SHS Feminist Letter To Marylou's Called Disturbing, Inappropriate

STOUGHTON, MA — School officials have apologized for a letter sent by a Stoughton High School student group to the head of a well-known chain of coffee stores with a Stoughton location.

In a letter to the community, Superintendent Marguerite Rizzi called the letter from the U-Knighted Feminists of Stoughton High School to Marylou’s Coffee, “disturbing and inappropriate.” She noted that the group is not a school-sanctioned organization and has consisted of informational meetings to lay out issues to discuss such as sexual harassment, the Me Too movement, and gender equity.

“We, the members of the administration, for both the high school and the district, want to make it clear that we condemn this letter in its entirety, that we had no idea that it was being written or sent. We would never have sanctioned it had we known,” Rizzi wrote.

The group made their letter to the Marylou’s CEO Keli-Jo Rowell public last week through a now-deleted Twitter post. The group accused the company of not being inclusive and treating people like objects to be placed behind the counter.

“As a diverse, beautiful group of young people who do not all look busty and blonde, we feel strongly that the image you’re portraying highlights only one stereotypical type of beauty and fails to promote equity,” the letter reads.

The letter continues, “You should have enough confidence in your product to allow it to sell itself. It also makes us question the quality of the product. Do your employees have the skills and/or know how to make good coffee, or are they more focused on maintaining their looks in order to meet your unrealistic expectations? Are you trying to sell good coffee or are you trying to sell sex? Right now, it’s unclear.”

Maylou’s, which recently opened a location at the Cobb Corner Shell’s, has been accused of sexist hiring practices in the past. They were investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2012 for their practice of hiring attractive young women and teenage girls in their stores. They were cleared of all charges later that year.

The Stoughton letter has caused outrage from residents across social media, including the popular Stoughton News Facebook group. One post on the topic had to be locked due to the comments.

Messaged posted on the high school group’s Facebook page over the weekend said that the group made a mistake and that the adults in the room got swept up with the kids.

“We obviously are deeply regretting this misstep but the onslaught on social media is unfortunately overshadowing the good that this group and done and hopes to continue to be able to do. Again, we admit the mistake; we take ownership and we’re doing all we can to make it right,” the letter read.

The incident is now under investigation by the school administration.

In a statement, Marylou's said they were aware of the letter and said it was inaccurate, incorrectly characterized the company's hiring policies, and unjustly disparaged their employees.

Image: File Photo