Condoms in, anatomy out: Grocery chain pulls latest issue of Seventeen

PORTLAND, Ore. — This month, the following things were readily available to any teenage girl who stepped into an Albertsons store: at least four brands of condoms. A recent Men's Health magazine article called, "Six Secret Ways to Turn Her On." Cosmopolitan's tips on how to make your own sex video.

Unavailable in any of Albertsons' 2,500 locations was the October issue of Seventeen Magazine.

The grocery chain pulled that issue from shelves earlier this month. The reason? An article on women's anatomy.

The article, titled "Vagina 101," shows a drawing of a woman's genitalia with arrows pointing out the clitoris, the labia majora, the labia minora, the hymen and the anus. It provides a short description of each part of the anatomy, under the headline "Owner's Manual." On the second page, the author addresses what's normal and what's not.

The Idaho-based Albertsons' corporate office issued a statement saying it pulled the October issue after receiving complaints from customers who considered the article "inappropriate." The company has refused further comment.

We live in a country where the promise of sex is a potent sales tool, be it for perfume, cars or TV shows. That's what makes this situation stand out: Suggestiveness passes muster, but anatomy gets ejected.

Leafing through the article, Charlotte Ladd, 16, said she couldn't see what the big deal was. "It's ridiculous," she said. "If they have a problem with it, they can just skip over the article. But it's information that we need to know."

In the parking lot of a local Albertsons, customers differed widely on their reaction to the ban. Several mothers said the grocery chain did the right thing.

"Once their innocence is gone, it's gone," said Debbie Cottingham, 42, toting groceries alongside her 14-year-old daughter. She said it's her job as a mother to teach her three daughters about their bodies.

Scott Spear, a University of Wisconsin professor of pediatrics who chairs Planned Parenthood's national medical committee, doesn't understand the fuss. "It's rather straightforward and certainly not titillating and certainly not inappropriate for the readership," he said. "A key issue for that age group is, 'Am I normal?' That's what the article talks about."

The story addresses such questions as how much pubic hair is healthy and whether girls should trim theirs. (On the latter, the article's answer is an emphatic "no"; it tells teens that the hair protects them from bacteria.)

Seventeen Magazine spokeswoman Elizabeth Dye defended the article, saying the magazine's readers perceive it as "a trusted friend."

"So," Dye wrote in a prepared statement, "we talk about subjects that are important to them in an open and objective way."

Shaun Williams, 17, was vehement: The magazine's banishment makes no sense. "If you can buy condoms, why can't you have it out?" he asked. "They got to learn about their private parts."

One woman who has traveled the world interviewing more than 200 girls and women about their vaginas said she wishes she were surprised. "Look, when I started, people told me to change the title. I mean, what was I going to call it? The Pocketbook Monologues?" said activist and playwright Eve Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues."

The play, featuring monologues chosen from her interviews with real women, has played across the country, often drawing protest.

"Why is it that the word 'vagina,' printed or visual, will shut down newspapers and magazines, but you can say nuclear war and Scud missile?" Ensler said. "And you can put those on the front page of magazines and no one is horrified?"