Didn't see the report, but hasn't Spencer Gifts been selling the same products for over 20 years now? I remember as a teenager seeing "explicit" material in their stores at least as far back as the mid-1980s. How is this news now?
Amen on the argument -- People need to get over the idea that if it offends them, it must be banned. You don't want it? Don't buy it. You don't like something a story carries? Don't shop there. You don't want your kids going in? Tell them. But don't put the onus of raising your kids on the government or some shop owner. You had the sex. You get the tax credit. That kid is your responsibility.
"Good Morning America," owned by those crazy libertines at Disney, sexophobic? Who'd have thought?
Didn't see the report, but hasn't Spencer Gifts been selling the same products for over 20 years now?
Yeah, and let's not forget that they cover up a lot of it and (usually) monitor who buys what. You can't just walk in and buy porn, but you can buy the toys. Why shouldn't you? They're great gag gifts because they're funny when they open them, and you know they'll actually be used. (Not like a Ruben Studdard CD. That's not even close to funny. Don't ever, ever, ever do that to someone.)
Anyway, is there an age restriction on buying dildos and buttplugs?
Of course Dr. Pants is right, but how about those medieval sword/knife shops that are in every mall? I'm not asking for them to be banned (I guess), but I can't imagine anyone stepping foot in there except psychopaths who fantasize doing horrible things to animals/people.
I'm pretty sure Spencer's has been going strong since at least the 70's. Back in the day they exposed a lot of minors to the perils of lava lamps and black-light posters as well.
It seems like the complaint here is "It's an outrage! When I drop my teenage kids off at the mall with my credit card in their hands so they can shop with their friends while I have some me time, I want to be sure there's no way they can be exposed to anything that might embarrass me."
Parents shouldn't be so worried about their kids seeing sexually explicit material. Greeting cards objectify men and women equally. And, chances are, by the time they're old enough to go to the mall by themselves, they're old enough to know about sex, toys, condoms and lube, etc. I was reading Anne Rice's Beauty trilogy in the bookstore by 8th grade (after it was referenced in a found Penthouse Forum). It doesn't get much more sexually explicit as that.
ON THE OTHER HAND,
if a parent wishes to protect their child from not seeing these objects, it is their prerogative. A child can go in and see things they're not supposed to see because it isn't protected by some kid who has an ID. While monitoring kids should be the responsibility of the parents, stores with explicit material may have a bit of a responsibility for monitoring their patrons and their age. I was carded when I went into sex shops in NYC, and SF (though they had hardcore porn on display).
Spencers was the only place in the teeny town I grew up in that I could get a vibrator when I was a teen. This is ridiculous.
And, besides, what if the report was aimed at the parents who never went into a Spencers Gifts. The same people who talk about parental responsibility and how parents should be informed of what their children are also decrying an informative sexualized expose on ahtw their children could be exposed to. If I were a parent, and I cared about the exposure to sex my child had, I would probably want to be informed of stores like Spencer's.
I'm far more worried about the early sexualization and lack of a childhood for child stars subjected to Disney's factory farms, quite frankly.
Look how many of them are so messed up ...
Spencer's is still in business? That's nice to know.
And yes, they've been selling that stuff since the 60's. Along with lots and lots of drug culture paraphernalia. For any American parent to shocked by Spencer's inventory is ridiculous.
I saw it. Good thing the war is over, the election's over and global warming has been solved since they could spend so much time on this bull.
So THAT'S why I am such a perv today! Because I shopped at Spencer's as a kid.
spencer's is still around? wow. figured hot topic dun run 'em off...
It seems like people here are under the impression that Spencers is some kind of sex-positive head shop, instead of essentially an outlet for beer can holders shaped like tits. Call me when they're selling dildos in Victoria's Secret.
As a kid I wasn't allowed to go to stores without an adult relative. Actually, I wasn't allowed to leave the yard without permission.
The story is here: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4399953
I don't know that particular store, but don't you usually have to be 18 to go into those types of stores? I remember getting carded at a Hustlers once when I was 18.
@18: It's not "those types of stores". It's a gift store, like if Hot Topic didn't sell clothes. They just ALSO generally have an aisle that sells body oils and sex party games, and interestingly-shaped-pasta.
Ditto everything flamingbanjo said.
Also, does anyone know where I can score a reusable picket sign for cheap? I think I'd like to keep one in my trunk in case I ever see fundies protesting. I could protest them back. :)
I just don't see what all the fuss is about. According to Newsweek, you can now get sex toys at your friendly local drugstore: "In addition to dozens of massage liquids, "warming gels," and lubricants in many flavors, you'll also find vibrators. Durex, an international condom maker with a U.S. base in Atlanta, began putting the Little Gem personal massager (a.k.a. vibrator) on drugstore shelves around the country in August of last year." http://www.newsweek.com/id/110965/page/1
I hope by the time my son is old enough to care, this stuff won't be such a big deal.... Then again, maybe we should thank the conservatives, part of the fun is that toys are "naughty", and I'd hate to take that away!
"You had the sex. You get the tax credit. That kid is your responsibility."
Dr. Pants, that is the coolest, most quoteable quote I have ever heard. I think I have found my new bumper sticker!
And as someone who grew up in a bible belt town, can I say that having a sex toy would have made my life much more enjoyable! Instead, I spent my time figuring out new ways to look attentive in church, while in reality I was sleeping. Ah, the good old days!
I'm sex-positive and generally in favor of letting kids gradually be exposed to real-world stuff, including sexuality. However, Spencer's really is a problem.
I'm 18, and I take my younger siblings - the youngest is 8 - to the mall all the time, to shop or see a movie. The window displays at Spencer's are noisy and colorful, sometimes with flashing lights, and seem very kid-friendly. All the little kids run up to the store.
Once you get inside, though, there are explicitly pornographic images of girls with spread legs, on posters displayed at toddler eye-level. I always have to run quick and drag my sibs out of the store, before they see stuff they are too young to process yet.
It's my responsibility to look after the kids I bring to the mall. But there are age verifications on web sites, there are black bars over the cover-page titties on the magazines at the newsstand - so these stores really should ID at the door, or at least post a sign warning parents.
Is Spencers any more explicit now than it was 30 years ago? I found it shocking as a teen, but I don't think it did me any harm. Just gave me the giggles.
Oh, and I bought a cool lava lamp there.
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