http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2275142
Summary: Sugar House (a suburb of Salt Lake City) citizens speak out against “sexually-oriented business” moving into their neighborhood. The business in question: The Blue Boutique.
For those who aren’t familiar with it, the Blue Boutique is a costume, lingerie, and adult novelty shop. There are lots of different takes on the franchise, from those which focus almost exclusively on the costume aspect, to almost exclusively on the novelties aspect.
The way I see it, there are at least two separate questions:
- Is the Blue Boutique a “sexually-oriented business”? I’ve shopped a few of these stores with my wife, and the strictly “adult” items are always in a clearly delineated, walled-off area of the store marked Adults Only, which is policed by store employees to ensure no minors get in. Up front, it is little more explicit than perhaps a Victoria’s Secret store. If I had a sliding scale with the grocery store that sells condoms on one end and a whorehouse on the other, BB is somewhere in the middle leaning toward the grocery-store end. Its license was also “retail accessory” in its previous location, not “sexually oriented business” like the magazine/DVD shops in Salt Lake. The BB doesn’t even sell videos of any sort.
- Does a business of this nature damage children?
Regarding the second question, there’s a quote from the article that I want to call out:
Annelle Doxey said, “The window displays and products they offer will greatly increase the amount of exposure that our children will have to items and pictures of a sexual nature. Studies have shown that this kind of exposure will damage the natural development of a child’s personality.”
Obviously, a City Council meeting is hardly the place to be citing references, but I’d be interested in learning exactly what “studies” have shown that lingerie stores damage the “natural development of a child’s personality”. Kids are going to have sex whether we want them to or not. By the age of 19, even here in prim, proper Utah, there’s a 4 out of 5 chance that the child will have had anal, vaginal, or oral sex. When they have an interest in the topic, they are of an appropriate age to learn something about it.
On the other hand, I’m not comfortable with the idea of my teenage daughter bringing home a bondage kit and massive rubber dong to decorate her room. So I think there’s a sliding scale of appropriateness there, too.
While I understand the concern of these parents, why not let the business open, and then if the window displays are objectionable, report that infringement to the city council?
First Off
I haven’t even read the post past the first paragraph and responding. You want to have people speaking out, have people speaking out against the stupidity of naming a city ‘Sugar House’. What kind of businesses you think are going to be attracted to that area? HELLO?!?!?
TV ad: Aw yeah. You need some juice in the love caboose? You know where we roll. The Blue Boutique is getting sweet down in Sugar Town. The House of Sugar. The Sugar House. Give your love some style.
Wake the **** up, you idiots.
Serious reply (argh!)
So I have a serious reply, unfortunately. It’s not a city, it’s a district of Salt Lake City. It was given its name by a mayor’s wife years ago. The city was building a sugar mill in the area at the time. The mill was never finished, but the name stuck. Bizarre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_House,_Salt_Lake_City,_Utah
It’s actually a nice place to live if you have a small family and prefer the “older neighborhood” feel. Large parks, large trees, lots of small-box stores, and small solidly-built homes are a hallmark of the area.
But I agree, it’s a stupid name. Because it’s a prestigious place to live with expensive houses, though, it seems like every business in the area wants to say it’s in Sugar House…
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Second off
Please, please, please tell me that Christy is applying for a job there.
Sorry, no…
Sorry, no, she’s not applying for a job there. We were customers of the old location that’s being torn down though!
—
Matthew P. Barnson
Comments on KSL.com
One feature I like about KSL.com is the comments feature… much like barnson.org, it lets individuals chime in on a story. There were some profound one-liners on http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=2275142&comments=true :
“Protecting the children is a guise these people are hiding behind when it’s they themselves in some way offended by the “liberality” of such a business.” –JimboB
“if that quote from Annelle Doxey is true than I need to sue Victoria Secret … [My 4-year-old said] “I want one of those, can you buy me a girlfriend” … I asked him what exactly did he want me to buy for him, and he replied “The blonde one”. ” –SheDevil
“Last year two Highland high students purchased adult material from this store and then were caught with the items at a dance at the school. They were 16!!” — Steve S.
(In response to a comment that the store won’t fit in with the surrounding stores in Sugar House) “trust me when I say KFC, Arbys, and Baskin Robins are doing more harm to your kids then the Blue Boutique ever will. ” –stephsteph100
“The internet and the prono that can be down loaded pose more of a threat to your children than this business ever will. No I haven’t patronized this business nor do I intend too but come on get your priorities in place.” — Love U 2
“On this parcel, a retail accessory store is permitted(Blue Boutiques current license). An SOB is not, it wasn’t permitted on their previous zoning of CB-Commercial Business….the SOB ordinance is used as a litmus test. The second portion was written to enforce magazine stores selling pornographic magazines and has no barring on the blue boutique. The author of the SOB ordinance even stated in the SL trib that there is no way in hell that it applies to the Blue Boutique.
If the blue boutique is classified as an SOB it will not be forced into a commerial zone, because they do not allow for SOB’s either. The BB will be forced into an industrial zoning along with all of the other novelty shops in salt lake city.” –peasandcarrots
—
Matthew P. Barnson