But Illegal in Texas
Last November, passion parties surfaced rather unexpectedly in the news when one of its representatives, Joanne Webb, was arrested for selling two vibrators to undercover agents in Burleson, Tex. The reason, ostensibly, was her violation of an arcane state law forbidding the sale of any device used to stimulate the genitals. But the real reason, it soon became clear, had to do with Webb herself, who had stood a small town on its ear with her short skirts, flirtatious nature and unblushing sexuality.
The Webb episode got plenty of press -- especially internationally, as one of those amusing parables of American hypocrisy and contradiction, in which the values of evangelism and the Playboy Channel were at war. But in truth, Passion Parties is one of the country's tamest, most pro-family peddlers of sexual paraphernalia. The company does a brisk business in the Bible Belt -- last year, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee ranked third, fourth and ninth, respectively, in sales -- precisely because it has positioned itself as an organization devoted to strengthening relationships, rather than to expanding the pleasure chest of the single girl.
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