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A pregnant Barbie is obscene, but soft-porn mags aren't?

A pregnant Barbie is obscene, but soft-porn mags aren't?

Date published: 6/8/2003

Wal-Mart has decided that a pregnant, married version of Barbie is obscene. As a mother of nine children, I am hurt that, according to their standards, I have spent 81 months of my life as a walking, breathing piece of obscenity.

Wandering through the aisles at this family-values establishment, I am struck by what they don't consider obscene: condoms prominently displayed in every size, color, and texture; sequined lingerie for little girls; and Cosmopolitan magazine with headlines that only a women's magazine can get away with. (They pulled the equally offensive men's versions off the shelves, but the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, which is soft porn, will continue to be sold.)

The corporate decision-making seems to follow no defined line. They seem to be antifamily, which is interesting for a business that has risen to the top on the backs of the American family.

When I questioned the decision regarding pregnant Barbie, I was told that "hundreds" of my neighbors had come in and complained that she was "gross" and "offensive." However, she sold out in all the stores in our area during a "slow" holiday season. Perhaps this decision went deeper.

Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that when thousands of delighted little girls lifted off Barbie mom's plastic tummy, they found--not a mass of tissue as they had been told--but a baby. A frightened pro-choice group realized this was a secret revealed that might hinder their agenda.

I did forget an item on my list of obscene articles currently being sold at Wal-Mart--maternity clothes. The truly obscene material that they are pushing is hypocrisy. Check out walmartvswomen.com to see how they treat women.

Kelly Gutensohn

Stafford

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Date published: 6/8/2003