Lands' End Bashes Men in Recent Catalog

	posted by Scott on Thursday June 06, @06:45PM from the news dept.
	Equalitarian62 writes, "There is a story titled "When Rosie Rolled 'Em Up" (by Charles Hirshberg) in the June Lands' End catalog. Instead of simply describing the contribution of women to the war effort (which in itself was commendable), this story goes on to portray men as bigoted and lecherous. As I couldn't find a link to the full story at the Lands' End site, I will summarize the anti-male parts here." Read on for the full submission.

	The story describes the experience of a young woman who is hired as a welder at a shipyard in California. She encounters a man at the Union Hall who repeatedly tells her that they don't hire women or blacks. She gets hired anyway. The instructor at the welding class is described as a "little goat bearded man who thought that teaching girls to weld was the funniest thing ever." When a supervisor gets "fresh" with a female coworker, the coworker clobbers him with her "stinger." And when her father finds out that she is earning more that him, he gets mad and tells her to either quit or leave the house (neither of which happens). At the end, the young woman's mother gives her the moral that "them men needs us a lot more than they're willing to admit." I'm not sure why it was necessary to put a gender- feminist twist on a Norman Rockwell character that was originally intended to portray the contributions of women during World War II. While the contributions of several thousand women were valuable in their own right, it was the 16 million men who served overseas that bore the brunt of the sacrifice during the war. Over 400,000 of them died, and many more were injured. Surely this generation of men deserves better than to be portrayed as boorish and prejudiced, based on the actions of a minority of individuals. I have received the Lands' End catalog for several years now, but will cancel it if I see anything more like this. It isn't necessary to market clothing to women by putting men down in this way. If you want to contact Lands' End about this story, their web address is: www.landsend.com "You don't build women up by tearing men down"

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hhmmm (Score:1) by arctik on Thursday June 06, @11:01PM EST (#1) (User #833 Info) Hi, I just found this site, and it's kind of refreshing that others feel the same way I do. I've tried telling women this and they dismiss it. Anywho, I wrote to the Lands End company. I stole a few sentences from the original poster. I didn't think you'd mind, sorry if you do. I'd like to see if I get a reply. "I'm writing to complain about your cataloge and it's story on a Norman Rockwell character that was originally intended to portray the contributions of women during world war II. You made men out to be bigoted and put a positive spin on hitting someone with a hot welding rod. And then the mean father try's to kick her out because he makes more money than him. I consider this sexist, just as a woman would probably feel if the roles were reversed. Why do you have to bring down men to bring women up, or equal? Would Land's End feel it would be appropriate to appeal to black consumers by bashing white people in a similar manner? On top of that I used to be a welder and and went to welding school, of course. There were quite a few women there who were treated just fine by the teachers and everyone else. I appreciate also how you bash not only men, but working class men as well. I will never buy from Land's End and whenevr I see someone with this cataloge, I'll be sure to see what their opinion is as well. There were over 16 million men who served overseas. Over 400,000 of them died, and many more were injured. One of these men was my grandfather who served in a submarine. I feel this is disrespect to all those who fought and to all men. This generation of men deserves better than to be portrayed as boorish and prejudiced, based on the actions of a minority of individuals. Thanks for doing your part in making it a little harder for men and women to go beyond hateful or spitefull stereotypes and maybe come to a better understanding of each other. I do appreciate reply's. arctiksounds@earthlink.net"

Re:hhmmm (Score:2) by Thomas on Thursday June 06, @11:39PM EST (#2) (User #280 Info) Arctik: Welcome to Men's Activism. I hope you enjoy your visits, and thanks for the activism. That's what this site is really about. I have to say, I write quite a few emails and letters and also make phone calls for men's issues. I was gonna give this one a miss, for no particular reason other than lack of time, but you've inspired me to read the article and respond. If I personally find the article to be anti-male sexism, I will stop buying from them unless they somehow retract the piece of fiction, and I've purchased from Land's End many times in the past. I will also tell the non-man-haters, who I know, about the article and encourage them to avoid buying from Land's End in the future (again, provided I find the fiction piece anti-male and they don't properly retract it). You've inspired me to act on this one. Thanks, and again, welcome.

Misandric Lands' End Article (Score:1) by equalitarian62 on Friday June 07, @08:12PM EST (#3) (User #267 Info) Arctik & Thomas, Thanks for your responses. I sent an email expressing my concerns to Lands' End (and haven't heard back). I thought that I would give them another chance, as this is the first time that I've contacted them about this matter. However, I told them that if I see anything like this again in their catalog, I will cancel it. Steve aka Equalitarian62

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