Loose Cannon: Rosie’s Secret
It must be something in the air: Recently gender bending has cropped up in a variety of situations.
It started at the National Center for Database Marketing conference in Philadelphia. During an off moment I spoke with an automotive executive who has a cameo role in an upcoming HBO special about gender-reassignment surgery.
It ended with a promotion Lands’ End is running. Seems that the Dodgeville, WI-based cataloger is offering posters and t-shirts that feature a Norman Rockwell image of Rosie the Riveter. http://www.landsend.com/psearch.cgi?search=Rosie&store=le&sid=8266010217257162800&refer=%2Fcd%2Ffrontdoor%2F&store=le&taborstore=all
The proceeds from the poster are going to the Rosie the Riveter Trust, an organization that is looking to build a memorial to the women that entered into the American work force during World War II. (The company would not comment on exactly how much it had contributed, other than to say the poster has been very popular.)
So where’s the gender distortion? It seems that the Rosie the Riveter shirts are only available in men’s sizes. A note at the bottom of the page reads “Women: please order by chest size.”
There’s some confusion about why this happened. One Lands’ End representative said that the shirts were created when a vendor had some leftover fabric and open production time
