The Look

   In the article "Going for the look, but Risking Discrimination", it has been brought to my attention the issues that come along with having an exact strict look for a store in the retail environment. When employers hire only a certain look it limits opportunities for others that are perfectly qualified to do the job. Abercrombie & Fitch is the main retailer focused in this article and how their "Classic American" look is discriminating against every other ethnicity and anyone who doesn't fit their profile. It is one thing to hire someone and have a look for your store and have the employees dress the style of your store, but when you are hiring based on someones look and saying specifically that you want them to work there only based on what they look like, that becomes a problem. As stated in the article by an Abercrombie manager, "If someone came in who had lots of retail experience and not a pretty face, we were told not to hire them at all." These people are discriminating on so many different levels and making an icon that young people want to look like and look up to. They are creating a nation wide look based on a small percentage of the people that are actually out there. It creates problems in marketing and the image that young people are seeing and most think "this is what I should look like and dress like because this person is pretty and is on billboards." It is creating a false idol for everyone seeing the images and puts thoughts into peoples heads that think that is what "pretty" is. When in fact they could look the farthest from those models and be just as beautiful.The look of employees has become such a big part of a "business strategy" that it affects the average citizen from being able to have employment that they are perfectly qualified for. Businesses that are creating a pretty, young, and hip look are really creating an image that people think they should like, and when they don't look like that for some it becomes a goal and they will do anything to look like those girls, when they are perfectly beautiful just the way they are. It makes us question our morals and how far people will go to make money. It also makes us think about the real reason why we are buying these clothes, is it because it looks good on someone else or because we want to look like them by wearing the same thing? Thinking about this makes us realize all these people are doing is taking away our individuality and using peoples insecurities against them.