Levi's Jeans Try (and Fail) to Be Inclusive

The days of making clothes for the people who will buy them is long gone or, perhaps, never existed. Case-in-point: Levi's has launched an ad campaign not-so-cleverly titled, "All Asses Were Not Created Equal," with the intention of appealing to women whose bodies do not form a straight line. Fellow blogger Sarah Menkedick covered the new line earlier. I can see why she was excited by the premise of a company that doesn't shy away from different sizes, but I'm calling the company out for its failed attempt at inclusion.

Feministing.com tackled the misguided coding of the Curve ID brand in a recent post, but there's more than just the limp-wristed high-five to "curvy" women that is bothersome. There's this idea that a company doesn't have to really be inclusive to get the credit -- they can fake it and get away with it. And because any nod to women who aren't thin and blond is rare, it's accepted, even praised, no matter how half-assed (pun intended) it is.

Take Glamour magazine's laughable attempt to appeal to its readers who are (probably) near plus-sized or already there. They took all those letters to the editors that gasped and sighed at the thought of a woman with a gut appearing nude in their magazine as a sign that they had done something good, instead of what it was: a sign that they had been doing it wrong and stumbled on a bit of okay, not good.

Levi's "Asses" campaign is definitely faking it. As Feministing pointed out, all of the women in the ads are white and none are particularly curvy. I'm not convinced that curves are a black or Latina thing, but the unabashed embrace of them certainly is, so any butt salute without a Jennifer Lopez or Beyonce look-alike just feels wrong.

What's really amazing about this Levi's campaign is that it assumes that the jean company didn't already have fits for everyone's ass. They aren't super high-fashion jeans or even a mid-end department store brand; they're freaking Levi's. Yet our culture is so fixated on thinness and shaming people women who aren't that it's perfectly acceptable for an all-American, everyday-type company to only make pants for a certain type of body.

Plus, despite the idea that every shape and size can find their perfect fit with Levi's, the company's designers seem to have already decided what will look good on your body. The plus sizes offer 13 boot cut, 3 skinny fit and 2 leggings while the "straight size" section offers a near reversal of choices: more skinny, less boot. This is a company that doesn't have a problem making bigger sizes, just as long as they can ensure that none of those bigger people squeezes into a pair of skinnies.

Photo credit: kevinpoh