Just About Time

Because I have been stricken with some kind of stomach bug, posting will be light.

Back to business: The manager of an Abercrombie & Fitch in Virginia Beach was cited by police for violating local laws by having large, mural-like photos including one of young men with the upper portions of their bottoms hanging out of their pants.

Compared to other A&F materials I've seen, the one picture attached to the linked story seems pretty tame. Here's the current photo gallery. It, too, is pretty tame relative to some of what A&F has done in the past.

Good for the police for citing the store -- and good for the customers who complained. As I argue in Prude, if people want to look at pictures of young men's rears in the privacy of their own home, fine. But young people should be able to shop for clothes (even those as revealing as much of what's purveyed at A&F) without having to look at that kind of stuff.

But change will not come until people like the customers actually muster the courage and take the time to make their opposition to this sort of thing known. Kudos to them -- and, by the way, to the British lady who first pointed out the utter inappropriateness of marketing a "Lolita bed" to girls as young as six.