By Misty White Sidell. Speaking out: Maks, a year-old retail strategist for American Apparel, says that she was 'fully comfortable' during the photo shoot that led to this 'Made in Bangladesh' advertisement. I love and embrace all cultures and religions. I am choosing to be creative and expressing myself freely. Born in Dhaka, Maks immigrated to California with her family when she was four years old.

By Annabel Fenwick Elliott. American Apparel has sparked controversy once again with a new ad starring a topless former-Muslim model from Bangladesh. The bold image, which appears in Vice magazine's U. The words 'Made in Bangladesh' are printed across her chest - referring to the woman, of course, not her jeans, a means of raising awareness about American Apparel's fair labor practices - all its clothing is made in downtown LA.

The status of women in Bangladesh has been subject to many important changes over the past few centuries. Still, women in Bangladesh continue to struggle to achieve equal status to men due to societal norms that enforce restrictive gender roles as well as poor implementation of laws that were set to protect women. In legal matters, Bangladesh follows a mixed system, predominantly of common law inherited from its colonial past as well as some Islamic laws that mostly concern personal status issues. Politically, women have been comparatively prominent in the sphere: since the Prime Ministers elected were women , and the current Prime Minister , Speaker of Parliament , and the Leader of the Opposition are women as well as of