Sometimes (well, to be truthful, in these days,
many times) I despair about this country:
This month, the following things were readily available to any teenage girl who stepped into an Albertsons store: at least four brands of condoms. A recent Men's Health magazine article called, "Six Secret Ways to Turn Her On." Cosmopolitan's tips on how to make your own sex video.
Unavailable in any of Albertsons' 2,500 locations was the October issue of Seventeen Magazine.
The grocery chain pulled that issue from shelves earlier this month. The reason? An article on women's anatomy.
The article, titled "Vagina 101," shows a drawing of a woman's genitalia with arrows pointing out the clitoris, the labia majora, the labia minora, the hymen and the anus. It provides a short description of each part of the anatomy, under the headline "Owner's Manual." On the second page, the author addresses what's normal and what's not.
The Idaho-based Albertsons' corporate office issued a statement saying it pulled the October issue after receiving complaints from customers who considered the article "inappropriate." The company has refused further comment.
We live in a country where the promise of sex is a potent sales tool, be it for perfume, cars or TV shows. That's what makes this situation stand out: Suggestiveness passes muster, but anatomy gets ejected.
Leafing through the article, Charlotte Ladd, 16, said she couldn't see what the big deal was. "It's ridiculous," she said. "If they have a problem with it, they can just skip over the article. But it's information that we need to know." [AP]
We don't have Albertsons here in NYC (that I'm aware of), so I can't do anything myself about boycotting the chain, but people who live in other parts of the country might consider taking their business elsewhere.
[Via Pharyngula]
[Cross-posted to unfutz]