Is it appropriate to advertise sex toys for Valentine's day in downtown Avignon ?Much larger than a sex shop, Body house is a supermarket selling 'all things hot' located in the outskirts of Avignon. Their ad here says 'Body House . Valentine's day . Open Sunday 13 February . Sexy lingerie, sex toys, hot gifts'. I've seen Body House billboards out of town before but they were quite basic affairs bearing their logo and a photo of a girl wearing fairly decent lingerie (similar to what you see here), no other words. This is the first time I've seen a street ad campaign with sex toys explicitly mentioned. I'm not convinced. There are several schools in the vicinity; hundreds of young children walk through this street four times a day (remember many kids go home for lunch in France?). They're learning to read and the words are right at their eye level. As a mother I don't like the idea of having to explain to my 8-year old what a sex toy is. And I'd be even more worried about leaving the task to her grandfather, babysitter or my Ex's new girlfriend. I'd never thought of myself as particularly prudish so I really wonder: am I becoming League of Virtue material or do you think my point of view is a healthy one?
Would you care to share your thoughts with us ? I plan to send a link to this post to the city council.
Lingerie sexy, sex toys, cadeaux coquins... Est-il acceptable de faire de la pub pour des sex toys dans les rues d'Avignon pour la Saint Valentin ? Bien plus grand qu'un sex shop, Body House est un supermarché de l'érotisme situé à la périphérie d'Avignon. Les panneaux d'affichage qu'ils ont hors les murs sont assez sages avec juste la photo d'une fille en body (du même genre qu'ici) et leur logo, pas d'autres mots.C'est la première fois que je les vois lancer une campagne de proximité en centre ville avec des termes aussi explicites. Et franchement je ne suis pas séduite. Il y a plusieurs écoles dans le quartier et des centaines d'enfants de maternelle et de primaire passent ici quatre fois par jour (beaucoup rentrent déjeuner chez eux). Ils apprennent à lire et les mots se trouvent juste à hauteur de leurs yeux. En tant que mère, je n'aurais pas envie d'avoir à expliquer à mon enfant de huit ans ce que c'est qu'un sex toy - et encore moins envie que ce soit sa nounou, son grand-père ou la nouvelle copine de mon Ex qui s'en charge. Je ne me suis jamais trouvée particulièrement prude alors je m'interroge : suis-je en train de virer au parangon de vertu ou ai-je raison de m'indigner ? J'aimerais bien avoir votre opinion sur cette question, j'ai l'intention de transmettre à la mairie le lien vers ce billet.
54 comments:
a cote d'une mini creche, je suis d'accord avec toi, mais a cote des bourses du marché ;) Non tu n'es pas devenue prude, comme il est interdit de vendre de l'alcool autour des ecoles, je pense que l'on pourrait proposer la meme chose pour les publicités très évocatrices.
I agree with you...I think it's very inappropriate for children to see. I think they could advertise their shop without describing what they sell...I assume most adults know what is in the shop already without going into description. Good for you to send this on to the city!
I am amazed by how brazen advertisements in our cities have become. I too am not prudish, but there is a place and time for things. In my opinion, it does not belong on the streets. Actually, I am quite annoyed with advertising billboards anyway.
Tu as raison, cela semble choquant.
Mais pour expliquer "sex toy" à des enfants de primaire, je suis sûr qu'il y a de jolies façons de détourner le sujet !
Maintenant, je préférerais avoir à l'expliquer à un enfant que de laisser le dit enfant tout seul devant... la télé ! (ou les internets...) Cela me semble beaucoup plus dangereux.
Je crois avoir entendu aux information télévisées que la direction d'une école, alors qu'une fillette immobilisée par des gamins s'était fait fouiller la culotte lors de la récréation, avait juste privé de récréation les coupables et n'avait prévenu les parents de la fillette que quelques jours après...
Et on dit qu'il faut de tout pour faire un monde, c'est un monde !
Two publications by date, top speed is increased !
Hello everybody
Remember some cinema façades in the '70s: I think this bill is harmless and there is nothing to worry about. Life is life and let children get some 'soft' information little by little. You're growing old, my friends! But nathalie is right to question herself and make people reflect and share their feelings. See you soon. Huberaime
'Provocative' post Nathalie. In balance I tend to agree with you, in terms of the specific location of the sign relative relative to the nearby schools and so on. It certainly won’t harm to let the city know how you feel, as it may well serve to make them look more closely in future at both the placement and the growth of such advertising signs.
I have to say I also relate to ‘Huberaime’s’ comments, although I think some of the ‘words’ and text references could perhaps be omitted altogether.
But then I am not a mother walking her young kids to school past this sign every day, having to worry about answering their ‘direct’ questions.
Personally, I think as a compromise, they should just ask them to mount a pair of pretty, pink, French window shutters on the outside of the sign, and just permit them to unlock and open the shutters fully...between 9.00pm and 1.00am – Mondays to Saturdays…
Meant to add this to the above comment for a bit of light entertainment earlier...
Et...Voila, a ‘Blogentines Day’ video pour vous et tous votre amis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFtk4E-2VBk
Non, pas prude du tout. Il y a un âge pour tout, un âge pour découvrir gentiment les choses de l'amour. Et l'amour, ce n'est pas forcément que le sexe, il y autre chose derrière. Je trouve que les enfants sont déjà tellement bombardés, s'il faut encore que les magasins érotiques s'en mêlent... Non, pas prude nathalie, simplement attentive et mère. Voilà, c'est tout et c'est déjà beaucoup. Et salutations à la mairie. :-)
À Montréal nous sommes loin d'être prudes, mais tout le monde est d'accord sur le fait qu'il y a certaines pubs qui n'ont pas leur place dans des quartiers résidentiels ou là où il y a des écoles...
Entièrement de ton avis Nathalie.
Quand y aura-t-il enfin une législation efficace pour protéger l'enfance de toutes les pollutions mercantiles ?
Ces pubs n'ont rien à faire en ville et encore moins à proximité des écoles.
Internet offre un espace suffisant à ces marchands de gadgets qui ne sont pas destinés aux enfants.
Les enfants ont le droit de vivre dans leur monde, qui n'est pas celui des fantasmes sexuels des adultes ou des adolescents.
D'ailleurs je doute que les adolescents fantasment sur des sex toys, ils n'ont pas besoin de ça :)
Huberaime - merci pour cette franchise réjouissante, il faut que je me fasse faire un costume de vieille fille aigrie pour aller m'inscrire à une ligue de vertu :-)
Phil - I just love your idea of pink shutters, but what's wrong with Sunday nights?
I do not appreciate Huberaime's jeering at the rest of the commentators and saying-you are getting old my friends.
It is legitamite to be concerned about the influence this advertising may have on children.
some sex toys can be harmfulphysically and psychologically. Anal toys can become lodged in the lower intestine and must be removed surgically.
Certain kinds of materials used to make sex toys can be toxic.
Sex toys used to heavily inflict pain may be psychologically harmful to the maturing mind.
I hate to spoil your fun Huberaime.
Nathalie: re – Sunday nights?
Good question – Initially, from my perspective, I suppose it was meant to simply underline - ‘that long bye-passed and now, commercially hijacked’ culture we used to call...’Sunday’.
The day when society at large used to re-charge itself and sometimes unwittingly but never the less dutifully, refer once again to its core sense of humanitarian values and communal responsibilities, as well as rewarding itself sufficient ‘time’ to actually relish and indulge in the engagement of families and loved ones etc… even if it was just each other at Sunday lunch!
But I suppose in truth, it’s more to do with my increasing passion for a return to the dependable weekly social discipline that I’ve increasingly missed for so many years - that was for so many centuries represented by the simple and regular occurrence of…‘Sundays’.
A kind of – ‘Scene ‘Seven’ – ‘The Intermission’.
Our evolving societies incremental time for pause. A day of occupational rest for ‘most’ people, a day to reflect, plan and give the whole ‘moral pulse’ thing, a bit of a health check – to name but a few…
A day in which we are not subjected to unwanted trash, or in any way confronted/challenged by banal, pointless, commercial solicitations and all too often…monetary compromise.
A day to embolden us again and arrest our naïve pretence that we were actually sort of doing okay, when we were actually probably ‘not’.
A return to some of the ideological essence of ‘Sundays’…a day that’s in some ways partly defined by a ‘lascivious curfew’ – 12.00 midnight Saturday night till say 9.00am Monday morning.
A day of collective regulated rest and shared relaxation – in mind, body as well as spirit.
A day to cleanse, consider and refreshen.
And……..oh! - my goodness moi…it’s Monday morning again…I must have been dreaming!
Oh…and a ‘P.S’. to: 'Anonymous'…You make a fair and just point, but whilst I deeply sympathise with your frightful first hand experiences of sex toy abuse, and I can fully understand your desire to remain ‘anonymous’ by the way, I hardly think that either passing children or the vast majority of their adult parents would be able to deduce such graphically harmful and esoteric knowledge from the vernacular text or images portrayed on this particular advertising sign.
In my honest and humble opinion.
I agree completely. American TV is full of ads for Viagra. Cialis and Levitra. They all must carry certain warnings required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. How do you explain priapism to the same 8 year old?
BTW, we're going to stay in Menton, not Nice, this summer. Jilly gave me some suggestions. Avignon is next on the hotel checklist.
I think that it is gratuitous. They could use far more indirect was to advertise their wares, with phrases like "adult entertainment," to alert passers-by without offending others. So, rather than thinking of this in morality terms, I think of it in practical terms dn think they annoy some people needlessly.
that may be true Phil but the advertisements would raise their curiosity right? to explore and that could lead to harmful consequences - it would be like turning them on to sex toys that they otherwise wouldn't consider but with the help of the media they might.
and I did not have these frightful first hand experiences nor did I suggest that-but whether or not I have isn't really relevant to the argument, the point is the risk is there.
so your honest and humble opinion contains alot of holes.
Hello again ‘Anonymous’. I totally understand how prickly and sensitive a situation such as this must be for you, and…‘reading between the lines’ as sensitively as I can…I most certainly would not want in any way, to insert any further holes into your own boundaries of belief and predilection, in respect of this particular issue, at the very least.
But, with truly sincere respect to your impressively superior and quite bewildering understanding of the more extreme and bizarre hazards of ‘advanced sex toy misuse' Mme, - I’m never the less still pretty sure that ‘Huberaime’ didn’t really mean to jeer or jest at the other commenter’s views and opinions in quite the gaily condescending and irreverent way you seem to suggest here.
Well, at least not in my humble view anyway.
I'm with you on this one - it shouldn't be there.
Ooops, have things gotten out of hand? I hadn't anticipated the kind of exchange that Phil and anonymous just had. Life is full of surprises in more ways than one.
I'm with you Phil, I don't think huberaime even remotely thought of advanced sex toy misuse when he wrote his comment. I think he just meant that, like it or not, our kids ARE exposed to a lot of stuff these days. It's up to us to help them learn master this environment.
En pleine ville ça la fout mal. Tu as raison de t'indigner. Je le ferais tout parail.
Ce week-end au Mans, c'était le Salon de l'Erotisme. Cela doit draîner beaucoup de monde. Il y a plus de curieux pour cela que pour les meubles qu'expose mon Chéri au mois de Septembre. C'est trop injuste !
Nothing has gotten out of hand at all Nathalie.If you bring up a hot discussion you are bound to get a bit of heat!
It is an open discussion and everyone has said what they said and it is all here for the reading and interpretation if anyone should be interested.
Anyway, what time is it? Happy Valentines!
“Now I have children, all of my own
They ask their mother, what will I be?
Will I be handsome? will I be rich?
I tell them tenderleeey….
Que Seraa, Seraa...
Whatever will be, will be...
The future's not ours, to see...
Que Seraa, Seraa...
What will be, will beeee....“
No worries Nathalie. Honest. We’re all good here.
Really!
Just playing around in 'your' back yard last night.
Just like us 'man child’s' do from time to time.
Ironic humour got the better of me again. That's all.
Couldn’t resist it.
I'll behave from now on.
Won’t happen again till next time.
Promise. xx
Have a better day.
P.S. Exciting post by the way. Thank you!
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!!!!!!!!!xxx
Faut-il voir un dessin au dos de ce panneau ?
Si l'on ne sait pas, demandons à nos chers bambins, ils nous diront ! Il ne faut pas se cacher la vérité. Tout est recherche de fric.
Merci d'être passée chez moi !
Cela me fait toujours plaisir.
I do think they is not the right thing to do. They could eliminate the questionable words.
Jeandler, au dos de ce panneau, un plan de la ville.
L'envers vaut-il l'endroit ?
:-)
Chui d'ac avec toi, Nathalie, mais on pourrait pousser juste un peu plus loin et exiger d'être débarassé de ces panneaux Decaux qui gènent le déplacement à pied, enlaidissent la ville et enrichissent... Decaux et puis celle (la disparition) de quelques 4 par 3 qui agressent nos regards en permanence...
Une ville sans panneaux de pub? Chiche?
un blog sur Avignon, j'adore...
et cette ville sans panneaux de pub!
ce serai tellement mieux♥
merci pour cette jolie ballade, de cette ville que j'♥ tant...
Pour protester contre l'ineptie de ces pubs, il suffirait d'un petit coup de bombe de peinture :D
Bizarre, d'ailleurs, que les tagueurs ne s'y attaquent guère...
Avec tout ça, j'ai oublié de dire un mot de la sans doute jolie cycliste qui passe...
Je ne dirais que quelques mots :
C'est un SSsssscaaannnndale !...:)
Ce que tu proposes me fait penser à ces petits icônes qu'on retrouve un peu partout à la TV, sur des jeux vidéos... 3ans et +, 12 ans et +, etc... La société "bien pensante", s'il y en une, croit se donner bonne conscience en mettant des interdictions un peu partout... mais les interdictions chacun sait qu'elles sont faites pour être contournées ! Tu crois que les enfants qui passent par là et voient cette pub seront plus traumatisés que d'autres ?
Que ça te scandalise toi ou d'autres, je peux comprendre ! La société réserve cependant d'autres "surprises" bien plus "vaches" que quelques mots et une photo sur une affiche !
Et puis il y a les mots que les adultes mettent sur les questions, commentaires de leurs enfants !
Moi, c'est plutôt les deux poubelles vertes qui me dérangent dans ce beau quartier d'Avignon ! ! !...
Chacun son trip ! ! !
J'oubliais...
en plus des deux poubelles vert grenouille, il y a aussi la boite aux lettres jaune citron !
Sans déconner ! Ils font forts d'apposer sur l'affiche Sex Toy... que ce soit là, ou ailleurs... Elle est là ta question je pense...
Il se peut oui qu'un enfant pose la question du TOY ! Il y a des films pour enfants qui affichent ce titre... et je pense que les enfants sont très très loin d'être cons !
Je me vois bien entrain d'expliquer à des enfants de 5 ou 6 ans..." Ben tu vois, il y a les jouets comme ceux avec lesquels tu joues et puis, il y a les jouets pour adultes pour se masturber, se mettre dans le "BIP" !...
Donc je reviens sur mon commentaire précédent !...:)
Bonne soirée... avec ou sans Toys ! ! !
Being responsible should always be observe
I'm with you on this Nathalie... very poor judgment and taste exercised by whoever allowed that to happen. I wonder if it's flammable ? A little bonfire of the vanities could be held to burn it down one night soon ? And does the inscription "Plan au dos" mean that on the other side of the sign there are even more explicit instructions ?
En tout cas, c'est la banalisation de l'intimité par notre société bourrée de plastique. Et par dessus le reste, c'est moche et c'est con. Aucune subtilité. La boeufitude qui prend de l'ampleur. Triste à voir...
Advertising sex in front of children, lewd magazine photos openly displayed on newsstands or prostitutes working the streets where children pass by is really not a problem in France where there are basically no moral values.
"I plan to send a link to this post to the city council."
And they will receive you all friendly smiley and then laugh at you behind your back as you walk out not even able to comprehend why you came in the first place.
Richard yes maybe - but then I'm a blogger and a voter.
People who depend on us to be re-elected can't afford to laugh too loud.
Jeff oui c'est le mot "toy" qui me fait penser que les enfants vont poser des questions :
Toys "R" Us, Toy story, les jouets d'habitude, c'est pour eux.
Je ne demande pas grand-chose, pas l'interdiction des pubs pour Body House (certaines pubs pour de la lingerie montrent des filles dans des poses bien plus provocantes) mais juste que le mot sex toy n'apparaisse pas dans les pubs à hauteur d'yeux des enfants. C'est trop demander ?
Richard again - what? No moral values in France? You've got to be joking! Of course there are!
But the French certainly aren't as prudish as some Americans are. The Monicagate wouldn't have happened in France because it's a known fact that many politicians have an active sex life that doesn't involve their wife alone - we see that as something that belongs to the private sphere and which says nothing about their ability to lead the country.
I don't think it's lack of moral values, most people still believe being faithful is preferable, but we know that politicians' lives are so paved with temptations (power is amazingly attractive) that it would be unfair to blame them for stumbling from time to time.
But to me, sexual freedom between consenting adults is one thing, exposing children to sexual matters is quite another.
And I believe many people in France draw the line there too.
“Hear, Hear!” Completely with you there Nathalie. Couldn’t have put it more succinctly.
This particular subject is mostly about common sense, tact, moderation and a bit of respect for wider society as a whole.
The image of the model herself is not especially lewd or shocking in the overall scheme of things, but the location of the sign and specific use (as well as presentation) of the words ‘sex toy’, is unnecessary and unfair on the majority of the local residents and parents taking their kids to and from the nearby schools.
Daft thing to me is – if you remove the words ‘sex toy’ – it won’t make the slightest bit of difference to their future ‘sales figures’. Any prospective adult customer with more than half a brain cell, will not need to be reminded that this type of retail specialist, sells ‘sex toys’ too.
As for Richards comment - “...is really not a problem in France where there are basically no moral values.” – Utter ‘Tosh’.
Whether you were just being momentarily flippant and provocative or not, the ‘moral values’ in France are very much alive, well and in full daily practice throughout the vast majority of French family culture and even French society in general – as is pretty much self evident from the balance of views and concerned comments expressed here in this very post.
Moral values will only become weakened in future generations, if society stops caring about the growth and expansion of ‘excessively lewd/graphic’ sexual imagery and such material displayed in public places – and society ‘en masse’ will never let that happen.
I’ll guarantee it, because no matter what your private sexual orientations or views may be – ‘Everyone’ – values having access to a clean and safe ‘Park’ type environment (and all that this represents) now and then, especially in the company of young children and family members.
Richard yes maybe - but then I'm a blogger and a voter.
People who depend on us to be re-elected can't afford to laugh too loud.
----------------------------------
I wish I could say that was true but unfortunately as you have been able to see in the recent events with the conflicts of interests (et toutes les affaires depuis que je suis en france) the above statement you made is more often than not false. I can give plenty of examples since 1977 but I don't want to clutter up your page.
A friend of mine, an American who worked in France for an American company for a few years once called the police because of noise problems in his neighborhood. They refused to come to deal with the problem. He told them he was a taxpayer and they laughed in his face. (à distance bien sûr) before they gave him a good lecture of what a taxpayer could and couldn't say.
PS. if your a voter why don't you seek local office.
"But the French certainly aren't as prudish as some Americans are. The Monicagate wouldn't have happened in France because it's a known fact that many politicians have an active sex life that doesn't involve their wife alone - we see that as something that belongs to the private sphere and which says nothing about their ability to lead the country."
IMHO. I have always believed that if you cannot be faithful to your spouse you cannot be honest elsewhere. Of course as you say when the temptation to be dishonest arises. Politics leaves a lot of possibilities for temptation to be dishonest.
But let their wives be unfaithful and you will witness the slow decomposition of their "manhood" and a return to the childishness of their behavior.
By the way. Clinton wasn't impeached because he had a sexual relationship, it was because he lied to the grand jury. This is a fact which is all too often overlooked here in France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton
@Phil - "Utter Tosh".
Phil with all due respect please spend some time watching and studying French advertising for one. I have devoted quite a bit of time to this question through seminars as to how French advertising has treated women of the years. I will have no problem citing multiple examples. Pass by any Newsstand and have a look at at the sex magazines in "pleine vu des enfants". Go to parties and where women are present the conversation will systematically turn to sex and sexist comments. "Bon enfant bien sûr"
Moral values and ethics go hand in hand. France doesn't even have a code of ethics for its politicians. I don't need to inform you what is going on and has been going on over the years.
Yes, there are good honest French people but as Nathalie mentioned that " But the French certainly aren't as prudish as some Americans are." as a generalization of the American society because that is the impression some people in France have certainly after reading French newspapers and watching French documentaries" So I do consider the French lacking a sense of morals encompassing a wide range of subjects not only sex.
Also Nathalie, I don't think that canadians are more prudish than than France,gay marriages are rampant, marriages only last a couple of years-I know of a policeman that goes into the schools to lecture on junior high rape - that is ages 13- to 15- these rapes are actually of a concern in that age group.
French people are supposed to be more romantic but then who wouldnt be after all that gorgeous french wine
I deleted 2 anonymous comments which I felt didn't belong to a blog like mine which is meant to be general audience.
Mise au point pour celles et ceux qui auraient mal saisi mon commentaire ou mes deux commentaires :
Pour être clair, j'ai posté deux commentaires, et le second, mal exprimé peut-être et qui porte à confusion avec le premier, dit que je suis en total désacord pour apposer ce genre de messages en villes !
La publicité avec des arguments directs ou pas sur le sexe n'a pas sa place aux regards de tous ! je parle ici aux regards des enfants ! La société, c'est vivre ensemble, en liberté. Je n'ai pas envie d'être "agressé" par des publicitaires qui racollent à tous les coins de rues ! La liberté d'expression ce n'est pas ça ! Ici, il s'agit d'un business qui parle en-dessous de la ceinture ! ! !
Et pour en revenir à cette affiche en plein centre d'Avignon sur une boutique de lingerie, le message ne doit pas aller aussi loin !
Je me demande même comment les services de la municipalité n'ont pas mis leur vêto sur un contenu pareil ! Je parle du texte et pas de la photo...!
Quant aux adultes, sans déconner, s'ils ont besoin d'outillages "spéciaux" pour se donner du plaisir, bander, et atteindre l'orgasme, c'est qu'ils ont de sérieuses questions à se poser quant à leur sexualité ! Ils, elles répondent à une espèce d'uniformisation formatée par une industrie de l'image qui s'adresse à des décérébrés de la sexualité ! S'ils n'ont pas d'idées, ils n'ont qu'à venir me voir... Pas besoin d'un TOY pour prendre du plaisir ou fantasmer ! Ces objets doivent coûter la peau des fesses...!... et c'est là leur unique utilisation... Vider les "bourses" ou sucer le portefeuille ! ! !
Ahhhhh "Pognon" ! Quand tu nous tiens...!
Jeff - MERCI pour cette mise au point qui me réjouit fort. Je t'y retrouve tel que je t'aime, direct, franc et outrageusement sympathique !
To all -
When I wrote this post I thought I was placing the debate on the topic of education : should our children be exposed to adult sexuality? should they be protected? Where is a sensible limit?
I had no idea I was opening a pandora box where all sorts of other things would be discussed, to an extent that sometimes made me unconfortable.
But hey, I've always enjoyed this blog being open to free expression - AS LONG AS they remain DECENT and RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE'S OPINIONS.
No matter how strong your opinions are, a deep respect for others is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.I would be very grateful if you would think about this before making any comment.
A tous - comme je connais mal l'âme humaine ! Je pensais qu'en lançant ce débat je me plaçais sur le terrain de l'éducation : Quelle éducation à la vie pour nos enfants? Quelle protection pour l'enfance? Convient-il d'exposer les enfants à la sexualité des adultes?
Le débat est parti dans bien d'autres directions, dont certaines totalement inimaginables pour moi. J'en ai été un peu abasourdie.
J'ai toujours voulu que ce blog soit un espace de liberté où chacun puisse s'exprimer DANS LE RESPECT DE LA DECENCE et DE LA DIFFERENCE DE L'AUTRE.
Quelle que soit la puissance de vos convictions, un profond respect de l'autre est fondamental. Je n'ai pas le sentiment que tous ici l'aient bien compris, c'est pourquoi je le rappelle avec force.
Je vous invite à y penser avant de faire quelque commentaire que ce soit.
The information you have posted is very useful to those people who are married.
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