ethics

[snarryfool]

Over and over in this comm, I read complaints about the price of clothing. I get that most people are on a budget, but it's a source of dismay that I have not once seen any pushback concerning the kinds of labor practices that make clothing cheap -- in particular, the kind of fast fashion that seems to be most popular here. Here's a blog post

Comments

[raktajinos]

I care passionately about where my clothing (and food, etc) comes from. I'm a dedicated social activist and feminist so these are things I think about. And I definitely think they are important to be discussed.

However, the choices for fatties and clothing is SO limited to begin with, if we wanted to shop ethically......there's almost no where to go. We cant run around naked (though, I suppose if we did people would start selling more plus size clothes, cause they'd be appalled by all the nekkid fatties lol)

I'd love to have a discussion about ethics and modes of production - and even better have some suggestions given for sustainable options for us to shop. "I've been reading this comm for over a year now and I have never seen anyone express the slightest concern about where the clothes come from or what impact purchasing them might have. It freaks me out more than a little." This comment feels, to me, very shame-inducing. For a community who deals with shame on a daily basis, I don't know if that was the right tone to take. If you had taken a different tone, one of open discussion instead of accusation I think you'd get a better response. (and my response here isn't meant to be flammey)

That said, us complaining about prices is a really complex issue. The clothing we CAN buy is made in these horrible factories and is still ridiculously expensive. There's a double standard - plus size clothing companies know they have a monopoly (because 'regular' stores like bigotry) so they can charge what they want. If I need to jeans and only two stores near me sell them in my size.....I HAVE to pay the $110 for them. Cause I need pants. This is in addition to the multiple compounded identity politics that can cause people to have fixed incomes, or strict budgets or a variety of reasons that make the cost of something an actual issue. And this is an international community and if you've been reading for a year you've probably noticed that there's a significant difference between countries and access to clothing for fatties. I'm Canadian and I've got 2 stores dedicated to plus sizes and then 2 1/2 other stores that offer a plus size section. And 3 of those stores are owned by the same parent company. lol

And I think we have a right to be upset about that.

Do you have any suggestions for ethical shopping?