Here's Why There's A Petition For Old Navy To Change Their Pricing
When I say "Old Navy," you think: Adorable sweaters! Cheap flip-flops! Those commercials with the mannequins that still haunt my nightmares! No? Just me?
Unfortunately, when I say "Old Navy" today, you just might be thinking some entirely different thoughts. A new petition on Change.org is calling the company out on some sexism—and size-ism—as it relates to their pricing.
On your left, a pair of Rockstar Skinny Jeans in a size 6. So cute! To your right, a pair of Rockstar Skinny Jeans in a size 16. Oh, man—also so cute! The exact same jeans, the exact same material. Only difference is the size.
So why is it that the smaller jeans cost $27...and the larger pair cost over $40?
Now, you could argue that a larger size = more fabric = a more expensive product, and that argument makes perfect logical sense to me—in fact, it’s the argument that Old Navy is using to explain the situation. But what it doesn’t explain is why men’s clothing doesn’t have this problem.
A pair of men’s pants in a size 29 waist costs exactly the same as a pair of pants in a 42 waist. What’s more, the men’s clothes aren’t distinguished between “regular” and “plus-size”—they’re all just, you know, under the heading “Men.” But right there on the top of the Old Navy website, there it is: “Women” and “Women Plus.”
The fashion industry has a long and complicated history of using the idea of a “clothing size” to manipulate the customer into buying more stuff, and no one explains it better than Braless’ Laci Green. Seriously, all four minutes of her video are so very worth it: She tackles the complicated relationship between body image and clothing size in a hilarious and personal way. I think a lot of us can relate to feeling like “teenage shapeshifters” when that dreadful moment in the fitting room happens and we have no idea why we’re a completely different size than we were last week and WHY AM I CRYING RIGHT NOW...all because of a completely arbitrary number that has literally no bearing on actual measurements whatsoever.
When a dude says “I wear a size 32 jeans,” what he’s saying is, “You could take a tape measure right now and, look: I have a 32-inch waist!” When a woman says, “I wear, like, I dunno, somewhere between like a 4 and a 6, although sometimes an 8, because I’m heavier on the top than on the bottom, but when I’m buying bathing suits I have to wear an extra-large on the top but need a medium on the bottom and sometimes I just have to switch the two when the salespeople aren’t looking, is that really bad, am I the only one who does that?”...Yeah. That’s what I’m talking about. Most of the women I know have a version of this speech. Why is it fair that “What size are you?” should generate this kind of shame-spiral, or at the very least, require this much thought to figure out?
Of course, Old Navy is clearly not the only retailer guilty of manipulating sizes to sell more products—almost every American clothing retailer is sized in this maddening way—but it is arguably discriminating against plus-size women with this specific pricing policy. If it is necessary to Old Navy's business strategy to price plus-size clothes at a higher dollar amount because the extra material means that it costs more money to produce then OK, I get that. But if that's the case, shouldn't we also see a “men’s plus” category that charges a fair price for a more expensive product since the same must be true for those garments?
If this is just a fancy dodge made by the PR department and the actual price difference is negligible, though, we should probably see some revised pricing. Pronto.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some catching up on Braless—there’s an episode about Taylor Swift’s feminist awakening?? BRB.
