Come to bed, Lolita
NS February 1st, 2008
I was just having my lunch and listening to BBC Radio 2 when a conversation on air caught my attention. The dj mentioned this story, which just came out today, about a group of mothers from an online parenting forum who complained to Woolworth’s about a product on their website which they found offensive. The item in question? A bed range aimed at six-year-old girls, called ‘Lolita’. Woolworth’s withdrew the item from their site soon after they received the complaints.
The debate on air was whether or not these mums should have the right to ask companies to remove things which they find offensive but that not everyone does. Some callers said the women were ‘hysterical’ and that what they were doing amounted to bullying and censorship. Others, including the woman who originally spotted the ad and posted about it online, said that everyone knows the connotations of the name Lolita and that it’s not appropriate to be naming a young girl’s bed after a literary character who was the object of lust for a man having sexual urges for his 12-year-old stepdaughter. A spokesman for Woolworth’s claims that the staff responsible for the website had no idea who or what Lolita was and that even after the complaints started rolling in, they all, including the mangers, had to look it up on Wikipedia to find out what all the fuss was about.
Now, I don’t know which is scarier — that there are people who think it’s A-OK to name a girls bed after a paedophile’s fantasy or that the staff had never heard of, let alone read, Nabokov’s classic. I think the latter is actually more frightening to me. The former I’ve just come to expect. Remember the Tesco debacle last year, in which the giant retailer was selling a pole dancing toy for children at its stores? Or even more recently, Wal-Mart finally pulling from its shelves a pair of pink sparkly underwear, sold in the girls department, that read ‘Who needs credit cards…’ on the crotch? Sad but true.
So what do you think? Were these mums right to complain about the sexual nature of the item and ask for it to renamed or removed, or are they just getting themselves worked up over nothing? Is the sexualization and exploitation of children all in the heads of hysterical parents or are they right to call these companies out on their practices if they find them offensive?
- I Bitch Therefore I Am , In The News , Parenting 101
- Comments(9)
I don’t have children, so I think I can say without bias that it’s not all in the heads of hysterical parents. I do think companies sexualize and exploit children. Surprise. Surprise: pedophiles not only live in dark alleys, coming out only at night, but often work for major corporations. I see nothing wrong with parents trying to protect their children. And, I too, am appalled by the idea that no one at Woolworth’s had heard of LOLITA. Surely (I hope) they were lying.
Hi Emily, thanks for commenting. It’s always nice to get a non-parent’s perspective. Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees when I know that issues like this are ones I will face in coming years with my own daughter. And yeah, it’s pathetic that no one there had ever heard of Lolita. Perhaps I should send them my copy?
Part of it is free trade, really…companies have the right to offer stupid and ill-thought out products, but consumers have the right to point out that the items are not wanted or welcome. If they had been so great and filled a real need, then there would have been consumers on the other side protesting even louder. But the very thought that these items get past the planning stage, or actually that they’re thought up at all, is just depressing. You have to wonder where things went wrong that people think that’s the path they want children to walk down.
I was wondering if you have ever read or heard of a book called Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture by Juliet B. Schor it was very interesting. I read it last semester in a class called Childhood and Family and have now gone about telling my mother all the ills effecting my eight and six year old brothers. (and yes I am quite a bit older then my brothers) Also if you look it up on Amazon and want to read it I will send you my copy as to not be crazy consumers ourselves!!
yup pisses me the hell off, is it any wonder i teach girls who are 12 that use vulgar language and make sexual suggestions to boys. A few years ago they were doing it but i think most were just copying the words etc without actually knowing what they were saying, but today, i really think they know first hand what they are suggesting and it scares the crap out of me!!!
re the brand name, ive sat in marketing meetings to choose names for brands (kitchens – yawn) and let me tell you even the most “intelligent” directors dont think things through. example (although not sexual) new range of doors, they wanted a summery theme (great for winter :p ) so the marketing manager reeled off in her best showoffbutshit french accent, french words “sola” etc then she got very excited and was all ooooooo “plage” and everyone was ooing and arring telling her how fabulous she was until lilnikki pointed out that written in the brochure and the big 100 ft billboards people might, just might think it said “plague” and who whats Death by Kitchen? shocking she thought through Piscine really!
…and thats why im not in marketing anymore! (sorry for the long post!)
Getting the product line pulled as a result of people speaking out is exactly how our voices can make a difference, especially when it comes to our children. All over the world children and women are exploited and we should all be raising our voices in protest whenever and wherever we can.
My daughter is almost four and I am very careful about what I buy for her, what clothes she wears and what shows she watches because it seems everything is sexualized.
I don´t know what is the motivation behind that, but as parents we have to make the choices for our children and use our buying power to protect them. There are things that are simply not appropriate for children.
Lolita as the name of a line of bedding for children is so awful I would expect to find it in a book as a parody. And it is very depressing that no one knows about the book.
As another non-parent I find the sexualisation of children scary. Whenever I buy clothes for my friends’ kids, I’m generally shocked at the range of child slut clothes that are available. Although at the other end of the spectrum, when I was living in England I also found that some of the clothes for women were decidedly childish (ie t shirts with cartoon flowers on them etc). I don’t know if that is still the case but it seemed as though children were being forced to grow up while women were being encouraged to dress as children. Some weird designers/marketer fantasy going on there.
I’m so glad some people are doing something about this. I’ve often walked around shops or observed what girls are wearing and thought ‘is it just me or…..’ My friend’s 9 year old came home from a shopping trip hiding a g-string among her purchases, wtf?
BTW, you’ve been tagged, see me blog for details