Another retailer jumps into bed with Playboy
We wrote last week about how the Playboy brand is now adorning bed sheets from homewares and manchester retailer Adairs and how this is an example of the mainstreaming of Pornography. A Collective Shout supporter has today alerted us to Bras n Things latest promotion. The above image features prominently on the front page of their website. Apparently we can have our very own Playboy bunny outfit just like those worn by Hugh Hefner’s prostitutes the young women he pays to be his girlfriends.
Contact Bras n Things here, let them know what you think. You can use their online enquiry form, or down the left hand side of their web page you will see postal addresses should you wish to put pen to paper.
Feel free to make the following points in your letter:
- Playboy is a pornography brand
- By promoting the Playboy brand, they are promoting pornography
- Playboy promotes a narrow minded beauty ideal and sexist stereotypes based on the sexual preferences of an 82 year old man
- Promoting these narrow beauty ideals and stereotypes about women’s sexuality is harmful to women
- By incorporating Playboy in their range of underwear they are offering women an opportunity to participate in their own exploitation
- You will not shop at Bras n Things as long as they continue to stock the Playboy brand.
And as with last time we wrote about Playboy, please post any letters you write to Bras n Things in the comments below, to inspire and motivate others to do the same. Let us know if you receive a response.
27 Comments
Thanks for alerting me to Bra’s N Things disgusting new range (Playboy Bunny).
Here’s the feedback I left them.
Please get in touch (men especially) to help thnem see I’m not just one crazy, uptight, angry feminist
“As a self-respecting woman I am very disappointed to see that Bra’s n Things has embraced this normalisation of pornography by promoting the Playboy label. Playboy may be very effective at distancing itself from its pornographic origins, you may indeed claim that this label is just fun and sexy, bu the reality is that it is perpetuating the message of pornography: that women are merely objects for men’s sexual pleasure.
Why would a company that is exclusively for women embrace a label that is so blatently against women!
I will withdraw my support from your otherwise great stores until you withdraw this product. I will encourage all women (and men who buy for their wives & partners) to dothe same.”
I’ve just written to them too, here’s what I wrote:
“I’m writing about your decision to stock the Playboy brand. It seems like a cute/cheeky brand, especially to girls & teenagers who just want the latest, hottest brands, but it is in fact a brand from a p*rnographic company creeping insidiously & very unfortunately into the mainstream, and which is hugely disrespectful and damaging to women.
I hope you will reconsider your decision to support this company. I’ve often shopped at Bras N Things in the past & this seems an unpleasant direction for you to take.”
Have just emailed them. Here’s what I wrote:
“I am appalled at your recent decision to stock the Playboy brand at Bras n Things.
Playboy is pornography. The fact that it is a well known brand does not make it any less harmful. Playboy is a pornography brand, and by stocking it in your shops, you are promoting the sexualisation and degradation of women around the world.
The Playboy beauty “ideals” are based on what a chauvinistic, sexist 82 year old man thinks. It does not promote beauty in every shape, colour and size. It does not value beauty through personality or intelligence. It promotes one ideal of beauty that the majority of women do not fit into, and this is really very counterproductive to working towards a society that accepts and values everyone.
The Playboy brand encourages men AND women to see women as submissive, sex objects. Not women with intelligence, or women with ambition, or women with power. Rather, an object that is around solely to feed men’s sexual desire. The harm in this is that it does lead to abuse, and worse, as men believe they can take from us whatever they want, as we are happy to let them. Thus, by stocking the brand, you are encouraging women to participate in THEIR OWN exploitation! How can you justify this?
Women are your market. Empower them, don’t disrespect them. Treat them with a little decency, and give them the credit they are entitled to. I used to respect Bras n Things as a high quality retailer, but will definitely rethink my shopping choices for as long as you think it is “acceptable” to stock the Playboy brand.”
This is what I wrote:
I am disgusted by the decision to sell Playboy brand lingerie in Bras n Things stores. Playboy is a pornographic brand based on the notion that women are mindless objects whose sole purpose is as sex toys for a sleazy old man. Pornography degrades women, and by partnering with the Playboy brand name, Bras n Things is playing their part in the exploitation of women. And here I was thinking that Bras n Things was a store for women!
I am 25 years old and have been a frequent customer for several years. I am disappointed. I will be looking elsewhere for lingerie until this issue has been properly addressed.
I am not sure what all the fuss is about. If you have been into a Bras N Things store in the past 5 years you will have noticed that they have always carried such a range. It might not have been branded Playboy but the style is the same. You can see their range at their online store under the category “Play” which is a seperate category to “Playboy”.
Krissy,
Of course BnT have been stocking items with a ‘raunchy’ feel for some time, however using the Playboy label is a significant step backwards for women.
Playboy is a porno brand, which is being marketed on everything from bed sheets, underwear, deodorant, pencil cases and energy drinks. Playboy has placed Marge Simpson on it’s front cover to attract a younger audience.
Playboy also has 6 tv porn channels in the UK, which offer titles such as ‘Barely 18 Anal virgins,’ ‘Wait your turn b*tch’ and ‘Submissive Sluts.’
Playboy produces cartoons in it’s publications that poke fun at rape and has produced articles that say child abuse is a fantasy and instruct men on how to beat their wives without leaving a mark.
This is the real face of playboy, not the bunny.
It’s time to push back against the mainstreaming of pornography and all that goes with it. Challenging the promotion of the ‘bunny suit’ in BnT is part of that.
Hey, sorry, I am a bit confused.. While it is not right by any means, ‘Bras N Things’ have been stocking ‘Playboy’ branded items for the past 5 years at least – that I know of.. as have other shops such as ‘What’s new?’. Either way, it is good to see people making a stand against such brands which infiltrate, what feels like, every aspect of our lives!
I will write to them now!
Hi Cassie,
Yes you’re right, Playboy has been stocked in Bras n Things and some other stores for a while now. Collective Shout was only established towards the end of last year, however Julie Gale from Kids Free to be Kids has spoken out about What’s New and it’s odd combination of kids novelties and sex shop style products. I believe she once wrote to the wiggles and asked if they were happy with their products being stocked next to blow up dolls, they promptly removed their products from the store.
Lots of work to do Cassie! Thanks for doing your part.
Here is the disappointing response I received today:
Dear Sandra,
Thank you taking the time to email and providing feedback on the Playboy range. It is not our intent to offend anyone with the products we sell and I apologise for doing so.
The Playboy brand has been available at Bras N Things for many years. Whilst we recognise not all our products appeal to all our customers, we try to offer a broad product range to meet the varying requirements of a wide range of customers. The Playboy range caters to the demands of many of our customers.
I am sorry that you are unhappy with the product, hope that you can find something in our range that is to your liking and thank you again for your feedback.
Kind Regards
Amela Radaca
People and Development Coordinator
P: +61 2 9774 8494
F: +61 2 9792 8001
E: amela.radaca@bnt.com.au
A: 36-48 Ashford Ave, Milperra NSW 2214
Visit our online store:
http://www.brasnthings.com.au
Hi Sandra,
Thanks for sharing that response with us. It doesn’t address the substance of your complaint at all does it. There have been some similar responses from Adairs as well. We will be investigating what to do next.
“I am writing to inform you that I wholy object to the sale of play-boy promoted products in your store. Playboy is a pornography brand promoting sexist stereotypes based on the sexual preferences of an 82 year old man. Disgusting. By selling these, you are promoting an opportunity for women – young and old – to partake in their own sexualisation; the harmful effects of which are not limited to; poor self esteem, eating disorders, self-harming behaviors and sexual violence against women.
I will not shop at bras ‘n’ things while this like of clothing is being promoted.
I keenly await your reply as to how you will change this.
Thanks,
Ella”
- I sent this 2 minutes ago. Waiting for a reply
“I am writing to inform you that I wholy object to the sale of play-boy promoted products in your store. Playboy is a pornography brand promoting sexist stereotypes based on the sexual preferences of an 82 year old man. Disgusting. By selling these, you are promoting an opportunity for women – young and old – to partake in their own sexualisation; the harmful effects of which are not limited to; poor self esteem, eating disorders, self-harming behaviors and sexual violence against women.
I will not shop at bras ‘n’ things while this like of clothing is being promoted.
I keenly await your reply as to how you will change this.
Thanks,
Ella”
- I sent this 2 minutes ago. Waiting for a reply
Yeah, wrote to them, lets see what they say.
Personally, I don’t think they will actually stop selling Playboy material. Unfortunately, there IS a market out there, I know people who gleefully buy Playboy clothes without thinking of what it actually means.
Response will happen when they get a dramatic number of complaints (which hopefully will happen), so lets keep this going!
Hey this is what I wrote:
Hi there,
I am writing to let you know that myself and many others are boycotting your store due to your selling of Playboy labelled underwear.
I am certainly not a no fun fuddy duddy, but I am unsure of whether you are aware of what Playboy stands for? If you open your mind and eyes to advertising and the media these days and retailers like yourself in support, women are being socially conditioned left right and centre. Most adverts are sexist, showing women as the ones who cook, clean and raise the children…so guess what…….most women conform to that and most men expect it.
Then we get onto pornography………the physical ridiculous ideal of women looking and acting a certain way……..and you look at a great deal of adverts again and women are sexualised/ Have you looked around recently and seen girls walking around? Pouting, ridiculously high heel shoes and wearing corsetsand very little else, acting like playboy girls to get mens attention. This image is being fed from the media and when you are seeing teenage girls behaving this way and men become what is in effect, woman haters and seeing them purely as sex objects, you have to worry how far this is going.
Put it this way, how would the males of the world feel if 90% of adverts, the media and retail told them every day, in every way that if they werent 6ft 2, with a six pack and a body of an athete, rich and with other sexual attributes that they were less of man, unworthy and so they would have to go out and diet, spend money on potions and lotions, would have to starve themselves, spend thousands on products, undergo painful surgery, buy things or they would be unwanted……..that all women wanted these gods of men and if they werent one of them, then their girl would likely cheat, would always be looking at and wanting these other men, that when she was with him she would be thinking about these other men and he would be a poor substitute she merely put up with unless one of these gods of men wanted her….then he would lose her.
I am pretty sure the rate of male suicide would be incredibly high if that message was pumped out in as many adverts as are to women.
The sexualisation of women is wrong, do you know what playboy represents. It isnt just a ridiculous ideal of women that has nothing to do with natural beauty. It is also a degrading stance on women, have you seen some of the titles that come out of Playboy (as someone just told me, its things like ‘wait your turn b(&tch). So really, when you see little girls wearing Playboy PJ’s, or having their handbags and jewellery, does it not concern you little girls are being socially conditioned to accept playboy and its values, that its de sensitising youngsters to the playboy brand……..and most of all, if this was a degradation based on race, there would be lawsuits for millions.
I hope you reconsider using the Playboy brand. This isnt about being puritans or anything of the sort………..its about pure utter sexism that is in our culture much more than it has ever been………….nothing has changed, in fact it has gotten worse, we are just being socially conditioned to accept it.
While I have in the past enjoyed shopping at “Bras’n'things”, I am totally appalled to see that your company is now promoting “playboy gold bunny” “lingerie”. The idea that you would encourage women to want to look, dress, or act like a disgusting old man’s prostitutes is really disappointing from a respected and well-known business such as yours. Not only is the thought of this disgusting and degrading, but to encourage women to act like prostitutes within their own relationships is promoting the sexualisation and degradation of women throughout our society.
I like to look nice for my husband, but I would never try to look or act like a plastic prostitute, and I would hope he would never expect this of me. Seeing this playboy promotion openly advertised encourages men to think of their spouses and partners as objects of sexual gratification and that is totally unacceptable.
I am so deeply disappointed that I cannot in good conscience continue to shop at your stores while this kind of product and ideal is promoted by your company.
Please think about your original ideals as a company. If you want to help women feel good about themselves and their bodies, this is definitely not the way.
I truly hope that this message will reach listening ears within your organisation and that positive action will be taken.
hey, I’m a guy, and here’s what I just wrote to BNT:
Hi there,
I’m writing to express my disgust that your company has decided to promote Playboy in its new ‘Limited Edition Lingerie set’.
Your promotion means that your company not only condones pornography, but encourages it to the point of supplying products to allow your customers to participate in it.
Make no mistake, Playboy is a pornography brand, centered around the exploitation of women for mens’ pleasure. Did you know that Hugh Hefner (the owner of Playboy) is 82 years old, and still has several girlfriends who look and dress like the woman in your Playboy ad? By selling Playboy products you are selling ideology, and proclaiming to all your customers that women exist for the exploitation of men. Playboy is not an image of fun, confident sexuality. It is an image of abusive exploitative sexuality.
The stereotype of womens’ sexuality that you are promoting is doing damage to women and girls everywhere. My wife and I won’t be shopping at your stores until this brand is removed, and I look forward to hearing from you what you will do in response to my concern.
Regards,
Thomas McConaghey
Just wrote again to BNT. still no reply…
Hi there,
This is now my second email to you in order to express my disgust that your company has decided to promote Playboy in its new ‘Limited Edition Lingerie set’.
Your promotion means that your company not only condones pornography, but encourages it to the point of supplying products to allow your customers to participate in it. I’m really surprised that a store like yours which is supposed to be for women, would promote a brand which is so anti-women. The Playboy ‘bunny’ logo represents a company that sells photos of women being used as sex-objects. It doesn’t represent fun, confidence, or liberation, but rather oppression and abuse. (have you ever looked at a Playboy magazine?). Why would you want to encourage or even allow women to bear such a logo on their most intimate of clothing?
Make no mistake, Playboy is a pornography brand, centered around the exploitation of women for mens’ pleasure. By selling Playboy products you are selling their ideology, and proclaiming to all your customers that women exist for the exploitation of men.
The stereotype of womens’ sexuality that you are promoting is doing damage to women and girls everywhere. My wife and I won’t be shopping at your stores until this brand is removed, and I look forward to hearing from you what you will do in response to my concern.
Regards,
Thomas McConaghey
Is it wrong for a woman to want to feel sexy? I think Hugh Hefner is a filthy old man and I dont agree with his morals at all, but I still like nice underwear.
So why exactly is this a problem? We are in a new age right now… If you don’t like it then don’t buy it. It’s simple. And how does intimate apparel affect anything when its usually worn inside clothes? Playboy is a sex brand that promotes sexiness for women which Bras n things also do with its intimate apparel. So.. tell me what is the big problem. If the problem is being exposed to children then WHY ARE THEY THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE to be seeing it. Sex now is viewed differently then the past.. WAKE UP ALREADY
“what?” our guess is you haven’t read the article. Last time we checked, children were still allowed to enter major shopping centres where Playboy images are displayed prominently in the window of ‘bras n things.’
Your claim that women wear playboy costumes beneath their clothes is an interesting one.
Team CS,
Firstly, i assume you are dyslexic since you do not know how to read like a normal educated person would do. I never said anything about shopping centres not allowing children to enter. I only said why are they there to be seeing the “Poster of a model wearing an outfit” which you claim to be some what “pornography” when there is no nudity what so ever.
Secondly, when did i ever “claim that women wear playboy costumes beneath their clothes”. Let me show what i have written, “And how does intimate apparel affect anything when its usually worn inside clothes?” Since when is a playboy costume an “intimate apparel”. Intimate apparel is under garments or should i make this easier for you to understand “underwear”. I don’t recall a costume to be an underwear, good call.
‘what??’ resorting to insults does not help your case. Unless you actually read the article, you have commented on, there really is no point continuing to post comments here. You have not demonstrated that you understand the issue.
To recap:
Playboy is a pornography brand.
The posters were in shop windows.
You said about children “why are they there in the first place to be seeing it.” Why wouldn’t they be in a shopping centre ‘what??’ Children go into shopping centres, seeing the poster was unavoidable.
The commentary relates to the mainstreaming of pornography in the broader culture and how the Playboy brand – whose xxx titles include ‘wait your turn b*tch’ and ‘barely 18 **** virgins’ – is now sold in Bras n things.
Regarding the playboy costume, again read the article very carefully. The article was about the playboy bunny costume available for sale in bras n things, a promotion for Playboy’s 50th anniversary. You then claimed that the item was ‘intimate apparel’ designed to be worn underneath clothes. Good luck trying to tuck the tail and bunny ears in.
Even if some items are to be worn under clothes, ie. Playboy bras, our point about Bras n Things collaborating with the global brand of the sex industry, which degrades women, still stands.
Team CS, Do you ever read anything? if you haven’t noticed i said “I never said anything about shopping centres not allowing children to enter.” I said why are the children there to be SEEING the poster INFRONT of the Bras n Things store. DO THE POSTERS GET PUT INFRONT OF THE DOORS OF THE CENTRE?. How is seeing the poster unavoidable? Children don’t shop at Bras n things why would they be there in the first place.
You also say: “You then claimed that the item was ‘intimate apparel’ designed to be worn underneath clothes.”
Please have a closer look at what i wrote:
“[Since when] is a playboy costume an “intimate apparel”. Intimate apparel is under garments or should i make this easier for you to understand “underwear”.”
How does “Since when” have anything to do with “claiming it to be of something”, Since when means “when did it ever become” if that is any easier for you to understand. A costume is not worn inside it is NOT an intimate apparel.
If it isn’t obvious already Bras n Things have been stocking undergarments/intimate apparel similar to the ones of playboy style that sell the same concept before they even picked up the playboy promotion.
And how would you or anyone know what kind of undergarments/intimate apparel women are wearing? Are you some kind of pervert who likes to see what women wear inside and determine who they are?. Nice critism and judging of women. Good to see how you would judge a book by its cover. Awesome JOB “Team CS”.
‘what?’ I will go through this one more time.
Bras n things are retail stores inside shopping centres.
You asked why children would ‘there in the first place to see it’ to which i responded, plaboy images are prominently displayed at bras n things.
So yes, the posters were placed in the front window of the shop where anyone walking by could see it. Clear now?
Underwear or ‘intimate apparel’ is not the issue here, it is the playboy brand adorning everything from women’s underwear, to softdrinks and deodorants. This is about the mainstreaming of a pornography brand that degrades and objectifies women, a point which you continue to find unimportant.
As to your clarification re: the playboy costume and intimate apparel, the article you were commenting on specifically referenced the playboy costume, not ‘intimate apparel.’
I won’t even bother addressing your froth at the mouth last paragraph.
OMG everyone get over it. It’s a brand that people buy because they like it and they have good stuff, nobody actually reads into it so much as ‘promoting pornography’ and your just a prude if you think that it is ever going to go away. It’s not!! After reading half the stuff people wrote on here.. PLAYBOY ALL THE WAY!!
Hi Elle,
Nothing to ‘read into’ here. Playboy is a pornography brand, so they are most certainly promoting pornography.
I guess all you women who disagree with BnT stocking the Playboy range don’t wear any other labels such as Bonds, which recently made an ad featuring a scantily clad Rachael Taylor. To do so would be saying yes, we will buy your underwear even though Bonds are promoting their underwear in a ‘sexy’ manner. Or any sort of sexy underwear modeled by a ‘typically sexy’ female. I guess you’d think it wrong to buy Playboy underwear to look sexy for your partner, because, in doing so, you are promoting the Playboy values and pornography.
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