Essay 3: Worth 200 Points Due on May 6
The Assignment:
In the context of the Netflix comedy special Homecoming King, the HBO documentary 38 at the Garden, and the Netflix documentary White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, develop an extended definition of the chimera as a racist stereotype that hijacks people’s brains. You might address how these negative stereotypes hijack the brain and become internalized, resulting in a sense of shame and a desire for self-abnegation and the only cure is reconnecting to one’s genuine pride, identity, and hope for new possibilities. Your essay should be about 1,200 words with a Works Cited page and a minimum of 2 sources.
How to cite ChatGPT for MLA Works Cited
ChatGPT Response to Essay Prompt (contains flagrant inaccuracy about the date of Linsanity)
The chimera is a racist stereotype that hijacks people's brains by implanting false and harmful beliefs about certain groups of people. This stereotype operates through a process of internalization, whereby individuals come to accept and internalize negative beliefs about themselves and their communities. The Netflix comedy special Homecoming King, the HBO documentary 38 at the Garden, and the Netflix documentary White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, all provide examples of how the chimera operates.
In Homecoming King, the comedian Hasan Minhaj discusses his experiences growing up as a first-generation Indian-American in the United States. He describes how the chimera of the "model minority" stereotype, which portrays Asian-Americans as high-achieving and successful, hijacked his brain and made him feel like he had to live up to impossible standards. This stereotype caused him to internalize feelings of shame and self-abnegation, leading him to reject his own culture and identity in an effort to assimilate.
In 38 at the Garden, the documentary explores the 1971 New York Knicks basketball team, which was composed primarily of African-American players. The film shows how the chimera of the "dumb jock" stereotype, which portrays black athletes as physically gifted but intellectually inferior, hijacked the brains of the players and led them to feel like they had to prove their intelligence and worthiness. This stereotype caused them to internalize feelings of shame and insecurity, leading some players to hide their academic achievements and others to become hyper-focused on their academic pursuits.
In White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch, the documentary explores how the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch used the chimera of the "All-American" stereotype, which portrays white, conventionally attractive, and physically fit individuals as the ideal, to market their products. This stereotype hijacked the brains of consumers and led them to feel like they had to conform to a narrow and exclusionary standard of beauty and identity. This stereotype caused individuals to internalize feelings of shame and inadequacy, leading some to engage in harmful behaviors like disordered eating and excessive exercise.
To combat the harmful effects of the chimera, individuals must reconnect to their genuine pride, identity, and hope for new possibilities. This involves actively rejecting and challenging the negative beliefs and stereotypes that have been internalized and replacing them with positive, empowering, and diverse representations of oneself and one's community. It also involves recognizing that identity is complex and multifaceted, and that no one stereotype or standard can capture the full richness and diversity of human experience. By reconnecting to one's genuine pride and identity, individuals can break free from the constraints of the chimera and create new possibilities for themselves and their communities.\
My Critique of ChatGPT:
My college writing students and I are exploring the strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT as it addresses the essay prompts. The strengths are the way it appropriates the language from the essay prompt so that it actually addresses the prompt in a swift and relevant fashion; the way it clearly organizes the material; the way it makes some insights that I didn’t think of; the way it provides a good way for students to do prewriting and brainstorming of pertinent ideas. However, the weaknesses are glaring. The prose style is bloodless, vanilla, and lacks authorial presence; it uses rudimentary, redundant transitions; it lacks signal phrases to specific research sources with in-text citations; it repeats too many points; it lards the essays with cliches and lacks what all good writers have: “cliche shame”; and finally, it can be grossly inaccurate. For example, the students are writing about stereotypes as they pertain to the HBO documentary 38 at the Garden, which is a chronicle of the Linsanity season of 2012. ChatGPT keeps referring to the 1971 New York Knicks basketball team. So for now, let’s look at ChatGPT as a rookie basketball player with loads of potential but still prone to turning over the ball.
Simplified Approach to Writing Your Chimera Essay
Step One: Know what a chimera is: A chimera is a fool’s errand, false hope, or delusion that hijacks your brain and consumes you.
Step Two: Write an attention-getting first paragraph that gives a personal account of a chimera, either one inside of you or inside of someone you know.
Step Three: Transition from your introductory paragraph to a thesis that addresses one of the following 3 shows, HBO’s 38 at the Garden, Netflix’s Homecoming King, or Netflix’s White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch and break down the chimera into 3 or 4 parts for our body paragraphs.
Step Four: The way you break down the chimera will direct the flow of your body paragraphs:
In 38 at the Garden, there are essentially 3 chimeras:
- Society’s perception of Jeremy Lin as an Asian male stereotype: passive, docile, conforming, studious, nerdy, incapable of taking a leadership role
- A surge of hope in the Asian community as Jeremy Lin creates Linsanity, a period in sports when Asian stereotypes are shattered and new possibilities are hoped for in the Asian community
- The hope is being replaced with post-pandemic violence against Asians in America. Hate crimes surge as Asians are perceived as somehow to blame for COVID. Once again, Asians are being Otherized.
In Homecoming King, there are essentially 3 chimeras:
- Hasan Minhaj has internalized racism so that he loathes and despises himself for his skin color and for feeling like “The Other,” a sort of misfit who could be “cured” if he could be white.
- Hasan Minhaj sees Bethany Reed as The Great White Princess, an avatar of whiteness who will bring Hasan belonging and acceptance in white America.
- Hasan Minhaj sees fame as a way of getting revenge against Bethany Reed because he is under the delusion that if he rubs her nose in his fame he will somehow cleanse himself of the pain of his past rejection.
In White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch, we see essentially 4 chimeras:
- CEO Mike Jeffries markets the Great White Aesthetic in which upper-class WASP society is seen as the apotheosis of beauty and desirability.
- Mike Jeffries creates a work compound that operates as a Cult of Work and Whiteness: employees are expected to drink the white Kool-Aid and act as if working for Jeffries is the greatest source of joy and fulfillment.
- Mike Jeffries fosters a culture of corporate racism in which racist memes and tropes are glorified evidenced in the selling of graphic T-shirts that are rife with racist messages.
- So overcome with hubris and arrogance, Mike Jeffries not only creates racist employment practices (giving whites more hours and high-profile job positions while relegating people of color to the back room) but is full of false confidence in his legal invincibility.
Some students will ask if they have to focus on just one documentary or if can they combine them for a comparison essay. The answer is, yes, they can compare 2 or all 3 if they want.
Sample Thesis Statement for Homecoming King and The Chimera Essay
Thesis Sample
By performing his comedy act Homecoming King on Netflix, Hasan Minhaj becomes his own therapist, shaman, and exorcist by exorcising the four chimerical demons that are consuming him--the demon of internalized racism that makes him hate himself, the demon of externalized racial worship that warps his mind into believing that Bethany Reed is The Great White Princess who will offer him assimilation into the American Dream, the demon of power that makes him believe that comedic television fame will erase his emotional scars and the demon of revenge that makes him believe that mercilessly rubbing Bethany Reed’s face in his success will heal him from the pain of rejection.
Sample Introduction and Thesis for Homecoming King
In Hasan Minhaj’s brilliant Netflix comedy special Homecoming King, he explores the madness of feeling like a misfit who wants what every American wants: dreams, freedom, and acceptance. But sadly he finds being a brown-skinned Muslim immigrant paints him as a misfit who can’t dream of “white” roles such as an astronaut or the President. He finds his religion makes him threatening to others. His skin color is looked down upon and this challenges his sense of being desirable and masculine. He feels ashamed by being “Otherized” and labeled as someone who’s “not a good fit.” He finds his parents’ expectations constrain his dreams and romantic aspirations, and finally, he equates success with potency and masculinity, forces he tries feebly to use to erase the shame and humiliation of Bethany Reed’s family rejecting him as an appropriate date for the Senior Prom. Bethany Reed, The Great White Princess, becomes Hasan’s chimera: a panacea for all his woes as a Misfit trying to make it in America. The more Hasan sinks into the White Princess Myth, the more he loses his mind, confusing success, revenge, and whiteness itself for achieving the American Dream. Only his father's wisdom of abandoning fear and hate and replacing them with forgiveness and love can help Hasan restore his sanity.
Sample for Homecoming King on Netflix
Before Hasan Minhaj breaks the spell of the “white princess” chimera inside him, he battles with the insanity of his person chimera evidenced by ___________________________, ________________________, _____________________, and ______________________________.
Hasan Minhaj is afflicted with three chimeras, which include his internalized racism, giving him a negative self-image; his elevation of Bethany as the Great White Princess, a symbol of his assimilation into white society; and his chimera of fame and revenge to rub Bethany's nose in his glory and thereby rid himself of his obsession with her. All of these chimeras are false and he must free himself from them.
Suggested Outline for Homecoming King Chimera Analysis Essay
Sample Thesis for Homecoming King Essay:
With brilliant hilarity and craft, Hasan Minhaj presents a two-part chimera journey consisting of the negative self-image that emotionally cripples him and his absurd “corrective measures” to rise above his negative self-image that prove worse than the original disease.
Paragraph 1: 200-word introduction defines chimera and provides a personal example.
What is a chimera?
- It is a brain hijack that sinks into your brain like an eagle’s talons.
- It becomes an obsession.
- It becomes at the very least the unconscious way you define yourself.
- It warps your reality so that you behave in bizarre, extreme, and irrational ways.
Paragraph 2, your thesis: You argue that Hasan’s journey is a 2-part chimera. The first is his negative self-image and the second is his irrational conception of self-validation, belonging, and success.
Paragraphs 3-5: Address his negative self-image. What is it?
- He hates his skin color, wishes he could bathe or rub it off and he tells his teacher he wishes he were white.
- He feels emasculated by his Asian stereotype role of a nerd who can study with a white girl but cannot be her romantic interest. Anything beyond friendship and he’s “not a good fit,” so he must shrink back to his nerd role.
- He must constantly assure white America he’s not a terrorist and that he loves America even as Americans are racist toward him.
- He is pained with an existential wound, less from violent racists and more from smiling bigots who insult him with their smiling racism every day.
Paragraphs 6-8: Address his irrational forms of self-validation.
- The Great White Princess will make him whole and help him achieve validation, success, belonging, and the American Dream.
- Success, Pizza Hut commercials, a job as a comedian, and fame will give him the leverage to taunt Bethany Reed, put her in her place, and make him feel big about himself.
- He cultivates resentment over and over until it becomes a feast he loves to indulge in. He does not know how to imagine himself living without resentment.
Final Section: His Return to Sanity: Paragraph 9
Looking at Bethany Reed through the eyes of love, understanding, and forgiveness, he no longer sees her as The Great White Princess but as an imperfect person whose controlling mother pushed her daughter on the wrong path. His two-layered chimera journey is now complete and he is all the wiser for it.
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Sample Outline
Paragraph 1: Define the chimera you will be focusing on.
Paragraph 2: Your thesis: Explain the causes of the chimera and its effects. For example, as it pertains to the documentary 38 at the Garden and the theme of racial stereotypes, a sample thesis might read:
Jeremy Lin’s ascent in the NBA forced society to examine the straightjacket of Asian stereotypes, shattered those stereotypes, and gave Asian Americans the hope of reimagining a life of dignity without the rigid definitions society had imposed upon them.
Body Paragraphs 3-7 would explain the above thesis.
Your conclusion is a powerful restatement of your thesis.
Notice there is no Counterargument-Rebuttal Section because this is not so much an argument essay as it is cause-and-effect.
Works Cited page with the sources you used would be your last page.
Thesis Sample for 38 at the Garden
The documentary 38 at the Garden is a heartbreaking look at two chimeras in conflict: The chimera of the Underdog who shatters racial stereotypes and gives hope to a generation vs. the chimera of Tribalism, which is the primitive reflexive instinct to rely on hate, hostility, and racial prejudice to define The Other, and live in a world of moral and intellectual darkness.
Part One: Underdog Generates Universal Love
- Ignored
- Self-doubt
- Sleeping on a couch
- Treated like he doesn’t belong
- Strong will, courage, and self-belief shatter racial stereotypes
- People of all backgrounds cheer him on and live vicariously through Jeremy Lin’s triumphs.
- Asian Americans can reimagine themselves with the hope of living beyond prescribed limitations and humiliations.
Part Two: Tribalism Raises Its Ugly Head
- Ten years after Linsanity, a pandemic reveals scapegoating and a spike in Asian-American violence (339%)
- A sports figure who makes a statement on the big stage finds that we live in a society that is quick to revert back to xenophobia, tribalism, and racism.
- We are left with bitter-sweet memories of Linsanity, a hero figure who brought different people together.
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Chimera, Racial Stereotypes and ChatGPT Responses
Write an essay that explains how popular culture has turned racial stereotypes into a chimera.
Popular culture has a powerful influence on our society, and it has the ability to shape our perceptions and beliefs about different groups of people. Unfortunately, popular culture has also been responsible for turning racial stereotypes into a chimera. Rather than challenging stereotypes, popular culture often reinforces them, perpetuating harmful attitudes and beliefs about different racial groups.
One of the ways in which popular culture has turned racial stereotypes into a chimera is through the media. Television shows, movies, and music videos often rely on tired and harmful stereotypes to create characters and storylines. For example, Black men are often portrayed as violent and aggressive, while Asian women are depicted as submissive and sexually available. These stereotypes are not only untrue but also contribute to a culture of racism and discrimination.
Furthermore, the fashion industry and advertising also perpetuate racial stereotypes. For instance, companies may use models who fit into a certain racial stereotype, such as the "exotic" or "sassy" Black woman or the "geeky" or "mathematical" Asian man. By reinforcing these stereotypes, popular culture sends a message to viewers that these stereotypes are true and acceptable.
Moreover, social media platforms have played a significant role in perpetuating racial stereotypes. While social media has allowed marginalized groups to have a platform to speak out against racial stereotypes and oppression, it has also provided a platform for hate speech and discriminatory language. Social media has been used to perpetuate negative stereotypes about different racial groups, often by people who are ignorant about the cultures they are discussing.
In conclusion, popular culture has turned racial stereotypes into a chimera by perpetuating these stereotypes through various forms of media, fashion, and advertising. These stereotypes are harmful and contribute to a culture of racism and discrimination. It is up to individuals and society as a whole to challenge these stereotypes and work towards creating a more inclusive and accepting society. We must actively work towards promoting diversity and embracing differences to create a society where every individual feels valued and respected.
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ChatGPT
In his comedy special Homecoming King, how does Hasan Minhaj address his personal torment with racism?
In his comedy special "Homecoming King," Hasan Minhaj addresses his personal torment with racism by using humor as a way to shed light on the absurdity of the situation. Through his comedic storytelling, he shares personal anecdotes about his experiences growing up as a first-generation Indian-American in the United States, including the racism he faced from both his peers and strangers.
One of the main ways in which Minhaj addresses his personal torment with racism is by sharing specific incidents from his life. For example, he tells the story of how he was called a racial slur by a group of kids when he was in middle school. He also talks about the time when he was in high school and a girl he liked told him that she could never date him because he was Indian.
Despite the pain these experiences caused him, Minhaj uses humor to make the audience laugh and to help them understand the absurdity of the situation. He does this by highlighting the ridiculousness of the stereotypes that people hold about Indian-Americans and other racial groups. For example, he talks about how people assume that all Indians are doctors or work in IT, and how he was once asked if he knew Apu from "The Simpsons."
Another way in which Minhaj addresses his personal torment with racism is by pointing out the contradictions in the way that people treat him. He talks about how people often tell him that he's "not really Indian" because he was born in the United States, yet they still treat him differently because of his ethnicity. He also talks about how some people assume that he's a Muslim, despite the fact that he's actually a Hindu.
Through his comedic storytelling, Hasan Minhaj addresses his personal torment with racism in a way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. He uses humor to help the audience understand the absurdity of racial stereotypes and to challenge their assumptions about different racial groups. In doing so, he creates a space for dialogue and understanding that is much needed in our society today.
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How does the HBO documentary "38 at the Garden" address the crisis of Asian stereotypes?
The HBO documentary "38 at the Garden" addresses the crisis of Asian stereotypes by exploring the little-known story of the 1971 basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers, which took place at Madison Square Garden and was dubbed the "Yellow Game" due to the high number of Asian fans in attendance.
The documentary sheds light on the discrimination and racism that Asian Americans faced during this time period, both on and off the basketball court. It highlights the stereotypes that were perpetuated about Asian Americans, such as the "model minority" myth, which portrayed Asian Americans as highly successful and hardworking, but also reinforced the idea that they were "perpetual foreigners" who could never fully assimilate into American society.
Through interviews with players, coaches, and fans who were present at the game, as well as historians and scholars who provide context and analysis, the documentary explores how the "Yellow Game" became a rallying cry for the Asian American community and a symbol of resistance against discrimination and racism.
The documentary also examines how the legacy of the "Yellow Game" has continued to inspire and empower Asian Americans to fight against stereotypes and discrimination. It features interviews with Asian American activists and leaders who discuss how the game helped to raise awareness about the struggles of the Asian American community and paved the way for future generations to speak out and demand change.
Overall, "38 at the Garden" addresses the crisis of Asian stereotypes by shining a light on the history of discrimination and racism that Asian Americans have faced in the United States, and by showing how the power of sports can be used as a tool for social change and empowerment. The documentary is a powerful reminder of the importance of fighting against stereotypes and discrimination, and of the resilience and strength of the Asian American community in the face of adversity.
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Write an essay that shows how the Netflix documentary "White Hot" addresses racism as a toxic business model for Abercrombie & Fitch.
The Netflix documentary "White Hot" explores the impact of racism as a toxic business model for Abercrombie & Fitch, a clothing brand that was known for its exclusionary marketing and discriminatory practices. The documentary delves into the history of the company and its controversial founder, Mike Jeffries, and examines how racism and discrimination were used as a means to create a sense of exclusivity and appeal to a specific demographic of consumers.
One of the ways in which "White Hot" addresses racism as a toxic business model for Abercrombie & Fitch is by highlighting the impact of the company's exclusionary marketing and advertising practices. The documentary shows how the company's marketing campaigns were specifically targeted towards a narrow definition of beauty and attractiveness, which excluded people of color and those who did not fit into a specific body type. This not only reinforced harmful stereotypes and discrimination but also created a culture of exclusion that was toxic for both employees and customers.
Another way in which the documentary addresses racism as a toxic business model for Abercrombie & Fitch is by examining the impact of the company's discriminatory practices on its employees. The documentary features interviews with former employees who recount their experiences of discrimination and harassment while working for the company. Many employees reported being subjected to discriminatory hiring practices, as well as a culture of bullying and intimidation that was fostered by the company's leadership.
The documentary also explores the impact of the company's discriminatory practices on its bottom line. It shows how the company's decision to exclude certain demographics from its marketing campaigns and product offerings ultimately led to a decline in sales and a loss of brand equity. This highlights how racism and discrimination can ultimately be a toxic business model that not only harms individuals but also damages the reputation and success of a company.
Overall, the Netflix documentary "White Hot" addresses racism as a toxic business model for Abercrombie & Fitch by examining the impact of the company's exclusionary marketing and discriminatory practices on both its employees and customers. By shining a light on the harmful impact of racism on a business and its bottom line, the documentary serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion in all aspects of society, including the business world.
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Write an essay that explains how the Netflix documentary "White Hot" exposes the upper-class Anglo-white aesthetic as a racial chimera.
The Netflix documentary "White Hot" explores the impact of racism on the fashion industry, specifically focusing on the clothing brand Abercrombie & Fitch and its founder Mike Jeffries. One of the key themes of the documentary is the exposure of the upper-class Anglo white aesthetic as a racial chimera, a constructed ideal that reinforces harmful racial stereotypes and excludes marginalized groups.
Throughout the documentary, it is clear that Abercrombie & Fitch's marketing and advertising campaigns were built around a narrow definition of beauty and attractiveness that was based on a specific type of Anglo white aesthetic. The brand used images of white, thin, conventionally attractive models to promote its products and create a sense of exclusivity that was aimed at a particular demographic of consumers.
However, as the documentary shows, this constructed ideal of beauty and attractiveness is a racial chimera. The image of the "perfect" Anglo white person is not a reality, but rather a social construct that has been created through a long history of exclusion and discrimination. By promoting this ideal, Abercrombie & Fitch perpetuated harmful racial stereotypes and reinforced the idea that only certain types of people were worthy of being considered beautiful or attractive.
The documentary also highlights the impact of this constructed ideal on marginalized groups, particularly people of color. By excluding people of color from its marketing and advertising campaigns, Abercrombie & Fitch perpetuated the idea that they were not part of the desired demographic, reinforcing harmful racial stereotypes and creating a culture of exclusion.
Overall, the Netflix documentary "White Hot" exposes the upper-class Anglo white aesthetic as a racial chimera by showing how it is a constructed ideal that reinforces harmful racial stereotypes and excludes marginalized groups. The documentary serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion in the fashion industry and in all aspects of society, in order to create a world where all people are valued and celebrated for their unique qualities, rather than excluded or discriminated against because of their race or ethnicity.
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Chimera and Thesis Review
The Chimera of White Chic As It Pertains to the Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch
Two chimeras are to be examined in the Netflix documentary White Heat: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch.
Chimera #1
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was possessed by a fantasy that we will call the White Chic Chimera: It is a desire to live in an aesthetic of anorexic and chiseled whiteness, which represents old money from the North East, being part of an exclusive cool club, having the power to aggrandize one’s privilege and sexuality while relegating “The Others” to second-class citizen status and feeling entitled to rely on racist memes and tropes to reinforce the old-guard racial and class hierarchy.
Using an aggressive ad campaign, Jeffries and his minions scaled the White Chic Chimera to make Abercrombie and Fitch the fastest-growing clothing retail store in the world. It dominated the industry for several years.
Chimera #2
This domination made Mike Jeffries drink his own racist Kool-Aid: He believed that what he was doing--promoting a racist hierarchy to slake his greedy appetites--was smart capitalism, that he was invincible, and that his White Chic aesthetic was something to be proud of.
Jeffries’ pride in his white aesthetic was his second chimera. His pride or hubris in his racial aesthetic made him like the tragic figure Icarus who flew too quickly and too close to the sun making his fall inevitable.
Humiliation, disgrace, and ignominy were the appropriate end for a peddler of racist mythology and exclusion. The chimeras that fed Mike Jeffries’ appetites for money and glory were the very chimeras that consumed him.
Thesis Sample #1 That Compares All 3 Documentaries
38 at the Garden, Homecoming King, and White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch give us a look at how society’s racial stereotypes, either through a passive default setting or aggressive marketing, create a particular type of brain hijack in which the targets of racism are instilled with a chimera that exists both from within and without: the negative stereotype that results from racist memes and tropes, racist political policies, scapegoating, and white notions of status and exclusivity.
Sample Thesis Statements That Addresses Only White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch
Sample #1
A clothing brand was built not on the clothing itself but what it represented: a chimera consisting of badge of exclusivity, a cult of youth existing in edenic nature, FOMO coolness that became so invincible as to invite the most reckless and fatuous behavior, and a white aesthetic that shamelessly otherizes and marginalizes other races.
Sample #2
Abercrombie’s chimera of cool was a facade that concealed a toxic brand. The toxicity was manifest in many ways including a badge of exclusivity, a cult of youth existing in Edenic nature, FOMO coolness that became so invincible as to invite the most reckless and fatuous behavior, and a white aesthetic that shamelessly otherizes and marginalizes other races.
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White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch
In this 88-minute Alison Klayman documentary, we see that CEO Mike Jeffries and his lieutenants impose a sort of white aesthetic on the employees and cultivate an “All-American Classic” or WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) old money look combined with chiseled abs to make “the rich white look” part of an exclusive club that all consumers should aspire to.
The “preppy all-American look” is code for white. And we’re not talking just any white, but a particular kind of white: old money upper-class white.
This was a personal fantasy of Mike Jeffries, a fantasy that he fought tooth and nail to defend.
Hubris or arrogance was the fuel behind this marketing fantasy, and for about 7 years the fantasy worked and made Abercrombie a dominant retail clothing brand.
Race Code Language: “All-American Classic” or The Rich White Club
Bifurcated World
The White Rich Club mentality informed company practices. They put idealized white people in the front of the store and people of color in the back. Work hours, promotions, and visibility were all race-based with “All-American Classic,” that is, white, being the company ideal, not just for the employees but as the actual marketing tool: consumers who buy Abercrombie and Fitch are gaining acceptance into an exclusive all-white country club.
Consumers of all races were buying the product. Consumers of all races aspired to work at the stores.
Aggrandizing one race and belittling the others was the formula and the company had no problem with this. Just make the chimera powerful, get rich, and throw morals to the wind.
Of course, admittance into some kind of White Club is complete BS, but that’s the point. It’s a chimera. Abercrombie is selling cool, "the It Factor," belonging, and self-esteem.
Class Elitism and Hauteur Conflict with Diversity
Abercrombie and Fitch not only exalted a very specific kind of upper-class whiteness and a slender muscular aesthetic, but they wanted to intersect race and class into an exclusive kind of club or what we could call snobbery.
Abercrombie combined racial and class snobbery.
A fancy word for snobbery is hauteur.
To exhibit hauteur is to display an obnoxious sense of superiority over others. Another word is supercilious.
The employers were encouraged to take on an icy stand-0ffish persona that made the customers feel they had to be sycophantic in order to be "allowed" to shop at the store. It's amazing that such a bizarre formula worked for so long.
Pre-Internet Success
Based on “whiteness” and old-money wealth, the Abercrombie and Fitch aesthetic developed an ideal that worked for a short time in the brick-and-mortar shopping mall world of the late 90s and early 2000s, but during the rise of the Internet when young consumers became more interested in diversity and social justice, hauteur and racial exclusivity became repulsive and toxic.
Being Drunk on Your Own Success Is a Chimera
Mike Jeffries was too full of himself and too drunk on his rapid success to see the conflict between his racially exclusive fashion brand and the world changing around him.
Racist Graphic Tees
Abercrombie sold grotesque racist graphic Tees, which were supposed to be funny, but glorified racial stereotypes. They were highlighted by Phil Yu of The Angry Asian Man blog and discussed in Regina King’s article “How Abercrombie’s Racist T-Shirts Motivated a Generation of Asian Americans.”
The level of shameless arrogance and fatuous "humor" shows how the company's toxicity spread from the head of the company downward.
The exclusion was the point
Abercrombie prided itself on racial exclusion. Visible employees were encouraged to act like snobs and to be rude.
That was the whole point of its marketing chimera. It’s discussed in a YouTube video titled “The Incredibly Satisfying Death of Abercombie.”
What was cool became toxic. The backlash was intense and Abercrombie with Mike Jeffries at the helm would fall swiftly.
Mike Jeffries is another uncouth businessperson who flew too close to the sun. His fall was inevitable.
Zeitgeist and an Outdated Chimera and the Downfall
American youth were transitioning in the late 90s and early 2000s, getting away from conformity and having some adult figure like Mike Jeffries tell them what was cool to more inclusion and more individuality.
Jeffries was so intoxicated by his own Kool-Aid, he didn’t even see what was happening to youth culture.
Here is someone whose bread and butter is on knowing who his target audience is and he has no curiosity or inclination to listen to his target audience--their wants and their values--he’s only interested in his own personal fantasy, so being disconnected from his audience, he was doomed to fail.
Fashion Goes Fascist
Writing about Abercrombie’s snobbery and fall from grace, Owen Gleiberman opines in his essay “Abercrombie and Fitch Review: How Youth Fashion Turned Fascist”:
The brand was unabashed in its insider/outsider snobbery, but the problem with it — and there was a major problem — wasn’t the clothes. It was the fact that not just the company’s advertising aesthetic but its hiring practices were nakedly discriminatory. Abercrombie & Fitch was selling neo-colonial jock chic infused with a barely disguised dollop of white supremacy. Like the models, the sales people who worked on the retail outlet floors all had to conform to an “all-American” ideal — which meant, among other things, an exclusionary whiteness. At an Abercrombie boutique, the text was: We’re white. The subtext was: No one else wanted.
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Gleiberman continues to analyze Abercrombie’s fall as part of the crumbling of mall culture and the rise of social media, which would have no tolerance for Mike Jeffries’ racist employment practices and marketing:
Klayman shows us records of the store’s guide to The Look: what was acceptable for its sales people to wear and, more important, not to wear (dreadlocks, gold chains for men). The company employed very few people of color, and those it did have were mostly confined to the back room, or to late shifts where their job was to clean up. These practices were so overtly discriminatory that in 2003, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Abercrombie. The company settled the suit for $40 million, admitting no guilt but entering into a consent decree in which they agreed to change their recruiting, hiring, and marketing practices. Todd Corley, who was hired to oversee diversity initiatives, is interviewed in the film; he made a few inroads but in other ways was the symbol the company needed to try to change without changing too much.
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The Chimeras of Invincibility and Rectitude
Regardless of a 40,000-million settlement and grievances from employees, Mike Jeffries remained recalcitrant or steadfast in his racist policies because his brain had been hijacked by a sense of invincibility (all-powerful) and rectitude ("I'm right and no one can tell me otherwise"). This is a dangerous position. History shows that such people are not sustainable.
Body Shaming, Abuse, Harassment, Assault
As Abercrombie promotes this chimera of idealized white youth, Victoria's Secret does something similar with its “Angels,” anorexic supermodels, an industry also rife with shaming, abuse, harassment, assault, and general misogyny.
This is chronicled in the 3-part docuseries Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons on Hulu.
Review the Downward Spiral of Abercrombie
- Mike Jeffries is drinking his own Kool-Aid, getting high on his own supply.
- Mike Jeffries is drunk from the rapid success of his company.
- Mike Jeffries enjoys dominance in a shopping mall retail universe while being blind to the oncoming Internet juggernaut.
- Mike Jeffries is imposing racial exclusion on a generation that wants the opposite.
- Mike Jeffries is creating a chimera of the slender white body, “White Chic,” to a diverse consumer base, which becomes more and more toxic over time.
- The toxic themes of racial exclusion bleed into company hiring policies and even racist graphic T-shirts, revealing the company’s racism and hubris.
- The toxic work environment leads to harassment, abuse, bullying, and body shaming.
- The company becomes so obnoxious, racist, and toxic that to see it fall is to enjoy a giant slice of schadenfreude.
