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
Forever 21 Glamorizes Teen Pregnancy
A screenshot of the Forever 21 website shows its new maternity line, Love 21.   (Forever 21)

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.”
(More Forever 21 stories.)

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