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Forever 21 Glamorizes Teen Pregnancy

New maternity line was not a good move

By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 20, 2010 12:24 PM CDT

(Newser) – Forever 21, the “fast fashion” chain that became a $2 billion brand by selling cheap, trendy clothes to teens and tweens, recently started…a maternity line. If you’re not already shaking your head, it gets better: The line, called Love 21, “is premiering in five states, three of which carry the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country,” writes Sara Libby for Salon.

“Over-reactive parents and pundits” who claim that movies like Juno encourage teen pregnancy “assume an insulting lack of agency on the part of young women,” but this uproar is justified. Forever 21 “makes a concerted effort to court customers who can't yet drive themselves to the mall,” and “by nudging teens and saying ‘If you do find yourself pregnant, looking fashionable is one less thing you'll have to worry about!’ the chain is going the Bristol route of unwittingly glamorizing teen pregnancy.”

A screenshot of the Forever 21 website shows its new maternity line, Love 21.
A screenshot of the Forever 21 website shows its new maternity line, Love 21.   (Forever 21)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
oldgoat
Jul 20, 2010 5:39 PM CDT
Do people think that nobody under 21 gets preg? That nobody over 21 shops there? To me it is just a plain and simple case of there is a market for maternity clothes for young adults and they are going for it. The under 21 are still going to get preg and they will still think that it is cool before. Actually 21 is getting a lot of free publicity out of the whole deal.
slammer
Jul 20, 2010 4:14 PM CDT
good for them preggo chicks should look good to
bigdaddysailorman
Jul 20, 2010 4:07 PM CDT
wish it were the good ol days where you would send a pregnant teen away to live with a distant relative and then 9 months later raise the bastard as your own

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