Selfsufficientish.com

You might have seen in the papers or heard on the radio about Woolworths withdrawing a piece of furniture from sale after complaints from a parenting website, (of which I am a regular member).

The item, if you haven't heard about it, was a small girl's 'multi-combo' bed which had been advertised as the 'Lolita' bed.

Woolworths PR Department say that they had no idea that the name 'Lolita' refers to a book (and two films) about a man's sexual fascination with a 12 year old child and, after pressure, finally removed the item from their website.

What do you think about it? A harmless name for a bed? Woeful ignorance? Or another example of the sexualisation of young girls? (Bratz / pole-dancing kits for children anyone?)

Were the website kicking up a storm over nothing? Is the name that important?

What do you think?

It is more disturbing to me that the PR folk had never heard of 'Lolita'
by the way, I love the James Mason film (I am a big film buff)

I do believe that the sexualisation of children is a different matter I don't think it was intentional.

When I worked in the kids department of a high-street fashion store we got a bag in on a delivery that was emblazend with the slogan 'Ebony Crush'... no-one else could see that this might be inappropriate for a kids bag - not least because it souds like what a p*rn star might be called.

A few weeks later it was recalled, no reason was given.

And again, I am possitive it was unintentional.

I suspect it was innocent. but you never know. i do think the PR dept should have looked up the name doh!

but it happens. I remember birds eye bringing out 'cod pieces' renamed swiftly...

Before the book and the film Lolita was just a nice girls name with latin/spanish origins it also a popular name in areas like serbia romania etc Lolita is also a term used in Japan for dressing up like a doll (sometimes called Gothic Lolita) basically it is concevable that if the PR person was under a certain age that they may never of heard of sad book/film and just thought it was anice little girls name, If something that was made for a little girl was called Emanuelle would you refuse to buy it and or insist on a name change because of the films associated with that name?
I do feel uneasy with the way that sexuallity seems to be pushed on to young girls with certain toys mags etc but with girls maturing so much earlier these days it that tobe expected?
As a Mother i am uncomfortable with this and as i have said it does make me uneasy but is it because i am a mother that i am seeing danger where it real is not ?

I assumed it was unintentional, but I find it rather alarming that nobody involved in the production/marketing of the bed noticed.

I also find the sexualisation of young girls quite frightening - who buys their daughter a pole-dancing kit??? I see so many girls wearing make-up and heels, and you hear about girls under 12 whose mothers take them to spas and beauty parlours and stuff, and 8 year olds who have eating disorders. I worry about what these messages and expectations must say to girls who might think, 'I'd rather read a good book than paint my nails,' or 'I'd rather climb trees and get my hair messy, thanks very much.' I don't have children yet but when I do I dread having to steer them through the morass of gender stereotyping and unwholesome messages from the media...

red wrote:I remember birds eye bringing out 'cod pieces' renamed swiftly...

Not heard that one!

Mmm...we used to have a Chinese Takeaway called 'Golden Showers' too!

It's funny, this story is gathering momentum and it seems to be that the media want to report this as 'hundreds of middle-class mothers forcing Woolworths to withdraw the bed'.

What actually happened is that the site editor rang Woolworths to ask what the thought process was behind naming a child's bed after a name synonomous with childhood sexuality. Woolworths withdrew the bed WITHOUT any force....and admitted their ignorance. Which, to me, is commendable.

i heard it on the radio, can't belive thier pr crew are so stupid especially when it comes to children

Russ

They've still got all the Bratz stuff (I won't start the rant here...) and a chair called "Slob". Truth in advertising?

I also find it a bit odd that no-one in the company clicked that the name Lolita might raise eyebrows. I know it is joked that they don't employ the brightest buttons in the box, but they admit to having to go to Wikipedia to discover what Lolita was!

Wassail

Karen

i think its ridiculous...bratz dolls ooze sex etc and encourage little girls to grow up to fast...so why not withdraw them

I'm surprised that no one spotted it before the product got that far. If I had worked in the office that passed it I think I would have raised a query about the associations of the name.

On the other hand, there are a lot of names that could be considered tainted by how they have been used before.

Out of interest, I wonder how many girls get named Lolita? I'm sure it is nowhere near the top of the list of popular names but I wonder if it features somewhere?

Wulf

I don't think you need to be aware of the book or the films - using Lolita as a descriptive term of sexually provocative young girls is a favourite of the tabloids so I find it far fetched that nobody a t Woolies was aware of the connatations this may create.

wulf wrote:
Out of interest, I wonder how many girls get named Lolita? I'm sure it is nowhere near the top of the list of popular names but I wonder if it features somewhere?

Wulf

Well, here in the rural depths I know of two young girls with this name. I couldn't say how generally common it is in France though. But then the name "Fanny" certainly is very common here. I have never felt the need to enlighten any owners of this particular monika as to it's alternative meanings.

Re the Lolita bed: As father to three daughters...difficult...but on balance I think I'd have let it go if it had been up to me. I'm probably wrong, but I imagine that anything that draws taboo to a name is probably not good.

I bought a pair of boots today in a sale in Dorothy Perkins, when I took the stickers off the bottom I noticed that the range was - the Lolita range

Welsh Girls Allotment wrote:I bought a pair of boots today in a sale in Dorothy Perkins, when I took the stickers off the bottom I noticed that the range was - the Lolita range

I bet Dorothy Perkins have been keeping very quiet about that... although I can see that "the Lolita bed for young girls" is a more obvious target for lampoonery.

Wulf