The Prudification of America

[MrScorpio]

Getting Sexy ... at the Drugstore
Friday, August 04, 2006
By Catherine Donaldson-Evans

Going to the pharmacy to pick up your prescription or restock on toiletries didn't used to conjure up erotic fantasies or top lists of titillating experiences. Until recently, that is.

Warning: Readers should consider sitting down with a cold glass of water before continuing.

Trips to chains like CVS, Rite Aid, Wal-Mart and Walgreens have become anything but sterile, thanks to the expansion of mainstream sexual products like sensual sprays, lubricants, massage oils and condoms — all geared toward enhancing sex for women.

Turning the heat up at the drugstore has apparently turned mainstream America on. Customers have gotten busy buying goodies like Trojan's new condom with a vibrating ring (part of its female-targeted Elexa line, which also includes an intimacy gel) and lubricant maker K-Y Brand's "luxurious massage oils" that promise to "enhance romance and intimacy."

"We have started actively targeting women with our products," said Jim Daniels, Trojan's vice president for sexual health marketing. "Given the sales result — our sales rate is very high on this — consumers' response has been exceptionally favorable."

Clip

But other consumers, including parents, are concerned about the trend, believing it to be more evidence of what they see as the erosion of morality and good taste in America.

"All of this falls in the category of the coarsening of the culture that does concern us tremendously," said Charmaine Yoest, a spokeswoman for the Family Research Council, a conservative group whose causes include the push to adopt more stringent indecency standards for television. "A lot of this stuff is just plain vulgar. As a mother myself, I find it very troubling."

Yoest, who has five children, worries that because there are no age regulations on sales of condoms and lubricants, kids and teens could easily get their hands on them.

"Your children are exposed to things younger and younger that they wouldn't have been in another day in age," she said. "As a parent, it's getting harder and harder to control it."

In fact, while K-Y's products aren't under any legal restrictions, Trojan's are.

The vibrating ring, for instance, is prohibited from being sold in Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia, all of which have laws that limit or forbid the sale of products designed to stimulate genitalia.

The rest

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,207146,00.html

[deadparrot]

1. But, you know,

selling guns and ammo at Wal-Mart is A-OK. :eyes:

[MrScorpio]

3. Of course, you have have to think about "The Children"

When she have another one popping out of your naughty place

[Guy Fawkes]

6. Funny story...

Friend of mine went to Wal-Mart, trying to find ingredients for some stupid stunt or something. And while you normally need to be over 18 to buy Black Powder, the lady at Wal-Mart couldn't do math. Whoo! (Don't worry, no one got hurt)

[MissMillie]

47. no, it's not, but to a certain extent I think these items might raise

questions for kids before they're ready to deal with the answers.

I guess if the stuff is high up on the top shelf, I'm okay w/ that.

[NMMNG]

2. Oy vey

Sexual pleasure is being banned by law, but your right to arm yourself with an automatic rifle--the only purpose of which is to kill human beings--is guaranteed by the Constitution. There is something completely effed up about that. :crazy:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

While I do know someone who got a concussion from a dildo...

I've never heard of someone being killed with a sex toy.

[NMMNG]

14. You know I have to ask

How did someone get a concussion from a dildo?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

19. Back when I was working at the health food store...

one of my coworkers had cancer, so naturally we hosted a sex toy party to raise some money for her. Anyway, we're basically playing a game of "Hot Potato" with this METAL dildo and the music stopped. The store owner was holding it and she flung it at one of my coworkers, so she wouldn't be out of the game. Anyway, the dildo cracked her in the forehead really, really hard. Apparently, her husband never quite "got" how she ended up with a dildo concussion at a work party.

She ended up being fine after a couple days, but she had a story that will last a lifetime.

[NMMNG]

20. Ouch

Do people actually buy metal dildos? Are they used for the usual purpose or just for conversation pieces?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

24. I'm pretty sure it was mostly just a conversation piece.

There were also glass dildos for decorative purposes.

Why someone chose to use that one for Hot Potato when there were plenty of softer silicone and cyberskin ones around is beyond me.

[MrScorpio]

26. The Pyrex versions are definitely for use

You can boil them clean and reuse them, just fine

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

28. These weren't pyrex. They were hand blown glass.

[SeattleGirl]

31. Designer dildoe's?

Wow!

[martymar64]

68. I saw some in a shop on Capitol Hill

I think it was on Pine. Right in the front window.

[SeattleGirl]

73. I haven't seen that shop.

But I don't get up to Capitol Hill near as much as I would like to. (I wished I still lived on the Hill -- not because of the shop, but because I love that area so much.)

[martymar64]

82. I walked by it a few times when I lived on First Hill

It was on the way when I would walk to Utrecht for art supplies.

[MrScorpio]

36. Yep, those are not for use

Thanks

[La Lioness Priyanka]

39. ooo pretty

[RevCheesehead]

74. "hand blown"

:spray: :rofl:

It's a two-fer!! :rofl:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

77. Damn, I never even thought of it from that angle.

My dirty mind must be slipping.

[RevCheesehead]

79. Glad I could be of assistance!

:evilgrin:

[NMMNG]

35. Indeed

Many years ago I was in a store called Shop Therapy, located in Provincetown. There was a butt-plug that at its base was as big around as a salad plate. I can't imagine that was anything but a conversation piece. At least I hope that's all it was. :yoiks:

[politicat]

78. There are stainless steel ones used for pelvic floor exercises.

They can also be autoclaved (as can the pyrex glass ones).

[anarch]

64. not to make light of anyone's injury, but...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAA!! :rofl:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

65. Don't worry. She laughs about it, too.

:rofl:

[MrScorpio]

4. Even among married couples

To whom ALL the marketing is geared to, with the exception of other non-married adults... Then it becomes a safety issue

[CanuckAmok]

13. I LOVE your odometer!

That's classic!!

[NMMNG]

15. Thanks

I stole it from another DUer who has created bumper stickers and T-shirts from it. They're available at Cafe Press.

[Fox Mulder]

42. No shit.

[benEzra]

50. Automatic weapons are restricted nationwide by Federal law,

Sexual pleasure is being banned by law, but your right to arm yourself with an automatic rifle--the only purpose of which is to kill human beings--is guaranteed by the Constitution. There is something completely effed up about that.

Automatic weapons are restricted nationwide by Federal law, specifically the Title 2/Class III provisions of the National Firearms Act, which have been Federal law for 72 years. Possession of an automatic rifle, or any other automatic weapon, without Federal authorization (a BATFE Form 4) is a 10-year Federal felony.

I agree with you that the prudery regulations are absolutely rucking fidiculous.

[NMMNG]

76. Restricted yes

But you only need authorization and you're all set. If you can't get an automatic there's always rifles and hand guns (or semi-automatics). The sex toys are outright banned in more and more locations--and how many people have they harmed, let alone killed?

[benEzra]

81. Even with Federal authorization, many states prohibit them outright

and a BATFE Form 4 isn't particularly easy to get. The waiting period is around six months.

I agree with you that the bans the OP discusses are stupid. If someone doesn't like adult toys, they shouldn't buy them. If they have moral objections to adult bookstores, then they shouldn't go there.

More of the same old gotta-run-other-people's-lives-for-them-cause-I-know-better mentality, I suppose.

[SeattleGirl]

5. I'd love to ask the woman with the five kids how she thinks they

got here. The stork????? :rofl:

[MrScorpio]

7. I wonder how she's going to tell her kids how they got here

With her, I think the Stork is a definite option

[SeattleGirl]

9. It's probably the ONLY option

unless she goes with the cabbage patch idea. :eyes:

[LeftyMom]

8. Dry uninspired missionary sex, like Gawd intended.

If the Lawd wanted us to like sex it would feel good or something. :P

[SeattleGirl]

11. LOL!

You SOOOO bad, LM! That's why I like you! :evilgrin:

[LeftyMom]

16. I try.

:blush:

[TrogL]

21. Sounds like missionaries need lube

[SeattleGirl]

22. ROFL! Send 'em to the drug store, then!

:rofl:

[LeftyMom]

29. Too busy finding god to find the g spot, apparently

:evilgrin:

[SeattleGirl]

33. Hahahahaha!

Wouldn't doubt it a bit!

[Briarius]

75. isn't that what the 'g' stands for?

:D


either way they're both imaginary...:evilgrin:

[Oeditpus Rex]

10. The usual way

But she didn't enjoy it. Heavens, no!

[SeattleGirl]

12. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me at all if she didn't.

After all, "good" Christian wimmins don't have sex for enjoyment. Lawdy, no! That's only for the menfolk. Wimmins do it only so they can birth babys!

[NMMNG]

17. I'm waiting for the day they advocate

the man ejaculating into a cup and the woman inserting the semen via a turkey baster. Anything to prevent actual sexual pleasure--particularly on the part of the woman. :eyes:

[SeattleGirl]

18. Geez, Buffy, don't give 'em any ideas!

Actually, they probably have a plan for that all written out!

[NMMNG]

27. I'm not entirely sure they'd go that far

The Bible says this, after all:

1 Corinthians 7

1 Now about the questions you asked in your letter.

Yes, it is good to live a celibate life. 2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. 3 The husband should not deprive his wife of sexual intimacy, which is her right as a married woman, nor should the wife deprive her husband. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband also gives authority over his body to his wife. 5 So do not deprive each other of sexual relations.



Funny how the fundies claim sex is only for procreation when the Bible itself tells them not to deprive each other of sexual intimacy. Of course we all know that most staunch atheists know more about the Bible than the average fundamentalist.

Still though, they don't proceed in any rational way. And given how their war against sex is getting progressively more aggressive I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to ban it altogether no matter what their Bible says.

[SeattleGirl]

30. Well, remember, they are very fond of ignoring the parts of the

Bible that don't fit within the confines of their tighty whitey religion.

[NMMNG]

37. Yes, I know that very well

They are masters at the Cafeteria Plan. Pick out what you want to enforce against others and stick to it like it's written in stone. Disregard the rest entirely and have prepared convenient excuses as to why you don't need to follow that. (That only applies to the Jews, That was the old covenant not the new one, Verse such and such negates that, You're just reading that wrong, etc, etc.)

[SeattleGirl]

38. What a great way to describe it, Buffy.

The Cafeteria Plan. That describes the way they operate just perfectly. Myself, I prefer the full meal deal.

[Bridget Burke]

44. With the Song of Solomon for dessert....

Or the Canticle of Canticles, if you're using the Catholic version.

[TrogL]

23. What is with these people

What's a parent to do?" wondered Yoest, who admitted she hadn't seen the K-Y or Trojan ads.

When I was teaching, I would have fundies in my face about a certain textbook they claimed was satanic. The principal had a form for them to fill out. First question - "have you read the book". They routinely checked "no".

[SeattleGirl]

25. Well that sounds about right.

"Naw, I nevah read the book, but Ah KNOW it's bad for my children."

[MrScorpio]

32. You know the more I think about this

I believe that the wingers want to make sexual desire a "ThoughtCrime" in America. No matter WHO the partcipants are.

NOW that would be unnatural, if anything

[SeattleGirl]

34. Oh Gawd! I'd be in BIG trouble, if they every pull that one off.

I kid you not.

[NashVegas]

41. And Thought Criminals

If I've got the choice between purchasing, ahem, pleasure enhancers, at the drug store or the seedy adult shop that smells like a peep show stall ...

But the fundies want me in the seedy place.

[Fox Mulder]

43. Didn't they want to do that in the book 1984?

Get rid of the orgasm?

Sounds like something the fundies want.

[querelle]

40. Is This True?

"The vibrating ring, for instance, is prohibited from being sold in Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia, all of which have laws that limit or forbid the sale of products designed to stimulate genitalia."

Wow.......I'm glad I don't live in any of those states. If I did, I'd probably have my right hand cut off.

Q

[B3Nut]

45. That's what happens when you give meddlesome inbreds

power over other human beings.

Todd in Beerbratistan

[nosillies]

46. My favorite drugstore display ever.

It was right before Valentine's Day, at a Walgreen's. I have no idea if this was intentional or not. I have to assume it was. But these items were all on sale, displayed by the cash register, from left to right, IN THIS ORDER:

Fake roses
Teddy bear
Chocolates
KY warming lotion
Trojan condoms
Pregnancy test
Disposable camera
Baby formula
St. John's wort supplements

[MountainLaurel]

53. Oh. My Word.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[ceile]

48. The last line:

"It wouldn't surprise me," she said, "if there were a contingent of people who think Satan is responsible for all this."

:rofl:

[SeattleGirl]

67. That one cracked me up too!

:rofl:

[NewWaveChick1981]

49. Fox News. Yeah, big surprise.

:eyes: Bought my first vibrator when I was 17, and I bought it in person with no ID required. :P I welcome the fact that companies are waking up to the fact that women enjoy sex too and that such products are becoming more available in mainstream stores. I've bought lots of adult merchandise over the years by mail-order and in person, and although not everything is available at places like CVS, I'm glad it's becoming more mainstream.

I think the fundies who try to restrict or abolish access are just kidding themselves. :P And yes, those same fundies buy guns at WalMart. :eyes:

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MrScorpio]

55. No, that's not what we're talking about

DU mods are not stopping us from having fun with out S/O's through the use of party favors

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MrScorpio]

57. No... And I'm assume you're talking about sex threads

There are the threads that are posted for shock value and in a purient manner, which aren't allowed. The reason being that in the past, they devolved into flamefests.

DU has rules on various subjects that are cast in the same light.

Reasonable and responsible discussions about human sexuality (like this one) do have a place here.

It's all about keeping civility.

[Name removed]

60. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MrScorpio]

62. Let's go with Inflamatory posts

Mods also have the option to remove single posts from a thread that are insulting and inflamatory

People can disagree without a thread turning into a flamefest.

So far, this is a perfectly good example

[LeftyMom]

69. There's really no bar on discussion of sexuality as an issue

There are very frank discussions about the role of monogamy, about porn and sex work, about sexuality and gender identity that take place here. The rule is to prevent discussons of sex that are intended to be more tittilating than informative, as these used to be problematic in the lounge.

It helps to keep in mind that there are quite a few under-18 DUers and that any material posted to the site that they can't read is a legal problem waiting to happen.

[Book Lover]

52. Here. Let me run her words through my "Fear Translator"

"All of this falls in the category of the coarsening of the culture that does concern us tremendously," said Charmaine Yoest ... "A lot of this stuff is just plain vulgar. As a mother myself, I find it very troubling."

Translation: I find this stuff distasteful. And it disgusts me that you don't.

Yoest, who has five children, worries that because there are no age regulations on sales of condoms and lubricants, kids and teens could easily get their hands on them.

Translation: My children are going to have sex someday!!!!! I am disgusted.

"Your children are exposed to things younger and younger that they wouldn't have been in another day in age," she said. "As a parent, it's getting harder and harder to control it."

Translation: I have no idea how to be cool, calm or collected when my children ask me about sex. Therefore, society must remove all embarrassing items from my sight.

[idgiehkt]

54. could it be anymore obvious that religion is a form of government?

"All of this falls in the category of the coarsening of the culture that does concern us tremendously," said Charmaine Yoest, a spokeswoman for the Family Research Council, a conservative group whose causes include the push to adopt more stringent indecency standards for television. "A lot of this stuff is just plain vulgar. As a mother myself, I find it very troubling."


As a mother, which means she's actually had sex. Why do these people care what other adults do? I don't get it....

I'm also tired of this coarsening culture b.s. line 1), yes, lets go back to the days of segregation, no reliable birth control, no unions, no feminism, all that good shit. Those days were just so 'moral' after all.

[MiniMandaRuth]

58. But of course, Plan B pills are illegal.

We can have 70 YOs with hardons but we can't have Plan B pills because it is 'Too Unnatural'

[MrScorpio]

59. Oh yeah

I said this once and I'll say it again; the Right Wing war on sex is actually a war on women.

This further proves it

[MiniMandaRuth]

61. I'm going to start my own illegal condom factory

for when the time comes that you can't get the damn things anymore.




(Sorry, I just woke up and an underground condom ring just seems incredibly funny to me :crazy:)

[Burma Jones]

63. This nation was founded by people too uptight for England

ENGLAND!!!!!!!

17th Century England for that matter........


I forget whether that was from Bill Maher or Jon Stewart..........

[idgiehkt]

66. amen to that.

and they won't die.

[xmas74]

70. Quit reminding me.

Unfortunately, those people really were my ancestors. Even worse is the fact that their beliefs still seem to carry on w/ a few of my relatives to this day.

[TheMightyFavog]

71. Fundies...

Can't live with 'em, can't forcibly deport them en masse.

[MrScorpio]

72. I'm back

That guy I was debating earlier, was he a troll?

[NewWaveChick1981]

80. I do believe he was.

:yoiks: