like Abercrombie actually thinks and the values that the company represents.

Does Abercrombie have a right to sell only sizes “God, you look like a skeleton, please eat something” on up through “Holy crap, you’re a size 10 and the size of a house so you should never eat again”? Yes, they do. Does Abercrombie have a right to say that they only want certain types of people in their stores? Here in America, I honestly think they do, and should have that right. Do they have a right to sell shirts that say, “Blondes are adored, brunettes are ignored” or “Do I make you look fat?” They sure do, and they should. Do I have a right as fat and someone who prefers brunettes to never shop there, and ask other people to never shop there? I sure do, just like I still have a right to tell everyone in the world to never buy anything from Jennifer Convertibles because they hosed me on some tables I bought one time.

Do I have a right to loop Abercrombie in together with a guy that is selling t-shirts that say, “Hitler is Great!”? I sure do. If you’re concerned enough that you want to stand outside an Abercrombie store and hand people walking in a copy of a news story or transcript from the CEO’s interview in which he said, “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely,” should you be able to do so? Absolutely, you should be able to – just remember to bring a filter mask for that horrible cologne-y smell and some earplugs if you don’t like club music! Does their CEO have a right to say what he said in that interview and steer the business in that direction? Here in America, he does, and he should.

Now, I know where you are going, loyal reader…You are about to quote Helen Lovejoy and say, “Think of the children! Won't somebody please think of the children?!” I think this Abercrombie story and the company’s stance is, in fact, a great lesson for your children. It is a lesson in the rights of individual liberties, diversity, economics, morality and the free market system.

We should be using this story to teach children that when you grow up, life is not necessarily going to be fair. Not everyone wins, not everyone gets a trophy, and not everyone gets to wear #1 on their jersey – only one guy on the team gets that number. It is a lesson that some people are skinny, some people are fat, some people are tall, some people are short, some people are considered to be gorgeous and some people are considered to be far-from-gorgeous, but that all of these judgments can either affect their lives, or not affect their lives.

It is a great lesson that some people are kind and considerate to everyone, and other people are frankly, just self-centered asses. It is a lesson in being responsible for your own life and not forcing people to live your way, or feeling that you have to be responsible for and control the lives of others. It is a lesson in the fact that we as consumers have the power to use our dollars as we see fit, and we as Americans have the right to free speech, no matter how hate-filled or stupid, or benevolent and intelligent the things we might say turn out to be. But most of all, it is a lesson in the ideas that America was founded upon, and the rights that we as Americans are assured by the greatest combination of liberty, democracy and capitalism that the world has ever seen.

So, shop at Abercrombie if you’re small enough to fit into their clothes and don’t mind their philosophy and values. You won’t get any flak from me for doing so. Hey, more power to you. But, when you’re wearing one of their shirts and the uglies, the fatties, the non-trendies, the un-cool moms, the un-cool dads, the old-folks, and the like, are snickering at you, don’t get mad at them. They have just as much of a right to protest against Abercrombie as you do to shop there.