In mid-November, a Catholic League member contacted us about something unusual. A nationwide store, Wet Seals, Inc., with headquarters in Foothill Ranch, California, was selling women’s panties with the face of Mary and baby Jesus on the front and back of the underwear. We secured a pair and then contacted the president of the company, Kathy Bronstein.
We are delighted to report that Ms. Bronstein was disturbed to learn of this item and ordered the panties removed from the shelves of her store just before Thanksgiving. When we learned that they were still being sold in one of her other stores, Contempo Casuals, we contacted her again. She cooperated further and had the disputed item removed once and for all.
It is a credit to Kathy Bronstein that she acted with dispatch to rectify this situation. It also goes to demonstrate that, contrary to what our critics say, the Catholic League does not always seek to go public every time it is offended.
We are not sure who was initially responsible for conceptualizing and making the panties. But we cannot believe that whoever did so didn’t know exactly what he was doing. It is one thing to make a fashion statement wearing a cross, quite another to make panties with Madonna and Child emblazoned on them. We’re glad we put this one to rest before the holidays, and we hope we won’t see anything like this ever again.
