Small vocal minority attempts to set community standards for all Livingston County residents

We have another case of a small, misguided minority appointing themselves as the community censor to decide what you and I can and cannot see. This time it’s the parishioners at Green Oak Township's Holy Spirit Catholic Church. The latest outrage you ask? Mannequins at Victoria’s Secret in the new Green Oak Village Place mall dressed in, Lingerie. Next, they will want to ban the Sears and JC Penny catalog because they display women in bras.

The story was splashed across the front page of today’s Daily Press & Argus. It makes you wonder if it’s sweeps week, but we know sex sells. Ask Victoria’s Secret. If the so-called protest and letter writing campaign is really as large and widespread as reported I have no problem with the newspaper writing about it. You can’t ignore stories. But sometimes small, vocal minorities get too much ink.

Hamburg Township resident Robin Blaszak, who is part of a grass-roots group writing letters to protest the store's window display, said she was offended by the scantily-clad mannequins when she recently went shopping at the mall.
Blaszak said this is a "family-friendly community."
"We don't want those things exposed to our children," she said.
When she first came across the window display, Blaszak became so upset that she went inside the store and talked with an assistant manager who, she said, expressed the view that the store glorifies women.
"I don't feel this is glorification for women. It's making women into sex objects," Glaszak said.
Blaszak said the group is concerned with the window displays, and if those items were moved inside the store, she wouldn't have an issue with the store. Blaszak said she wants to be able to walk through the mall "without fear of being assaulted by sexual imagery."
Several of the group members belong to Green Oak Township's Holy Spirit Catholic Church, whose parish council wrote a letter expressing its concerns with the window display.
"Our concern is that we want the window displays to basically reflect our community's values," Blaszak said.
And Ms. Blaszak is the one to decide the community’s values. Not for me, thank you.

Blaszak said she saw six mannequins dressed in panties and bras, but it appears that display has changed. Currently, there are only two mannequins and a larger-than-life photograph of a model dressed in underwear.
VS addressed the concerns, but this obviously will not be enough. We must hide the ugly human body.

Joe Tyree, who handles REDICO's retail operations, said this is the first time he's dealt with residents upset about a store's window display. He's been in the retail business for 25 years and runs malls all across the United States.
Apparently not in Livingston County.

Hamburg Township resident Patrick Flynn said he and other residents have a right not to have those images "in your face."
"This is not an unreasonable request," said Flynn, who is the business manager for Holy Spirit Catholic Church and unsuccessfully ran against U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, in the Aug. 8 Republican primary election.