Editorial: On respect and retailing

Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005 | 8:51 a.m.

Imbuing teenage girls with a sense of civic responsibility is the object of a program becoming popular in many cities. It involves area foundations contributing a sum of money and then having a group of selected girls decide how to give it away.

The girls are asked to solicit proposals from other teenagers about projects that would help the youth in the community. They then study the proposals, decide which ones to fund, and then decide how much funding each will receive. One such group in the Pittsburgh area, the "Allegheny Girls as Grantmakers," is making national news with their heightened sense of public affairs.

This group of girls is taking on one of the biggest and most well-known chain stores in the country, Abercrombie & Fitch. Founded as a camping and hunting store in Manhattan in 1892, Abercrombie & Fitch now has 363 stores under its own name and another 429 stores under three other brand names. The chain targets youths between 18 and 22, and offers clothing and accoutrements that convey an upscale, independent lifestyle.

The approximately two dozen members of Allegheny Girls as Grantmakers are promoting a "girlcott" against the chain because it is now selling T-shirts with messages printed across the front that are demeaning to young women. For example, one T-shirt reads, "Who needs brains when you have these?"

The girls' efforts to bring taste and decorum back to retailing have gained attention from the national media. They are also e-mailing their friends, and asking them to forward the e-mails to others. "We've gotten a lot of responses from girls across the country, asking how they can get involved starting things in their schools and in their cities," one of the Grantmakers girls, Emma Blackman-Mathis, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

We were glad to hear of this growing campaign. For too long now manufacturers and retailers have gotten away with selling irresponsible items, including extremely violent video games in which young players can simulate murder, mutilation, sexual abuse and other depravity.

In the past, merchandisers had a greater sense of community and never dreamed of selling inappropriate material, even if it was legal. Such restraint is rare in this day when huge profits are valued over the impressionable youths of our communities. It is refreshing to see young people organizing over this issue and taking a stand.

All we can say is: You go, girls!