A shop owner has blasted local ‘yummy mummies’ after they complained about a Mother’s Day card in the window bearing the word vagina.
Kirsty Mizon-Taylor displayed a sign and card which read ‘Mum, sorry I ruined your vagina’ in the window of her posh boutique Taylor Jayne during the run-up to Mothering Sunday.
But angry local mums in Reigate, Surrey, confronted the shop owner, with one even writing a letter of complaint to a business guild.
Kirsty, 38, said: “In the run up to Mother’s Day I put a card in the window that said ‘Mum sorry I ruined your vagina’.
“It was a couple of weeks before Mothering Sunday and a lady came in on her own and said she was there on behalf of other mothers.
“She just didn’t like the card in the window – she said it was inappropriate and that the mums don’t want their children to see it.
“She wanted me to take it out the window but I said no – it’s not a bad word, it’s the correct terminology.
“A couple of hours later another woman came in and said the same thing, and that it wasn’t enticing people into the shop.
“I wouldn’t have put a swear word in the window, and I thought it was a funny tongue-in-cheek card, I’ve had so much support and a handful of negativity.
“We’re not going to please everybody and if you don’t like it then don’t buy it, you’ve got a choice.”
Kirsty, 38, says the shop, which she opened three years ago, did not stock the risque cards initially, but brought them in after demand from locals.
She also believes there would not have been such a strong reaction in a bigger town.
Kirsty added: “The reason we started doing these cards was the demand for them.
“We started off with slightly risque cards but people were requesting these and we sell so many cards, people travel to us for them.
“If you want cards like that you normally have to travel but we’ve filled a gap in the market, we sell loads of them and most people have supported us in this.
“People get personal on Facebook which is a real shame, but we’ve only had a handful of negativity.
“I think it’s because Reigate is a small town, they’re more shocked than if it was in a big town, and they wouldn’t have made such a song and dance somewhere more mainstream.
“I went shopping somewhere the other day they had this card on a big stand right by the entrance.
“We’ve had no other issues – this is the first big thing we’ve had a problem with.”
After the criticism, Kirsty posted about the complaints on social media – with the post reaching more than 8,500 people.
Some of her supporters even tried to get #Vaginagate trending in support of the card.
She added: “I shared the card and spoke about the complaints on social media to our personal Taylor Jayne followers.
“I think I was looking for reassurance.
“Most of the responses were really positive and supportive but there were still some people saying things like ‘the school run is hard enough without children asking difficult questions’ and that we were ‘not enticing people into our shop with that kind of language in the window’.”
The mum-of-three has now decided to take on a London to Brighton walk to raise money for gynaecological cancer charity The Eve Appeal, who fund research into womb, ovarian, cervical, vaginal and vulval cancer.
They also hope to break down embarrassment over these types of cancer and by doing so, save lives.
Kirsty is undertaking the 100km walk on May 27, and is hoping to complete the challenge in just one day.
She added: “When it started getting personal that was enough, I didn’t want my kids to get upset so I thought the best thing to do was turn it into a positive.
“I did some research and found The Eve Appeal – I just loved their slogan ‘it’s just a vagina’.
“I got in touch with them and on the spur of the moment, signed up to do the walk in one day.
“It will take 16-17 hours, I am setting off from Richmond at 7.30am and hopefully will arrive in Brighton while it is still Saturday.
“I train quite a lot but I think I will try and do some time on the treadmill or something like that before the walk.
“I do have a tendency to jump into these things without thinking them through but I am looking forward to it.”