...or am I a prude?

[CoffeeMum]

We were in our local shopping centre in London today, and the fairly new Ann Summers shop was promoting 'free lube with every toy'. The reason I knew this was because the statement was signed across the shop windows - the letters of 'free lube' were around 30cm high and pretty obvious to read.

Now, my two kids are far too young to even read, but am i being prudish to think that if your child was old enough, you wouldn't necessarily want to hear the question 'Mummy, what's lube?' while out shopping on a Sunday lunchtime.

Or am i just very old fashioned, and is it totally fine to explain to say, a five year old, what lube is, if/when he/she asks? It's a bit different from giving a basic explanation of say, how babies are made isn't it?

Genuinely curious, honestly! I'm pretty laid back really, but have to admit this did shock me a bit.

see, I hate the whole 'your local friendly sex shop' approach, I know it's supposed to be 'female friendly' but why oh why can't they stick to the old approach of 'bra and knicker shop with a naughty/dodgy section at the back'?

I still haven't got over my judgey moment in Ann Summers last summer when trying to buy a hen some 'L' plates (I know, we should have gone to Halfords and sewn them on a ribbbon ourselves) and seeing a couple trying to decide between different versions of a rabbit whilst their 2 DC's were stood with them (not very good at the 'guess the age' game, but I think the one in the buggy looked about 18 months and the older one around 6-7ish). I was the most cats bum I've ever been at that.

OP - write to Ann Summers and complain. Woman too embarrassed to go into a tradtional sex shop are their target customers, so it's worth a try...

Trees that is quite shocking actually. You could possibly, possibly get away with the 18 month old being in the buggy if you really couldn't get to the shop otherwise, but to take a 6-7 year old in is just wrong.

Have just told DH actually and he said, 'well that's child abuse isn't it?'. Perhaps slight overstatement, but i see his point...

Yes, perhaps I will complain to AS as it appears I would not be alone in being bothered by this.

God though, still really shocked about the dildo in the display and the soft play ads. They are being really naughty.

I'm no prude. I have an extensive selection of Ann Summers merchandise but honestly, I would go as far as to say I think that AS windows need to be frosted or blacked out. You can clearly see the butt plugs from the street in our local branch

hmm...wellllll....at least it's not a massive display of light up dildo's?
yeah. you're not being a prude, but im all for ann summers encouraging normal women to get in touch with their kinky side. sorry, but any company that promotes size 24 kinky nurse outfits makes me happy that atleast someone thinks the adults should have some fun too!
and lube is medical too dont forget, haha! i get what you mean, buutt it could be worse. and we cant make the whole world child friendly can we?

Surely lube is just something that grownups use, like deodorant (don't know many hormonally-sweaty 3-year-olds)? I agree with all the comments on this thread about the nastiness of sexualized images everywhere, but I can't see that lube is such a bad thing to see advertized. It's not exactly full-on kinky, is it - you can buy KY jelly alongside the paracetamol in the supermarket after all.

Im my prude way Id probably say a free lube was the name of a type of bag !
not sure what Id describe a sex toy as if that was advertised?

Anne Summers has been trying to push the envelope of acceptability for a long time. For example, arbroath.blogspot.com/2009/01/complaint-over-ann-summers-store-sale.html

If you think about it, it is a necessary (for them) part of their marketing campaign. They have to continually shock and surprise so are incentivised to seek out ever more degrading images. The trend is not good. I am not terribly concerned by lube but once you've plumbed six foot dildos and innuendo about oral sex you've got to wonder where they're going to go next.

That link is just

I think you should complain. I think we should all complain if we fel like it and if we all do then we wouldn't be in this position of being bombarded with innapropiate words and images in broad daylight.
it's so wearing to keep on at it but I think we have to.