OT: NYTimes admits to elitism!

[torquer]

Not only elitist, but fatist (or should that be skinnyist?), according to the Public Editor, apologizing in Sunday's paper for an ultra-snarky review of the new Manhattan J.C.Penney (and its customers):

“Why would this dowdy Middle American entity waddle into Midtown in its big old shorts and flip-flops” without even a makeover of its logo, asked the columnist, Cintra Wilson, a virtual sneer seeming to drip from her keyboard. She said Penney’s “has always trafficked in knockoffs that aren’t quite up to Canal Street’s illegal standards”; “a good 96 percent” of the clothing is polyester; the racks are full of sizes 10, 12 and 16, but not Wilson’s 2; the petites department has plenty of clothing “for women nearly as wide as they are tall”; and the store “has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen. They probably need special insulin-based epoxy injections just to make their limbs stay on.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/opinion/23pubed.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=public%20editor%20&st=cse

The original column had some pretty good lines that were edited out of the apology:

J. C. Penney has always trafficked in knockoffs that aren’t quite up to Canal Street’s illegal standards. It was never “get the look for less” so much as “get something vaguely shaped like the designer thing you want, but cut much more conservatively, made in all-petroleum materials, and with a too-similar wannabe logo that announces your inferiority to evil classmates as surely as if you were cursed to be followed around by a tuba section.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fashion/13CRITIC.html

Lapses in tone, style and content aside, what I thought was interesting was how this patently offensive (to some, many, most?) piece fell through the editing cracks; the Public Editor is silent on the point, but maybe the staffing cutbacks endemic in the publishing industry are taking their toll at the (size 2) Grey Lady as well.

[LegendRider]

Reminds of the story, apocryphal or not, about the NY Times writer who said, "I can't believe Nixon won!!! I don't know ANYONE who voted for him."

[93legendti]

Not only elitist, but fatist (or should that be skinnyist?), according to the Public Editor, apologizing in Sunday's paper for an ultra-snarky review of the new Manhattan J.C.Penney (and its customers):

“Why would this dowdy Middle American entity waddle into Midtown in its big old shorts and flip-flops” without even a makeover of its logo, asked the columnist, Cintra Wilson, a virtual sneer seeming to drip from her keyboard. She said Penney’s “has always trafficked in knockoffs that aren’t quite up to Canal Street’s illegal standards”; “a good 96 percent” of the clothing is polyester; the racks are full of sizes 10, 12 and 16, but not Wilson’s 2; the petites department has plenty of clothing “for women nearly as wide as they are tall”; and the store “has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen. They probably need special insulin-based epoxy injections just to make their limbs stay on.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/opinion/23pubed.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=public%20editor%20&st=cse

The original column had some pretty good lines that were edited out of the apology:

J. C. Penney has always trafficked in knockoffs that aren’t quite up to Canal Street’s illegal standards. It was never “get the look for less” so much as “get something vaguely shaped like the designer thing you want, but cut much more conservatively, made in all-petroleum materials, and with a too-similar wannabe logo that announces your inferiority to evil classmates as surely as if you were cursed to be followed around by a tuba section.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fashion/13CRITIC.html

Lapses in tone, style and content aside, what I thought was interesting was how this patently offensive (to some, many, most?) piece fell through the editing cracks; the Public Editor is silent on the point, but maybe the staffing cutbacks endemic in the publishing industry are taking their toll at the (size 2) Grey Lady as well.
Given that it's Ny Times, I'd assume editor intent rather than lapse.

[39cross]

Geez, who would have guessed that dimensionally-challenged people read the NYT? And are lacking in the sense of humor department? Can we blame the August heat and humidity for sweating away their last drip of jolliness? I never would have guessed so many people have emotional ties to J.C.Penney. It is, after all, what it is.

[r_mutt]

what's the problem? isn't it well known that 80% of all americans are obese? we have cheap corporate food with super-sized portions to blame for this.

as a matter of fact, you can't buy a decent t-shirt these days because no one makes t-shirts for non-fatties. a medium sized t-shirt is last decade's extra large. i'm mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore!



:p

[daker13]

as a matter of fact, you can't buy a decent t-shirt these days because no one makes t-shirts for non-fatties. a medium sized t-shirt is last decade's extra large. i'm mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore!
:p


Try American Apparel. There you can find a medium that fits like a small, presumably because of their skinny hipster clientele. I'm typically a 6'2" XL, but I have to size up their shirts because they're so tiny. And anytime a company prints designs on an American Apparel t-shirt, their largest size--XL--fits me like a Eurocut jersey.

[Moontrane]

Reminds of the story, apocryphal or not, about the NY Times writer who said, "I can't believe Nixon won!!! I don't know ANYONE who voted for him."

I know of it as coming from Pauline Kael, late film critic for New Yorker magazine.

[Rueda Tropical]

We could use a little more elitism. We have made stupidity, anti-social behavior and mediocrity a virtue and intelligence and competence something to be mocked. The NY Times wouldn't qualify as elitist, it hasn't demonstrated the sort of competence at it's mission that would justify the claim. Of course in a media full of bought hacks, shock jocks and dumbed down infotainment even the NYT's mediocrity looks good.

[CNY rider]

New York Times admits to being elitist?
Wow.
What's the next revelation?
Someone going to tell me my golden retriever really does drink from the toilet when we're not looking?

[torquer]

I know I started it, but this looks like piling on against the Times.

Its the admission of elitism that was remarkable, not the "fact" (or appearance, depending on your outlook). Otherwise its just a dog-bites-man story. What other MSM even has a "Public Editor" to air these kind of issues.

The NYT is my daily read. I probably qualify as an elitist myself. Furthermore, my default epithet when buzzed by some SUV is "lardass." (I also assume the driver is a NYPost devotee, if they ever turn off Rush or Fox News.) But I restrict my rants to friends, family and a few select cyling web sites. It was the Times' high-profile lowering itself to the level of cable "discourse" that triggered this kerfluffle in the first place, but give them credit for recognizing the doodoo they stepped in.

[Jawn P]

Try American Apparel. There you can find a medium that fits like a small, presumably because of their skinny hipster clientele. I'm typically a 6'2" XL, but I have to size up their shirts because they're so tiny. And anytime a company prints designs on an American Apparel t-shirt, their largest size--XL--fits me like a Eurocut jersey.

Being part of the hipster clientele, I think the sizing runs large. The smalls fit like a medium :)

[fourflys]

I'll have to say if you read the original column, the writer is actually very complimentary about Penny's.... I agree she does come off as a bit snobby, but it's not a bad read....

[Kirk Pacenti]

Can we blame the August heat and humidity for sweating away their last drip of jolliness?

Too funny; I actually did LOL. In fact i am still chuckling as I write this! :p

[sailorboy]

what's the problem? isn't it well known that 80% of all americans are obese? we have cheap corporate food with super-sized portions to blame for this.

as a matter of fact, you can't buy a decent t-shirt these days because no one makes t-shirts for non-fatties. a medium sized t-shirt is last decade's extra large. i'm mad as hell and i'm not going to take it anymore!



:p
+1

If anything, she should be praised for framing the issue of obesity, irresponsibly-produced, non-renewable petroleum-based clothing and everything else she picked at in a humorous way. If there's anything shocking and offensive about it, its yet another reminder that the ever-increasing portion of my paycheck going to medicare (a benefit there is a good chance I won't see myself) is dis-proportionately allocated to the care of those who suffer from obesity-related illnesses, brought on in large part, by their personal dietary and lifestyle choices.

Elitist, liberal-slanted or otherwise, we'd probably all be a little better off if more folks read the NYT than 99% of the printed media available out there.

ATMF, IMO, etc...

[johnnymossville]

I might be biased since I used to work for The NYTimes, but even with their goofy slanted editorial crew and lack of fact checking abilities lately, many parts of that paper are still a great read. Some of it just isn't available anywhere else. It'll be sad to see it go, which I think is happening sooner than later.