Abercrombie and Fitch clothing stores are facing a lot of opposition because of a new line of T-shirts for girls.

The T-shirts, commonly known as “Vanity T’s” sport lines such as “Available for parties” and “With these, who needs brains?” strategically positioned across the chest of the shirts targeted toward younger girls.

On Nov. 1, a group of high school females from Allegheny County Pennsylvania, ranging in age from 13 to 16, appeared on NBC’s “Today” show to announce its support of a national boycott, or “girlcott” as the group called it, of Abercrombie stores.

“[The T-shirts] came up in one of our weekly meetings and we all agreed that we should do something,” said Emma Blackman-Mathis, the 16-year-old co-chair of the girlcott founding group of high schoolers. “We are sick of pop culture telling [females] what our role in society is.”

Abercrombie, which started as a store for wealthy businessmen and now targets adolescents of wealthy suburban families, is no stranger to controversy and has been the aim of several boycotts in the past.

In February 2000, large-scale boycotts of the company’s “magalog,” or magazine catalog hybrid, broke out.

The magalogs, which featured nude combinations of men and women in sexual positions and included a poster-size centerfold, were only available by subscription or in the store to customers older than 18. Since December 2003 the catalog has not included images of nudity, as a result of the boycotts.

In 2004, after the US Gymnastics Team failed to win a gold medal, Abercrombie marketed T-shirts which read “L is for loser” next to a picture of a gymnast on the rings. The shirts were pulled from shelves when USA Gymnastics called for a national boycott.

Again, the company is seeing national support for the girlcott of the new racy T-shirts. In fact, this girlcott went all the way to the Senate. State Senator Steve Rauschenberger announced his plan to introduce a resolution to the state senate to force the company to stop selling the shirts, calling them “offensive” and “degrading.”

While some girls and women across the nation are supporting the girlcott of Abercrombie, others do not seem to care about the shirts. Ellen Jenning, a 20-year-old sophomore, thinks they are funny. She also does not think the girlcott will affect Abercrombie’s sales.

“I don’t think teenagers have a problem with the shirt. They just want the brands that are cutting edge,” Jenning said.

Shad Ahmer, an 18 year-old freshman agreed. “They are just humorous T-shirts” he said, “They just poke fun at the ones who are wearing them, so let them wear them.”

But Jamie Lara, a non-traditional senior English major, husband and father, was concerned. “My daughter is only 2 years old, but I can’t imagine her coming home sometime in the future wearing something like that … It is a poor message that our society thinks these things of women and girls.”

Abercrombie officials have apparently taken notice of the national girlcott. A company spokesperson has recently contacted the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania, the group sponsoring the girlcott, with an agreement to pull several of the offensive T-shirts from the shelves. The group claims to be “pleased” with the resolution.

An Abercrombie official declined to comment on the resolution until after meeting with the girlcott spokespeople and solidifying the deal.