Retail Staff Forced To “Love Sex”

We all know sex sells, but at what cost?

An Australian fashion retailer has been forced to censor its raunchy advertising after the Minister for Women said it “overstepped the mark.”

The General Pants campaign featured images of a half naked woman, with gaffer tape over her nipples, having her jeans forcibly unzipped by a faceless person behind her. The accompanying banner simply read “SEX!”

Other gems included naked mannequins and erotic videos playing in-store.

Instead of removing the image, the company slapped a massive (and sarcastic) “censored” sign over the woman, conveniently leaving “SEX!” clearly visible.

One particularly controversial element of the promotion remains.

The, often teenage, General Pants staff are being forced to wear badges that boldly state, “I LOVE SEX.”

One female employee told The Sunday Telegraph she was uncomfortable with the badge but had been instructed to wear it by her manager.

“It’s pretty degrading as a woman but there is nothing we can do,” she said.

Another said she felt “uncomfortable” wearing it as the message was “embarrassing’ and “demeaning.”

Feminist Melinda Tankard Reist argues this is sexual harassment:

• There are at least two grounds for a complaint against General Pants – first, employees have been exposed to harassment by being asked to wear the badges and work in an environment displaying the posters and semi-nude models. Second, employees have been exposed to potential harassment.

In a perfect world, loving sex wouldn’t denote sexual availability or act as an invitation for unwanted comments and behaviours. But for today, this campaign has pushed the boundaries too far. General Pants has unnerved its employees, pornified a children’s environment (shopping malls etc.) and had the audacity to scoff when reasonable complaints were made against it.

And finally, nothing about loving sex is about being forced to.

Contact the author here: brianna@morningquickie.com