Sexuality among women continues to have its time. We have campaigns to encourage women and girls to discuss wanking. There are advertisements for vibrators as well as posters for Viagra in the Tube. It’s possible to take a test online to determine the sex toys of high-end you’re the closest to based on your favorite Netflix show, though you’re unlikely to come up with choosing a toy which actually does what you want it to.
Are we just okay in talking about “female pleasure’ to sell cute cis women’s vibrators? It’s a simple answer. Sex toys sales increased during lockdowns, and over the past year, many celebritiessuch as Lily Allen, Cara Delevingne, Demi Levato — have released or endorsed their own sexual toys. There’s never been more freedom and support for self-discovery and self-love, however, according to experts in sex education like Ruby Rare, author of Sex Ed: A Guide for Adults(opens in the new tab) the strides made in sexual liberation are fueled by capitalism.
As proof, Rare points to the distinction in the way we view sexual toys that are designed specifically for cis females and males who are cis. Although vibrators designed for womenthey’re for straight, white thin, abled and cis women are advertised as essentials, and marketed as positive, sex toys designed for cis guys still have an equally negative stigma. This is a distinct social stigma than a cis woman on a night out for a affair, but it’s equally common.
All sex toys marketing is made to be
The fact that men own sex toys is viewed as a’seedy stigma. Sexually explicit toys targeted at gay men aren’t viewed as an enjoyable addition to the sex of a couple or on their own as sex teacher and sex toy critic Kelvin Sparks explains, “Men are less shamed for having sex and more shamed for not having sex than women are, and sex toys are often treated as evidence somebody isn’t having partnered sex.” We haven’t yet gotten over the notion that the use of butt plugs or sexual play makes men sexually attractive, regardless of the fact that sex activities don’t have anything to do with sexuality. Sparks asserts that “feminist shop sex is often considered to be more middle class and, therefore, more acceptable than’sleazy sexual shops that target mostly male customers.
This taboo about sexual toys specifically designed for males is difficult to break even with a well-thought out marketing campaign. A trans man cramming his penis into a toy that is shaped as a porn star’s mouth isn’t as appealing like a picture of a woman with a cis body rubbing the grapefruit carefully with the purple vibrator. There’s no reason to believe that toys for women who have penises aren’t lucrative and there aren’t any new designs that are being introduced to the market, but it’s because they’re not as easily smudged with purple and promoted to the public as empowerment.
It’s like the goal is to just make money selling sex toys and not actually make women feel comfortable with their body, so why not opt for the more simpleand more attractive marketing strategy?
The grapefruit’s attractive appearance is a common theme in the sex toys marketing due to the fact that in an era of homophobia, even the most powerful companies have to adhere to the guidelines of what is acceptable. To get around the social taboo and the strict nudity rules and the censorship of sexual content posted on social mediathey must be inventive. However, being creative often requires sanitising their brand and embracing a clean style’ that is desexualised and clean.
One company that takes this concept to it’s extreme is Maude which is a sexual health company that has a record $10 million in funds in 2021. It also was able to welcome the actor Dakota Johnson joining the team as an investor as well as co-creative director in 2020. Maude claims that its products aren’t products for sex, but more of “essentials” for sexual wellness. However, a sex toy user and blog author Epiphora informs me that Maude does not seem to be “creating the illusion of doing something meaningful” and isn’t truly interested in creating a positive experience for customers. If they were considering that not all people use the sex toys (so they’re not essentials’) and not everyone makes use of them for health reasons because sometimes we’re sexually sexy and want to leave!
Although society may promote sexual tech capitalism as an empowering tool to sexual freedom however, the truth is recognized. Sexual liberation based on capitalism isn’t actually empowering, despite its marketing that is feminist. In a society that is sexually harmful cleaning out your company and collaborating with famous individuals could bring you to the forefront on Twitter however, making sexual toys more accessible does not necessarily mean that they’re more accessible to all. Of course, being happy is a worthwhile objective. When we promote sexually explicit toys as health products we forget that sex can be enjoyable messy and enjoyable but not always sexually explicit! While they’re wonderful orgasms can be one aspect of sexual freedom. The sex technology industry may be able to flourish without the sanitized versions of sexual liberation they sell to us. But we aren’t able to.