Did AV really let this guy take up basically the whole letters column babbling about Wegmans’ right-wing selection of books (“Letters to AV,” Artvoice v10n18)? Seriously?

I won’t touch that, but what I will say is in regards to the covering of Olivia Wild’s “boobies.” There is very little distinction between what’s for adults and what’s for children or family out in public, and I applaud Wegmans for attempting to draw that line. One day, while I was walking around K-Mart, I saw a bunch of magazines in the front row that showed a picture of a woman with her breasts hanging halfway out her bra, and wondered why that was displayed so publicly in a place where people shop with their children. A couple of days later, I walked into a corner store and there was a display of sports drinks with half-naked women on the bottle. I was reminded of that South Park episode where a crazed Mickey Mouse laughs at the fact that Disney “has been selling sex to your kids for over 50 years.”

It’s not that the human body is disgusting at all, obviously it is a beautiful thing, which you, sir, have not failed to notice. But what is not a beautiful thing is watching a bunch of six- and seven-year-old kids running around singing, “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes.” Or very young girls, arm in arm, singing, “I kissed a girl and I liked it.” You, sir, might think that’s cute. But I’m not in college anymore, I’m almost 30, and I have two very young daughters. When I take my kids shopping, I don’t want them bombarded with images of women trying to be sexy. That might be okay for Ms. Olivia Wild, but it’s not okay for the young women who live and suffer with eating disorders, or the hundreds of pregnant teen girls in Buffalo, or the young women who will never see themselves as anything more than a body.

Yes, I took it there. I wish more public places would take a stand and encourage a family environment. Let kids be kids for a while before they have to deal with all this marketing B.S!

I do agree with you on the fact that Buffalo would be a cooler place if it had a Whole Foods store.

Brenda Moore

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