Flicking through an Urban Outfitters catalogue and seeing a
picture of two young women kissing wouldn't be considered a problem
by most unless, that is, you are a member of the anti-gay group One
Million Moms, who have told parents to boycott the store.
The angry mums posted a Facebook message telling their fans (if
they've got any left) that they believed the poster of the two
women kissing, shouldn't be looked at by teenagers because "The
content is offensive and inappropriate for a teen - the company's
target customer." The group also advised parents to unsubscribe
from the catalogues mailing list and throw it away.
In truth, it's unlikely that the members of One Million Moms will
get away with censoring images that their sons and daughters have
access to. The fashion industry is becoming increasingly saturated
with images of women flirting with the idea of being lesbian and
this reflects the cultural zeitgeist. Urban Outfitters is not the
first store to show two women flirting with each other. French
Connection, Versace, H&M have all used female models in their
adverts to add an 'edgy' quality of female sexuality to their
brands. Adverts are supposed to do two things: sell clothes and get
a brand talked about. This kind of image does exactly that.
But fashion is a fickle game. In the past, Urban Outfitters have
been criticised in their involvement with anti-gay charities.
Richard Hayne, the president of the company has been known to
donate money to US Republican senator Rick Santorum who is against
same sex parenting and, er, same sex sex. Go figure.
