CAIR takes a hijab at ANF

Please speak up if you notice anything absurd in the following scenario.

A woman, who is under the age of 18, walks into the Abercrombie & Fitch store at Woodland Hills in Tulsa and attempts to apply for a job, and she is turned down at the interview because she refused to part with her hijab, which apparently is some sort of covering that Islamic fundamentalists like to see women wearing.

And CAIR is suing. CAIR stands for Council on American-Islamic Relations. And it is basically a lobbyist group that's aims are to put every American on a prayer route to Mecca 5 times a day, make sure that every American female is properly wearing her hijab, and make certain that everyone gets their 72 virgins in heaven.

Believe it or not, there is more than just one reason why the scenario is ridiculous, and none of them include the fact that this actually happened. The first is that every higher-end retailer in America whether it be ANF, J. Crew, GAP, Banana Republic, or any other, has 'image guidelines' and one of the primary reason for hiring associates isn't to make sure that the store always looks nice and the clothes are always folded (which if you've ever walked into an Abercrombie store, that rules that out on the quick) but is to promote the company's image, which is the sole reason that they're in the business of selling clothes. And last time I checked Abercrombie's summer line, it didn't include hijabs.

Also as someone that has a lot of experience working for one Abercrombie's lower-end Hollister stores, there are numerous practical and legal reasons why the scenario is ridiculous. First of all the minimum hiring age at ANF stores is 18 due to the racy advertising that is prominently displayed on every wall. The hiring age at Abercrombie Kids stores and Hollister stores, where the wall advertising is a bit more subdued, is 17. I believe that the Tulsa girl was not even 17, so that rules out her application right away whether she applied at ANF or Abercrombie Kids.

Plus I seriously doubt this as a sincere effort to seek a minimum wage-paying job. If it is, my advice is to seriously dissuade her from her chosen path. Working retail is about the least fun you can do, and particularly so if you're far along enough with your college degree to be promoted to Assistant Manager. I know a lot of girls that are Muslim that do NOT wear the hijab. It is hardly required in order to be a devout Muslim no more than it is required to for women to wear a veil during Mass, which some still do. Women elect to cover themselves in the name of modesty, believing that men can not help but view them as sex objects if they don't cover themselves up. Of course this goes along with the line of thinking that women ARE sex objects, which is a role that fundamentalists in almost every major religion are comfortable with. Abercrombie & Fitch is obviously also very comfortable with the line of thinking that women are sex objects and it is probably the last place in the universe that anyone wishing to get away from promiscuity should go. In fact that is the sole reason that ANF employees are called "models" and not "sales associates" like other stores, where a lawsuit like this from CAIR would have been less extremely ridiculous, but still ridiculous.

This is just further Islamic fundamentalist aggravation deep in the heartland of America, where apparently America is most offensive, gaugeing by the reactions of the religious folk. Which is not surprising considering how much news their advances here in Oklahoma have been making lately, with the OU bombing rumors, rumors of an al Qaida cell in Norman, and so on. See, if the people at CAIR were better salesmen, they would already have the folks over at Abercrombie sold on the whole 72 virgins thing, which is way cooler than what awaits good Christians and Buddhists in heaven..