American Apparel are erasing nipples from their models
March 21, 2015 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
Is this a misinterpretation of the ‘Free the Nipple’ campaign or are American Apparel losing the plot? In what seems like a very odd attempt at trying to de-sexualise their brand, the marketing team has decided that nipples are more of a blemish than a fixed part of the human anatomy, choosing to airbrush them away completely.
For a brand that markets itself as being progressive, with their attitudes against the sweatshop industry and their regular campaigning for immigration reform and LGBQT rights, this move is a strangely regressive choice to make in their representation of the female form. Considering the company likes playing the ‘empowering women to be sexual’ card to defend their past blatantly objectifying ad campaigns, their recent endeavour to steer away from their racy reputation adds a layer of shame to how women should feel about their bodies; not only do nipples not make the cut, but pubic hair has been shaved off with it.
Since American Apparel’s takeover by lawsuit-free Paula Schneider, the new CEO is aiming to make the brand ‘relevant to millennials’ without relying on ‘pornographic’ marketing tactics as has been done in the past. However, by removing the very visible nips of the models of AA’s sheer lingerie collection, it implies various negative connotations about women that pretty much says that our bodies are the problem.
The impossible beauty standards that the brand have attempted (emphasis on ‘attempted’) to stray from in the past, including their use of ethnically diverse models, women of different sizes and ages, trans women, and women who choose to remain au naturale downstairs, have now been backpedalled to fit in with a more mainstream aesthetic. The calls to stop using gratuitous advertising tactics seem to have been misunderstood to the degree that they’re ok with very underage-looking models posing in thongs, yet a female adult’s nipples through a sheer bra is a no go. An adult woman’s body is deemed more indecent than the sexualisation of children.
Their decision to photoshop away pubic hair and any semblance of a vulva is a contradictory one as well, seeing as they repped the merkins on their mannequins with such audacity last year. The choice to erase the models’ nether regions altogether rather than just change their provocative poses raises concerns about how AA will tackle their over-sexualisation problem. Backstepping from the global movement toward gender equality by putting a taboo on natural female bodily appendages won’t reduce sexualisation so much as contribute to censorship.
The models now resemble more Barbie than human; let’s just hope they leave the belly button intact.
New and old ads below for comparison (NSFW):
