Side Job Was Unusual for Her Small Town -- Too Unusual
Joanne Webb, suburban mother and part-time saleswoman, never imagined herself crusading for the right to market sex toys.
But lately she’s done little else, extolling the virtues of erotica to reporters across the country, while her lawyer defends her on charges of promoting an obscene device, her hometown detractors sigh in disapproval and her teenage children wish the whole mess would go away.
Webb, a former fifth-grade teacher, works for Passion Parties -- a San Francisco-based company with a line of adult novelties that are sold at Tupperware-type house parties. Last month, after Webb sold $63.11 worth of merchandise to two undercover officers, police in this town outside Fort Worth charged her with violating a Texas law that bans the sale of “obscene devices.”
Faced with a possible $4,000 fine and a one-year prison sentence that would prevent her from teaching again, Webb steeled herself for the fight of her life. “There’s nothing gross or disgusting about these products,” Webb, 43, said with a stubborn set to her jaw. “By the time I educate you on what it’s used for, it’s more of a clinical thing -- how it can help you. All I wanted to do was help couples stay together.”
Bill Moore, the Johnson County attorney prosecuting the case, declined to be interviewed, saying through his office manager that he doesn’t discuss pending cases with the media. Burleson Police Capt. Doug Sandifer said Webb’s case was straightforward: “We received a complaint regarding a sexually oriented business and conducted an investigation. There was a violation of the obscenity section of the Texas Penal Code, and a judge signed an arrest warrant. We were doing our job, to enforce the law.”
Webb said it briefly had occurred to her that sex products might not go over so well in a conservative county where even liquor sales are banned. But Passion Parties are popular in the Bible Belt states of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, with sales second only to California. Webb reasoned that many women in her community would welcome the concept as well. Besides, with her husband’s construction business faltering, the family needed the extra income.
The first invitations, in June, went to friends at the Burleson Chamber of Commerce, where Webb at the time served on the executive board, was an award-winning volunteer and a member of the Ambassador Club, the chamber’s public relations arm. Passion Parties became a member of the chamber.
In the following months, Webb said, she sold about $500 worth of goods at each of the 30 parties she held. It was small potatoes compared with a Houston consultant who reached the $1-million mark last year, but Webb was content. The parties were fun, and her matter-of-fact delivery helped open a dialogue many women seemed to appreciate. “I felt like I was teaching again,” she said.
Webb knew that some people disapproved of her business, but she was used to gossip -- her micro-miniskirts, boots and long, curly blond hair had attracted attention before, and not always in a flattering way. The pastors of two churches, uncomfortable with her appearance, had asked her to move to other congregations, said her lawyer, BeAnn Sisemore. At a chamber meeting, a few women asked Webb to stop selling her products. Not long after that conversation, the Ambassadors moved to adopt a dress code that prohibited miniskirts.
Webb, the daughter of a Marine Corps colonel, was unfazed. “I thought, ‘Let them get all up in arms about my new business, but I’m going to do what I think is right here.’ ”
In October, a young couple walked into her husband’s business, where Webb was the office manager. Although she didn’t normally sell outside of the house parties, the couple said they wanted to purchase the products that day, Webb said. So she went home to collect the merchandise, the couple paid with cash and left.
That sale, to undercover police officers, led to her arrest. After posting $1,500 bond, Webb went home, crawled under the covers and cried. Her 13-year-old son tried to make her feel better by saying he read about the Texas obscenity statute online at dumblaws.com. Her voluble 16-year-old daughter -- who when told of the arrest simply stared at her mother in shock and compassion -- refused to discuss it with her friends.
The more Webb thought about it, the angrier she became. She took a leave of absence from the Chamber of Commerce and hired Sisemore, who has said she will challenge the law as an unconstitutional violation of the right to privacy.
Under Texas law, an obscene device is a simulated sexual organ or an item designed for “stimulation of the human genital organs.” Adult stores get around the law by posting signs that say the products are sold as “novelties.” Because Webb had explained to the undercover officers how to use the products, she crossed the line, Sisemore said. “The law is about how you represent what the product is for. I can have the most obnoxious item in the world, and as long as I call it a ‘novelty,’ I can sell it all day long. If I educate you on how to use it, it’s illegal.”
Sisemore plans to file a motion this week, asking that the state be restrained from enforcing the law until Webb’s case is resolved. “The biggest question here is: What is the purpose of the law? How does it protect the welfare of the public not to sell this in a private home to women over 18?” Sisemore said.
The travails of a sex-aid-selling mom is Topic A here in Burleson, which until recently was mostly known as the home of “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson. The town’s latest turn in the spotlight is an embarrassment, said Gloria Gillaspie, pastor of the interdenominational Lighthouse Church. “People move out here because they want to get away from the sleaze,” said Gillaspie, whose family has lived here since an uncle founded the town more than 100 years ago. Webb “has a different philosophy that contradicts the philosophy of the city. We don’t want baby dolls, topless bars and sex stores. We just don’t want that in our town.
“It’s nothing vindictive against them,” Gillaspie said. “But this is a strong community of faith. We want a city that’s wholesome and family-oriented.”
But Webb has supporters in town, including James Brown, an insurance agent and former president of the Ambassadors Club. In a letter to the editor printed in the Burleson Star last month, Brown said Webb’s business was targeted “because of the way she dresses.... Hopefully, those who don’t like Joanne’s skirts can get beyond that and realize she is a huge asset to our community.”
Cleta Nicholson, 46, doesn’t know Webb but certainly has heard about her arrest. “Burleson is real conservative, but there’s lots of people who aren’t small-minded,” said Nicholson, who has lived here for 23 years. “I’ll bet a lot of those women who go to church every Sunday are the first ones in line to buy stuff at those parties. Why not? I’d rather do that than go to an X-rated store and be stared at.”
Webb is the first Passion Parties consultant to be charged with obscenity in the company’s 10-year history, said President Pat Davis. The company, which expects to do $20 million in sales this year, is contributing to a fund for Webb’s legal expenses.
Still, Webb worries about her everyday bills. She hesitates to hold more parties and, in any case, potential clients are calling to cancel. Her husband of 20 years, Chris, could not be more supportive, she said, but he is burdened with his own business worries. The family is living on mutual funds that they have cashed in, she said.
In the office of her tidy brick home, a figurine of a reclining nude woman shares a bookshelf filled with family photos and Webb’s Chamber of Commerce awards. Before, Webb was proud of her part-time job. Now, she admits, she’s scared.
“Initially, I thought we’ll just move and I’ll stop irritating whoever I’m irritating,” she said. “But as long as that law is on the books, I’m not giving up. To walk away and have someone else go through this, that would really be obscene.”
