Teh One Who Knocks
11-22-2011, 11:55 AM
Alexandra Smith and Bridie Jabour - The Sydney Morning Herald
http://i.imgur.com/40Q3v.jpg
The retail chain Kmart has been forced to withdraw a line of underwear for young girls that carries slogans such as "call me" and "I ♥ rich boys" after the store was accused of sexualising teenagers.
Kmart has confirmed that it will remove the underwear, which is part of its popular Girl Xpress range, after it was the target of a Twitter campaign led by outraged parents, who described the slogans as "disgusting" and "sleazy".
Melinda Tankard Reist, a spokeswoman for the group Collective Shout, which campaigns against the sexual exploitation of woman, said the slogans were "completely inappropriate" and Kmart should know better.
http://i.imgur.com/ywQ3v.jpg
"Why else would you put this sort of thing, such as 'call me' on underwear if you were not encouraging young women to flaunt their sexuality?" Ms Tankard Reist said.
"A company that wants to pride itself on being a family company should not want to be involved in this."
A spokeswoman for Kmart told Fairfax Media that it had received one complaint about the underwear.
"Due to the fact that it has been brought to our attention that there may be some concerns with the item, we have decided to remove it from our stores," the spokeswoman said.
She said Girl Xpress was aimed at the "female youth market" but did not define what age that market was.
The federal MP for Moreton, Graham Perrett, hit out at the retail giant for stocking the underwear after being sent photos of some of the pieces in the range.
"It sickens me," he said. "It makes me cry to see that sort of stuff out there in our stores. It sends the wrong message entirely."
http://i.imgur.com/40Q3v.jpg
The retail chain Kmart has been forced to withdraw a line of underwear for young girls that carries slogans such as "call me" and "I ♥ rich boys" after the store was accused of sexualising teenagers.
Kmart has confirmed that it will remove the underwear, which is part of its popular Girl Xpress range, after it was the target of a Twitter campaign led by outraged parents, who described the slogans as "disgusting" and "sleazy".
Melinda Tankard Reist, a spokeswoman for the group Collective Shout, which campaigns against the sexual exploitation of woman, said the slogans were "completely inappropriate" and Kmart should know better.
http://i.imgur.com/ywQ3v.jpg
"Why else would you put this sort of thing, such as 'call me' on underwear if you were not encouraging young women to flaunt their sexuality?" Ms Tankard Reist said.
"A company that wants to pride itself on being a family company should not want to be involved in this."
A spokeswoman for Kmart told Fairfax Media that it had received one complaint about the underwear.
"Due to the fact that it has been brought to our attention that there may be some concerns with the item, we have decided to remove it from our stores," the spokeswoman said.
She said Girl Xpress was aimed at the "female youth market" but did not define what age that market was.
The federal MP for Moreton, Graham Perrett, hit out at the retail giant for stocking the underwear after being sent photos of some of the pieces in the range.
"It sickens me," he said. "It makes me cry to see that sort of stuff out there in our stores. It sends the wrong message entirely."