The church and feminism, the first time to mix?

What do you think of when you hear the name Playboy? You could think sex, naked women, breasts. But would you also think stationary, bed covers or water bottles? What exactly is Playboy?

Playboy operates several porn-channels in the UK. Playboy often refer to women as ‘bitches’, ‘sluts’ and ‘whores’, and market their pornography with language that implies coercion and violence against women. Playboy Enterprises profits from the exploitation and degradation of women and girls.

But isn’t it bed covers and stationary too?

Playboy merchandise such as pencil cases and single duvet covers are targeted to appeal to pre-teen and teenage girls. Playboy Enterprises is grooming girls as consumers of a porn brand and promoting the Playmate and Playboy bunny as something for young women and girls to aspire to.

I think I can honestly say this is the first time I have agreed with the Church on anything to do with feminism. A vicar was told to have angrily cleared the shelves of a local shop because it showcased playboy stationary designed to target children.

He was appalled when he found items carrying Playboy’s bunny logo on the shelves at his local Stationery Box store in York next to Winnie-the-Pooh and Mickey Mouse products. Mr Jones was with his seven-year-old daughter and walked out in disgust. But he decided to take a stand and returned on Monday with a petition objecting to the sale of the goods to children and moved all the Playboy products to an empty shelf. Playboy’s stationery range, which is widely sold in High Street stores, includes pink pencil cases, notebooks, folders, diaries, gel pens and ring binders.

The main issue with this is that the vicar feels that the items are misplaced, because they are put near products that are obviously meant for children. Products such as Winnie the Pooh in my personally opinion are for children of infant school age. Playboy insist its products are aimed at adults only but with the sale of gel pens I can hardly believe that they are not trying to target children, I only used gel pens in junior school after that I ditched them.The local store, then tries to backtrack by commenting that they would not intentionally put such suggestive products near children’s traditional stationary.

Commenting on the vicar’s protest, a spokesman said: “We were surprised to discover that Playboy stationery has been so inappropriately positioned.”

This may only be painstakingly obvious to me but surely if you are trying to sell a product you would keep the colourful products together? Well you certainly wouldn’t put them next to the business elite stationary would you? I can just imagine it now, a company director going out a purchasing a playboy notebook thinking that it will match his playboy felt tip set. So if it isn’t directed at the business elites who are the most likely to be buying a bit of stationary now and again, above the age of 18, who is it targeting?

This leads me to believe that impressionable teenage girls are the ‘target’ audience. Bunnys are cute, ooh and the background is hot pink! wow! The ages 12-18 are vital when it comes to a girl’s understanding and beliefs. During this time your standards can change drastically and not always in the right direction. Jeez I remember when I was 8 yrs old and I thought although I would like a baby when I was older I thought sex was ‘icky’ and that it would be better if I became a nun. I honestly said that to my dad, he was strangely happy. But during puberty these things changed. I don’t have casual sex but I definitely don’t think it is ‘icky’ and I don’t really see the appeal of convent life, although that may have something to do with watching Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg in.

It is indirect but not accidental. It is deliberate, intentional, cynical and wicked and must be resisted.

The main problem of playboy stationary is that it normalises sexual exploitation to young girls. In the back of their mind, because they are young and do not know, a woman showing her breasts on the cover of a magazine is normal and in some cases an ambition. We have young women now who declare, instead of becoming doctors or lawyers, that they want to be porn stars or glamour models. And although stationary might not be the direct blame, the brand introduces that world to them way too early and that can have damaging side effects.

The first UK store to stock playboy branded products for children was Argos. This ranged from stationary to bed covers and pillow cases as well as other accessories, “toys” (WTF?) and gifts. W.H. Smith has also in the past been attacked for selling this range. But they commented:

it aims to strike the right balance to meet the needs of all its customers “whilst not acting as a censor”.

This is the attitude of a corporate business who wants to make a profit. They say “sex sells” but this is taking the piss. I feel ashamed to know that the young girls who buy these products will probably see brands like playboy as a normal part of adult life. Sex is normal but that doesn’t mean children of these ages should be exposed to it.

“Playboy’s target audience is 18 to 34-year-olds, so we clearly did not authorise or approve the placement of our product next to such well-known children’s characters. We will be reviewing this situation immediately.”

The situation in my opinion is a bit too late for some young girls and boys, because now the playboy bunny has in fact become akin to “well-known children’s characters” and it is incredible saddening. Although I believe Mr Jones’ reason was a good one, I do not believe it is the only one to get rid of playboy bunny merchandise. However it is touched upon. The playboy bunny is the explotation of women and is a way of using women while they think they are in control.

The BIN THE BUNNY campaign sets out to defeat the playboy bunny. They have made a variety of videos and have staged multiple protests against playboy stores in the UK. To read more about their campaign click here. BIN THE BUNNY are also organising a protest outside a playboy store Saturday 24th May 2008, details below:

This Saturday 24th May, Anti-Porn London will be holding its bi-monthly anti-Playboy “bin the bunny” protest outside the Playboy store on Oxford Street. The protest is from 1-5pm, and all anti-porn women and pro-feminist men are welcome; you don’t need to bring anything, we will supply placards, flyers, badges and stickers. Please note, we are protesting with police permission, and the pavement outside the Playboy store is very narrow, so we may have to ask people to protest in shifts to avoid blocking the pavement and endangering pedestrians.

To read the full artical click here.