Buttcrack: The End Of Civilization As We Know It
Steve Stone writes for The Virginian-Pilot of wee furor at Abercrombie this weekend:
Police, saying they were responding to citizen complaints, carted away two large promotional photographs from the Abercrombie & Fitch store in Lynnhaven Mall on Saturday and cited the manager on obscenity charges.Adam Bernstein, a police spokesman, said the seizure and the issuance of the summons came only after store management had not heeded warnings to remove the images.
The citation was issued under City Code Section 22.31, Bernstein said, which makes it a crime to display "obscene materials in a business that is open to juveniles." He did not say what was being done with the pictures and when the manager, whose name was not released, is scheduled to appear in court.
The manager, reached by telephone, declined to comment on the incident Saturday, saying that he was conferring with and waiting for guidance from Abercrombie corporate officials.
The mural-like black-and-white photographs were taken from the store at midafternoon.
Bernstein confirmed that one depicts three shirtless young men from the back, walking through a field. The man in the lead appears to be about to pull up his jeans, which have slipped down enough to reveal his upper buttocks.
The same image is displayed on the Abercrombie Web site.
The other image is of a woman who is topless and whose "breast is displayed with her hand covering just the nipple portion," Bernstein said. "You could still pretty much see the rest of the breast."
The seizure was "prompted by several customer complaints, and the management of Abercrombie & Fitch was notified of those complaints," Bernstein said.
I'm guessing they're responding with glee right now about all the free P.R. Oh yeah, and bail, for the poor store manager.
You know, they have huge naked tits displayed all over France, and the only part of their society that's really going down the tubes is the portion of it where the women are forced to cover up in niqabs and burkhas.
If the A&F catalog isn't a shining example of what's wrong with America today, I don't know what is. Marketing gay boys to straight girls so straight boys will act gay to meet the newly-manipulated desires of those girls is diabolical -- and brilliant.
Or am I reading too much into this?
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at February 4, 2008 9:01 AM
Y'know, I'd rather see these boys' butt cracks that be subejected to the butt cracks of the overweight, hairy, contruction workers at the job site across the street from where I work!
Flynne at February 4, 2008 9:17 AM
Exactly, Flynne! And can we press charges against all those plumbers too?
kg at February 4, 2008 10:37 AM
Give me a freaking break.... Why is full although somewhat low-riding pants bad on a boy but a tiny V of butt-floss material okay on a girl? Seriously, that's nothing worse than what you see on magazine covers.
Bad Kitty at February 4, 2008 10:42 AM
kg - didn't some city do precisely that?
brian at February 4, 2008 10:43 AM
Just going into the A&F store gets me immensely horny-the pictures, the ambiance, the perfume, the hot guys-I usually have to leave after about 5 minutes..
Chrissy at February 4, 2008 12:09 PM
Did they? It's amazing to me that valuable time and taxpayer money is wasted on issues such as this. Our little, South-Georgian town just passed a city ordinance about sagging pants. As if all the grown adults in the town have a problem with wearing pants strapped below their knees. It's a problem with adolescents, the same problem adults have had throughout history with the dress patterns of kids. Same problem, different mode of expression. I can't believe adults put that much seriousness into it. Maybe the plumbers in that area should refuse service. That'd be funny. All in the name of crack!
kg at February 4, 2008 12:17 PM
Y'know, I'd rather see these boys' butt cracks that be subejected to the butt cracks of the overweight, hairy, contruction workers at the job site across the street from where I work!
Hey! I resemble, er I mean resent that!
The unfortunate reality is, that if one is wearing a tool belt, it generally drags at the pants, not much to be done for it, unless one wears bib-overalls. I rather wish more guys would, they are certainly handy enough with all the pockets, but some folks make fun of those of us who wear bibs, so it really doesn't catch on.
kg -
It'll be interesting to see if that one passes muster. I believe that there was a similar ordinance that just got knocked down by the court (I don't for the life of me remember where, sorry).
DuWayne at February 4, 2008 3:51 PM
if NOW was really concerned with "eliminating the patriarchy", they'd be just as uproarious over this picture as the ones they do get upset about.
i hate a&f because of their advertisements personally and don't go in their stores, ever, but that's beside the point. sort of.
kt at February 4, 2008 8:06 PM
Umm, Chrissy, where do you shop? (heh)
Radwaste at February 5, 2008 2:36 AM
In Canada, past the end of the world, which I think is Buffalo.
Chrissy at February 7, 2008 8:15 AM
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