Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by CeeJay, OH on February 14, 2008:

My grandmother was named Lolita and in her memory my 4 year-old granddaughter is also named Lolita.

When Christmas shopping this year, I did a search for products named Lolita, found and bought this bed for her.

I remember seeing the book listed on the product search but didn't pay any attention to it as she can't read yet. I had no idea what the book was about until this story hit the news.

Lolita loves her bed and is very pleased about the fact that it is "her" bed with her name. Sleeping in this bed does not harm her in any way and does not make her any more of a target for pedophiles than she was before she got the bed.

The people the bed is targeted for (4-6 year olds) have never heard of the book or movies and have no clue what other meanings the name might have.

Maybe if those mother's had left things alone some of the stigma attached to the name would have been mitigated. Instead they have reinforced the notion that Lolita in some way relates to sexuality and have brought that idea back in to the forefront of the public consience.

I hope that by the time my granddaughter is old enough to understand all this that people will have forgotten about it again.

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Good luck. The direction society is going doesn't seem to make that any too likely, which of course is why those mothers made a fuss. -rc

Posted by Karen, AR on February 14, 2008:

When I was a kid in the 70's, I owned a "Growing Up Skipper" doll by Mattel. When you turned her left arm one way, her torso became longer and her breasts popped out. Turn it the other way to make her shorter, flatter. (Wish I'd kept her, she's worth a bundle now!)

Then about 6 years ago, my daughter received a Mattel toy in her Happy Meal. It was a Barbie figure that came with a wand. When you rubbed Barbie's chest with the wand wet, it made 2 inappropriately placed stars appear on her shirt.

Posted by Jeff, CA on February 14, 2008:

I have this Princess Leia figure that came from some fast food promotion a couple years ago. There is a knob on the side you turn to see different Star Wars scenes. To see the scenes, you have to look up her dress...!

Posted by Ernest - Junee, NSW, Australia on February 15, 2008:

I'm aware of the story Lolita, but it's also a common girls name in many countries, and has been for a long time - that's why it was used in the book. What is interesting is that several years ago Lolita has entered into general usage in some countries as a term to refer to young girls in the 5 to 10 year age group. I don't know why, but have seen it becoming increasingly more used in reference to young girls in the media and movies and it's usually not used in any sexual manner - but more like you use the term teen or mid teen to refer to an age group.

Being against something because it's called a Lolita set would be like being against something called a Susie set because an infamous female had the same name - some people are just determined to see something wrong in anything. I do wonder how those shocked women had known about the story Lolita?

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They apparently read. -rc

Posted by Brien, San Diego on February 15, 2008:

Remember the Abercrombie & Fitch stink a few years ago about the thong underwear for 8-10 year olds with "eye candy" and "wink-wink" on them? Here's an archived story and picture.

Posted by Greg, TX on February 15, 2008:

And the childish belief that a person's name defines them continues.

I suppose Woolworths' first mistake was listening to the complainers from an internet forum - often the source of so much trouble on a forum and so little benefit.

How about the "Tabitha Midsleeper Combi"? Oh wait, Tabitha was a witch, the daughter of Samantha on the television show "Bewitched".

Boy, finding names for things sure is getting harder - for the small-minded. Or maybe just for the people who have to satisfy the small-minded.

Posted by Adam in Atoka, OK on February 16, 2008:

Tabitha's name isn't associated with pedophilia or borderline pedophilia, and most people in North America at least still remember bits of the massive media fiasco that was Joey Butifuco(sp?) and the 'Long-Island Lolita' case, which is how the term 'Lolita' first entered the public consciousness and the national lexicon.

Maybe the store should be spared some of the public backlash for simply not knowing, maybe they should get well and truly burned for not bothering to do the research, but either way they may as well have named this the 'Precocious Slut' Midsleeper Combi.

Posted by Swiggy, Elkhart IN on February 16, 2008:

In a newsgroup a while back, one of our members posted a picture of a young girl, maybe 11 or 12 at the most. She was wearing a tank top. Across the chest (undeveloped) was the phrase, "Work in Progress" and at the bottom of the shirt was the phrase "Good to Go" with an arrow pointing to her privates.

At best, it could be called kiddie porn for the public, because the girl is dressed, but the suggestions on her shirt makes it obscene. Yea, I have a copy of it if you are interested in it for your site, and let the readers judge. As to who would buy such a shirt for such a young girl, the group speculated that it was A) an older boyfriend, B) A child molester that she is active with.

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It could well have been C) an advertisement. The question is, if you considered it "obscene", why did you keep a copy? -rc

Posted by Brian, Indiana on February 16, 2008:

I think it is sad that so many people have so much time to sit around and try to see the dirty side to everything. (No matter how imaginative they have to get.)

Maybe they should just get their dirty minds out of the gutter.

It was simply a young girls bed. Nothing more, nothing less!

Posted by John in Lexington, SC USA on February 16, 2008:

You'd think that a film with a British actor (James Mason) that depicted such an inappropriate situation MIGHT have made more of an impression on the people in the UK than it seems to have. Oh how quickly they forget. Humbert Humbert was played by a Brit. Brits forget... Americans remember.

I recall that Mason played the role so well, I really didn't want to watch him in any new roles as it left a seriously sleazy impression, even though it was of course just acting. His own countrymen forget though.