I would say YES! Definitely send that email - but we should be
encouraged that the issue is being raised. We should perhaps do
something on the back of this publicity...? What do other members
think?

Jayne



--- In sheffieldfems@..., "fra03lsw" <fra03lsw@s...>
wrote:
>
> I heard about this on Radio 1 newsbeat yesterday - it really
> irritated
> me as they didn't interview the teacher or engage with the issue
at
> hand. I sent them the following email - shall I send it/a similar
> letter to metro under the name of sheffield fems?
>
> Hi Newsbeat,
>
> I was very interested to hear the subject of the Playboy bunny
logo
> being used on children's products brought up on the show. However,
I
> was disappointed that you did not engage with the most obvious
issue
> here - the fact that a pornographic brand is being marketed at
> children. Although WH Smith claim their products are aimed at over
> 18s, it is clear from a glance at the playboy stationery that is
in
> fact aimed at children - it is pink, glittery and impractical -
few
> adults would choose this kind of stationery. A similar range is
also
> sold in John Lewis, shelved under the heading 'children's
> stationary', and includes mini glittery pink rubbers in the shape
of
> the rabbit. These products are clearly aimed at children.
>
> The girl who had her pencil case taken away from her did not know
> what Playboy was, but this is besides the point. By making the
brand
> cool and desirable, the creators of these products are by
association
> making pornography and the sexual objectification of women cool
and
> desirable, and once the young girls buying these products find out
> what Playboy actually is, perhaps by seeing the Playboy mansion
show
> on MTV which glamourises Hugh Hefner's lifestyle, they are likely
to
> believe that playboy and porn are cool and that the women featured
in
> them are appropriate role models.
>
> These women are valued only for their bodies and their ability to
> sexually pease men - are these really the role models we want for
our
> children? On a wider scale, the sex industry is neither cool nor a
> desirable place for women to work - the majority of 'actresses' in
> porn films have suffered rape and abuse and it is estimated that
> between 65 and 90 % of sex workers suffered sexual abuse as a
child.
>
> Playboy itself has printed cartoons which portray rape as a joke
and
> something women enjoy, as well as various positive portrayals of
> child abuse and incest which could cause copy-cat crimes. The
> magazine has also run a number of articles denying the harmful
> effects, and even the very existence of child abuse. One of these
> articles quoted Dr. Ralph Underwager, a former Lutheran pastor and
> founder of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation who was later
forced
> to resign from the foundation's board when he said in a Dutch
> pedophile magazine that pedophilia is, "a responsible choice" and
> urged pedophiles to "make the claim that pedophilia is an
acceptable
> expression of God's will for love and unity." (For the full
article
> related to this, please see
> http://www.genderberg.com/phpNuke/modules.php?
> name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=20)
>
> The playboy bunny, then, represents a magazine which sexualises
> children, and attempts to legitimise this sexualisation.
>
> I'm sure the parents of the girl who had her pencil case
confiscated
> were unaware of this fact, and, had they known this, would agree
that
> the bunny symbol has no place on any products aimed at children.
>
> As a responsible broadcaster, I urge BBC radio 1 to look further
into
> this story and inform its listeners what really lies behind that
cute
> little bunny.
>
> Yours,
>
> Laura Woodhouse
>