Boycott Levi-Strauss
Apr. 25th, 2002 10:36 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
ex-whitelion584.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
transI want to encourage everyone on this board to boycott Levi-Strauss. I was watching TV yesterday, and an old ad campaign that I thought had ended came up. It was for Dockers khakis, and had a woman looking at people through X-ray glasses. When she saw that a guy had women's underwear on under his suit, she says "He's got issues." This is blatant anti-trans sentiment, and pisses me off to no end. I've just written Levi-Strauss to inform them that I'm boycotting all Levi-Strauss products (they're the corporation behind Dockers) until this ad is pulled and a national apology issued, and I urge all of you to do the same. We need to band together and tell the nation that stuff like this is NOT OKAY. We should be treated with the same respect as racial, religious, etc. minorities. To lodge your complaint, go here:
http://www.levistrauss.com/help/askus.asp
Here's a copy of my letter to them, if you want a model, or even just something to cut-and-paste:
I am writing you to issue a complain regarding one of your ad campaigns. Your ad for Dockers khakis has a woman looking at people through X-ray glasses, and when she discovers that a businessman is wearing women's underwear underneath his suit, she states very plainly, "He's got issues."
As a transgendered person, I am EXTREMELY offended by this ad. Transgendered people (including transvestites, transsexuals, genderqueers, and various other groups who all have a different connection to the gender other than their biological sex) do not "have issues." We are entirely normal. Many of us are born so that our mental gender does not exactly match our biological sex. It is bigoted media imaging such as yours that creates a society where people dressed in the "wrong sex's" clothing are harassed, beaten up, barred from public arenas, fired from their jobs, and discriminated against daily. The "He's got issues" statement is no better than a racial or religious slur inside your ads.
I am also writing to inform you that, due to this ad, I am boycotting all Levi-Strauss products, and encouraging all the transgendered peoples and allies I can contact to do the same. This boycott will end when this ad campaign is pulled and Levi-Strauss issues a formal, public and national apology to transgendered peoples in all nations where this ad has been shown, stating that Levi-Strauss apologizes for not only insulting transgendered peoples for who they are, but also contributing to an environment where gender-expression-based hate crimes and harassment occur on a daily basis. I used to be a faithful Levi-Strauss customer, but until this ad is pulled and an apology issued, I will no longer buy any Levi-Strauss product, and I am in the process on contacting other transgendered peoples both locally and nationally to do the same.
Respectfully,
(name)
PLEASE go there and back me up on this. I'm EXTREMELY offended by this ad and I really think we shouldn't just take it lying down. It may seem like such a small thing, but it helps create a society where we're repressed and harassed, and I'm tired of just taking it without fighting back.
Thanks.
Ben
http://www.levistrauss.com/help/askus.asp
Here's a copy of my letter to them, if you want a model, or even just something to cut-and-paste:
I am writing you to issue a complain regarding one of your ad campaigns. Your ad for Dockers khakis has a woman looking at people through X-ray glasses, and when she discovers that a businessman is wearing women's underwear underneath his suit, she states very plainly, "He's got issues."
As a transgendered person, I am EXTREMELY offended by this ad. Transgendered people (including transvestites, transsexuals, genderqueers, and various other groups who all have a different connection to the gender other than their biological sex) do not "have issues." We are entirely normal. Many of us are born so that our mental gender does not exactly match our biological sex. It is bigoted media imaging such as yours that creates a society where people dressed in the "wrong sex's" clothing are harassed, beaten up, barred from public arenas, fired from their jobs, and discriminated against daily. The "He's got issues" statement is no better than a racial or religious slur inside your ads.
I am also writing to inform you that, due to this ad, I am boycotting all Levi-Strauss products, and encouraging all the transgendered peoples and allies I can contact to do the same. This boycott will end when this ad campaign is pulled and Levi-Strauss issues a formal, public and national apology to transgendered peoples in all nations where this ad has been shown, stating that Levi-Strauss apologizes for not only insulting transgendered peoples for who they are, but also contributing to an environment where gender-expression-based hate crimes and harassment occur on a daily basis. I used to be a faithful Levi-Strauss customer, but until this ad is pulled and an apology issued, I will no longer buy any Levi-Strauss product, and I am in the process on contacting other transgendered peoples both locally and nationally to do the same.
Respectfully,
(name)
PLEASE go there and back me up on this. I'm EXTREMELY offended by this ad and I really think we shouldn't just take it lying down. It may seem like such a small thing, but it helps create a society where we're repressed and harassed, and I'm tired of just taking it without fighting back.
Thanks.
Ben