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A&F fashion is particularly heterosexualized.
By the photography's representation of (straight-looking) college fraternity/sorority-looking friends and environments, the clothing resists the image of gay fashion in a way that Calvin Klein and International Male, for example, do not.
The guys in these photographs are safely represented as being straight.
they look straight, they dress straight
they hold footballs, they look masculine
they're athletic, they work out, they're built
women, either in the photo itself or on a nearby page, establish a heterosexual context around the images.
So straight guys in A&F stores can see themselves in this photography
(or maybe someone they'd like to be but straight role models nevertheless -- not gay men celebrating gay "lifestyles")
Because while the photography portrays guys touching other guys, it's strongly implied that they are
straight
guys enjoying attention from their straight friends... and that's safe.
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