Sexism and Slacks

[marcmagus]

It seems Levi Strauss & Co. no longer wants my business. This is really frustrating, as for at least a decade I relied on them as making decent, affordable garments for my lower body which fit me well without a lot of hassle. Now, not only is this no longer true, but they've decided they can't advertise effectively without being ludicrously insulting to vast swaths of the population.

rm points me to their ad campaign for their Dockers trousers, which made me angry enough I sent them the following note at their contact page:

I am completely appalled by your "MAN-IFESTO". Disappointed, that you are making it more difficult for me to buy your products. Angry, that you thought it was a good idea to insult me and my friends with this gender-essentialist, anti-feminine, man-hating tripe.

I have been wearing both Dockers and Levi's jeans for almost fifteen years now. I'm a repeat customer, and I'm a man. It's coming time to do some replacing, and, as I refuse to support this terrible message with my hard-earned money, I fear I will have to shop around with your competitors. Hopefully there's someone who makes a decent men's trouser and doesn't feel the need to sell it with personal attacks against me and the people I love. You are clearly not that company.

Sincerely,

Marc, an ex-satisfied customer

On top of that, as I think I mentioned a few months ago in this journal, I've discovered they no longer make their garments true to fit [if they ever did]. They also seem no longer to make a jean with the fit I like [even if it were my size, which they don't make]. Anybody have any suggestions for non-evil brands to try for either slacks or jeans?

Comments

[mosephine]

wow... that's actually horrific.

[wealhtheow]

Wow. Thank you for having so much strength in your convictions!

[marcmagus]

Meh, it's easy to put my money where my mouth is when I don't have much money to spend on clothes and am already annoyed with the company because they decided to replace the products I liked with crap without changing the label [with labels that suggest continuity of style/size]. Let's see how I do when it requires I actually put myself to more effort than writing and angry letter and posting about it on my blog.

That's to recognize that I could be doing better. This is still one small candle.

Thank you, I really appreciate your supportive comment.

[soulchanger]

I'd suggest staying away from American Apparel, too...

[marcmagus]

Mind elaborating? I'm definitely not up on which major manufacturers suck for which reasons.

[soulchanger]

Their founder has been sued at least five times for sexual harassment, and their ads have been criticized based on their resemblance to child pornography:

http://rageagainstthemanchine.com/2008/07/30/i-hate-sweatshops-now-which-one-of-you-wants-to-suck-my-dick/

[marcmagus]

Dammit, the complaints about their style make it sound like they might actually make things that fit me, too.

[jere7my.livejournal.com]

To make this less one-sided:

Most of the suits came from the same lawyer, whom the company has accused of trying to make a quick buck at their expense. In one case the plaintiff confessed she hadn't been harassed, and then failed to show up for the settlement hearing. So there have been a lot of accusations, but nothing's been proven, and we don't have many facts.

As for the ads, everybody in them is of legal age, or is being photographed with parental consent. The complaints about them strike me as a lot of foofaraw over something that wouldn't get two glances in Europe, because Americans can't deal with nekkid people.

For the record, I don't wear their clothes, and don't care whether anyone else shops there. But I'm opposed to internet-lynch-mobs-without-proof (of which there seem to be a new handful every week), and anti-anti-sex, and this happens to be the intersection of the two.

That is all.

[marcmagus]

I spent a bunch of time yesterday reading up on this, particularly at Knowmore. In response to your comment I've done a bit more research, and was able to track down your assertion that one plaintiff confessed she hadn't been harassed.

Most of the complaints about the ads seem to be based around the idea that they "look like children". In the sense that our fetishization of youth in general and female youth in particular is problematic, said people have a strong point. The use of the ludicrously loaded "child pornography" is way over the top, though; I'd say the women look representative of any college campus, and a range of women I know throughout their twenties.

The sexual harrassment stuff still gets thorny; there's plenty which could easily create an environment in which employees might reasonably believe their job security or advancement is affected by their willingness to engage in sexual activity with the CEO.

This quote from Charney (just scroll down to the update; the point is he said it) regarding domestic abuse gets a distinct WTF and would make me consider writing a letter.

I find this whole thing rather troubling, but I'm coming more to a conclusion of "not as not-evil as they [used to] claim" than "evil". Meh.

[touchytranny.com]

Bravo. I think I may have to follow your lead. Sadly, I don't have the cred of saying that I have been a repeat customer -- I haven't been able to wear Levi's since 2002. But now, now I am also angry.

[touchytranny.com]

although, on the other hand, I feel like I *ought* to support Levi's since they're one of the only major brands I've seen with a commercial specifically made for the LOGO network, and partially out of a "I'm not with these people!" anti-reaction to the "Go Forth" ad campaign, which has gotten complaints for including an interracial kiss.

So. Argh.
Which campaign are they pushing harder? I haven't seen the MAN-IFESTO anywhere except from you pointing me at it.

[marcmagus]

I kind of have mixed feelings about the "Go Forth" campaign too, actually. When I saw the first one "Oh, Pioneers", it struck me as very male-centric, pro-colonialism, and, well, white. The newer one, with the interracial kiss, OTOH, is a lot better, and I almost wondered if it was an apoogy for the first one.

The MAN-IFESTO I also haven't seen outside their website; it strikes me as the sort of ad that's more likely to be on a billboard [I don't get out much] or in a magazine ad [I don't read those much]. Generally not on television, which is pretty much the only place I consume much advertising.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to send them an email thanking them for their LOGO ad and expressing support for their interracial kiss, but expressing concern regarding the MAN-IFESTO and asking them to do more like the former and less like the latter so you can, in good conscience, express your appreciation by purchasing their products?

Oddly, I haven't received a reply from them yet, although a number of other people report they heard back yesterday.