Wait, did we just pay too much for our favorite pair of Old Navy jeans?

Old Navy has some ‘splaining to do.

A new Change.org petition alleges that Old Navy is up-charging plus sized apparel for women. As creator of the petition, Renee Posey, explains:

Every woman knows how hard it is to find a good pair of jeans: a pair that is the right fit at the right price. That’s why I was shocked when, during a recent visit to Old Navy’s website, I noticed that they were charging $12-$15 more for plus-sized womens jeans — but not upcharging jeans for “big” men. If they are charging plus-sized women more to cover the cost of the fabric being used, then why aren’t they doing the same for men?

Posey uses the following example to demonstrate Old Navy’s “sexism and sizism”:

Old Navy’s Rockstar Super Skinny Jeans cost $27 in a size 6. The same jeans in a size 26 cost $40. Alternatively, the men’s Slim-Fit Jean costs $25–no matter the size.

Posey goes on to explain that Old Navy doesn’t just single plus-sized women out in their pricing, it also enforces a double standard when it comes to displaying their wares:

Old Navy even takes it one-step further, by separating out “Women’s Plus” clothes into a completely different section of the website, but keeping all of the mens clothes together. I don’t understand why myself and women like me are being singled out and forced to pay more by Old Navy, when our male counterparts are not.

The petition currently has 35,000 signatures. And it completely makes sense why so many people are rallying around Posey and her demands that Old Navy stop singling out and upcharging its plus-sized female customers. The double-standard makes no sense. If you, as a manufacturer, are going to charge more for a plus-sized garment ( a practice Posey has no problem with, in her petition, she states that she “was fine paying the extra money as a plus-sized woman, because, you know, more fabric equals higher cost of manufacture.”), then you have to charge more for all the plus-sized garments you make, not just the clothing you’re manufacturing for women.

What you, as a company, are saying when you separate out female plus-sizes from the rest of your sizes is that being plus-sized means being separated out from the rest of the female population. When you treat all your male sizes as being equal, both in how you price and how you position the stock, you’re saying that men, no matter what their size, are equal. The double standard makes no business sense and it seems that separating out female plus-sizes is creating some problems.

We still love you Old Navy, and we have a solution: Just treat your male and female customers (of ALL size jeans) equally. That’s all you got to do.

(Image via Shutterstock)