Abercrombie and Fitch look for cool, good-looking people
According to press reports, the US-based store Abercrombie and Fitch is due to open in Union Square, Aberdeen next month and a poster outside their store states: “We are looking for cool and good-looking people to apply.”
A public attitude survey that we commissioned to launch our Face Equality campaign revealed that 9 out of 10 people implicitly find it difficult to associate attractiveness with disfigurement. Anecdotal evidence suggests that people with disfigurements continue to find it hard to find employment as a result of their appearance. “I was disappointed to not get the position but there was no way of proving that the scarring was the reason. I was well-qualified and had the right experience for the job.” For these reasons, we wonder whether Abercrombie and Fitch’s looks policy automatically excludes people with disfigurements.
Sally Rendall, Policy Adviser in Employment for Changing Faces says: “From our point of view, what is important is that the person can do the job. Using ‘looks’ as a selection criterion, or to attract potential candidates, puts Abercrombie and Fitch on shaky ground. Attractiveness must be irrelevant and is so subjective, that, if used as the basis for selection, it will be arbitrary.
Even if they do not intend to use looks as the main criterion in the interview process, the advert still risks alienating a large percentage of potential candidates, not to mention customers, who may find it off putting or morally questionable.”
Changing Faces know of lots of people with disfigurements who are attractive and cool but would Abercrombie and Fitch see them in this way, given that 9 out of 10 people implicitly find it difficult to associate attractiveness with disfigurement?
How inclusive or discriminatory is their definition of “good-looking?” That is the key question.
Do you have a disfigurement? What do you think? Would you apply for a job where they asked for good-looking people only?
Your Comments
If you are struggling to cope and you would like to speak to someone in confidence, please call 0845 4500 275 or email info@changingfaces.org.uk. Please note, we are not able to contact anyone after they have left a message on this board.
Jonathan, 35, London
How do we challenge A F to rethink what is cool and good-looking people, surely this would now be a great opportunity to go and see them, and discuss them becoming a partner of Changing Faces.
CB, Canberra, Australia
I find this very depressing, and very irresponsible on the part of the company. Certainly Abercrombie and Fitch's definition of cool and good looking wouldn't be everybody's, but it's not hard to guess what it would entail. Young people are impressionable and for the most part want to 'fit in'. Sophisticated advertising and marketing, with its multi-million pound reserve of funds, is creating associations in young people's minds about the supposed correlation between the bland, cookie-cutter airbrushed definition of beauty, and social and interpersonal success. Mature adults mostly know better and realise it's all about making money, but with young people's limited exposure to much else, these ideas may become fixed in their minds - leading to a situation where we have a critical mass of people in a few years' time who are even MORE discriminatory regarding people with disfigurements. What then?
Riam Dean, London
Whilst I am appalled by this recent advertisement, I am not altogether surprised, given the fact it is not unlawful, thus allowing A&F room to flourish despite obvious discriminatory practices. It is often hard to escape our image-conscious world and companies like A&F are a constant reminder of how those of us who are “different” are less desirable; regardless of our abilities, we simply wouldn’t make the cut. When bombarded with images of perfection, one cannot help fearing the negative messages this sends to their highly influential youth following who are told they are not only buying into a brand, but an aesthetic lifestyle. History has taught us that humans who are young, blessed with clear skin, regular features and a well proportioned body have traditionally been considered to be most beautiful. And given the dictionary definition states “perfection of form and colour” where does that leave those of us who fall short of this cookie-cutter mould? The phrase ‘at an obvious disadvantage’ is an understatement and one that begs the question “why are such advertisements deemed acceptable and tolerated in our society?”
