Hot News Mix: American Apparel Ad Sparks Controversy, Women Don’t ‘Ask For It’, New Thumb Ring Gadget + MORE

aa.ad.bangladeshUnderpaid Does Not Mean Without Undergarments. American Apparel must love all the heat it gets for their controversial ads because this time they’ve taken a jab at Bangladesh — the world’s second-largest apparel exporter after China. Their latest ad features a topless young Muslim woman named Maks, with the tagline ‘Made in Bangladesh’ across her chest. And while the sexualized phrase reserved for clothing labels actually aims to shed light on an underlying issue involving the exploitation of garment workers who get paid nearly nothing in third world countries, Maks says she fully supports the message interposed over her nipples, saying,

“all women should feel strong and powerful no matter what their background or what they were taught they had to be.”

Even if Maks defends the ad, one can’t help but wonder how genuine American Apparel is. Would you trust a brand that can exploit a woman’s sexuality and her image to propagate an idea? Couldn’t the same been achieved if Maks was clothed? (Daily Mail)

Speaking of Keeping Clad…Women don’t ‘Ask For It’ by the way they’re dressed. Contrary to popular belief, provocative clothing does not incite sexual violence. In fact, a recent campaign, called “I Never Ask for It”, launched by the activists behind well known Indian blog Blank Noise shared a photo compilation of a range of clothing worn by women who “experienced sexual violence, in any form.” The message? Sexual violence can happen any time, anywhere, despite what you wear. (The Observers)

Sand Sculptor Offers His Prayers. Indian sand artist, Sudarsan Pattnaik, is one of many praying for the return of missing Malaysian flight MH370. The difference is his medium of choice is through his work of art on Puri Beach, India, seen below: (Wall Street Journal)

sand

Smithsonian Honors Turbaned Basketball Player. Last week, the Smithsonian launched its “Beyond Bollywood” exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., showcasing how Indian Americans have shaped the nation. One of these South Asian Americans happens to be Darsh Singh, the “NCAA’s first turbaned Sikh American basketball player.” When asked about the honor, Trinity University’s own co-captain said:

 “When I reflect on how hard my parents worked and hard their parents worked to support my life here in America, I feel extremely thankful. Our generation stands on the shoulders of the giants who came before us. I’m looking forward to the future and how the Sikh community can achieve at even higher levels in the future.” (Huffington Post)

Is There Anything Better Than Apple? What if you had a ring that you could wear on your thumb to control nearly every smart device you own including your phone, music player, camera and gaming systems? Sound too good to be true? You can thank Rohildev N. from Kerala after checking out his invention in the video below: (Scoop Whoop)

Ashley Kooblall is a NYC-based online writer/editor whose work has been featured in YourTango, Women’s Health, and DISFunkshion Magazine. In her spare time she can be found in the nearest Barnes & Noble scoping out the latest books, preferably South Asian historical fiction. Follow her on Twitter @akooblall.

2 thoughts on “Hot News Mix: American Apparel Ad Sparks Controversy, Women Don’t ‘Ask For It’, New Thumb Ring Gadget + MORE”

  1. Q: Why was it so important to mention that the model was Muslim? A: It wasn’t but you put it in there to “other” the subject, as if a woman who was Muslim would not take off her clothes. Nice job at sensationalization and exploitation yourself!

    • Maybe because Islam is the primary religion in Bangladesh, and nudity is regarded as a major taboo…ironically she’s wearing little apparel suggesting that while being topless is the western way, uses the name of the country across her chest with the label Made in Bangladesh, giving misleading impressions about Bengali people & culture.

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