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Monday, August 8, 2011

We now interrupt this fashion blog...

With depressing news for anyone who likes fashion & enjoys shopping. You probably already knew that most of the clothes we buy in the major retail outlets of America, Canada, the U.K., & Europe are manufactured in questionable labor conditions in Asia, South America, & other countries typically called the third world. It sucks, & there are precious few brands / labels / retailers who can honestly claim that 100% of their goods are made by people who are paid a living wage & work in clean, safe, reputable conditions for reasonable working shifts with regular breaks & access to toilets & food, entirely free from coercion or worse.

Well. I just read this story & the accompanying video about Walmart, Target, Hanes, Macy’s, Kohl's, Land's End, & others being linked to a Jordanian "rape factory." Young women went to work at this factory to makes clothing for all of these retailers, & once there, they were beaten & sexually assaulted to make them work faster.

This is, of course, not the first time such a thing has happened, & I'm sure it won't be the last. That's the truly depressing part.

4 comments:

  1. I read about this today, also. I am sickened and saddened and have vowed to not buy anymore brand new clothes for myself, strictly thrift shop purchases from now on, unless I know that the manufacturers are reputable. But hey, some of my favorite pieces have come from thrift shops, so it's not a bad deal for me.

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  2. I agree with Jo. I signed this petition earlier today, and well - this is a fine example of why we still absolutely need feminism. Too many men think treating us like this is ok - and it's not just in other countries. Disgusting is too weak a description for what women are expected to endure in this life.

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  3. Ugh. There's a few more retailers knocked off my list. Walmart is strong enough to force US retailers to change packaging and manufacturing methods - how about they strong-arm some of these places too? I guess a few cents saved is worth human degradation.

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