This teen is bringing much-needed attention to Gap’s unrealistic mannequins

Store mannequins are not exactly known for promoting realistic body types. Moreover, many mannequins, were they to be real flesh-and-blood bodies, would be dangerously underweight. While most of us merely raise our eyebrows and shake our heads at these poor choices, one teen is taking a stand against this retail practice.

As Seventeen reports, fourteen-year-old Katie Kaupp of Richmond, VA was shopping with her mom at Gap when she noticed that one of the mannequins was dangerously thin. Katie proceeded to Snapchat the following photo of said mannequin:

When Katie’s mom asked a store employee about the extremely thin mannequin, she was informed that this is what all the new mannequins look like. So Katie proceeded to Gap’s Facebook page to give them a piece of her mind.

“Please, for the mental health of teenagers everywhere, consider removing these mannequins,” Katie pleaded with Gap.

These ultra-thin mannequins at Gap may be a new model, but the retailer has been catching heat for several years now for using underweight mannequins. In 2011, Gap promoted its “Always Skinny” jeans with mannequins who looked, to be honest, TOO skinny.

“I was amazed that they would advertise such skinny legs — skinnier than a healthy [Body Mass Index] person, and even skinnier than someone already underweight. This is anorexia-thin,” entrepreneur Alice Taylor told The Washington Post at the time.

We are saddened that, almost five years later, Gap is still promoting a dangerously thin aesthetic in their stores, but we’re glad to hear that customers like Katie are giving the retailer some much-needed pushback.

“There are way too many unrealistic body standards in today’s society,” Katie told Seventeen.com. “Clothes can look just as great, if not better, on mannequins that look like real women!”

Way to go Katie for taking a stand and here’s hoping Gap gets the memo and gets its act together ASAP.

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(Image via Snapchat.)