AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING

'Perfect Female Specimen' Inflatable Doll Sold at West Chester U. Bookstore     By Deana Harley

Lisa Ruchti

 

   An inflatable doll being sold on West Chester University's campus is stoking protests.

Updated at 2:41 PM EDT on Sunday, Sep 20, 2015

   A blow-up doll sold as a gag gift is causing a stir at West Chester University after the campus bookstore began selling the item.

   Packaging on the doll boasts "perfect female specimen," "non-talking," and "no headaches."

Lisa Ruchti, director of Women's and Gender Studies at West Chester, said she was teaching a class on Thursday when a student brought the doll in as an example of sexism. The student was extremely offended, she said, and spread the word of the doll being sold in the campus bookstore.

   News of the doll traveled quickly, reaching students from varying groups and majors. One student is gathering all of the people who had negative reactions and planning a protest.

The bookstore removed the doll from shelves and apologized on Twitter, writing, "We apologize for any offense this may have caused. We have removed the 6in 'inflate-a-date' from the sales floor." But, Ruchti said, that won’t stop the students from protesting.

   "They want some kind of promise that something like this won’t happen again," she said.

Lauren Conwell, a student, said the doll made some students feel unsafe.

   "It literally says you can punch it and manhandle it, and then says it's the perfect female," she said. "If that's the perfect female companion, then what does that mean for us?"