The future of sex toys: Why do we need organic lubricants and ekkildildo
Conscious attitude - in ethical, ecological and other senses - to the fact that you use outwardly and inwardly, is able to give a feeling of deep satisfaction. Including sexual. Twenty years ago, when humanity was not afraid to throw tons of semi-finished products, people also shoved their equivalent, only on the reverse side, well, you understand WHERE. Yes, even in the not-so-distant past, men and women, armed with black glasses, were cautiously sent to sex shops, these strongholds of vice, to be bought with vibrators, anal plugs and other gadgets from toxic porous materials, to the string of stuffed phthalates and other unpredictable nightmares.
Fast forward to our day, in the era of separate garbage collection. Erotic consumers who are concerned about healthy lifestyle and saving the world now have far more options. Real and virtual store shelves are crammed with an abundance of phthalate-free, non-parabenic, vegan, PETA-approved, non-toxic, safe to use, medically sterile silicone dildo and all sorts of gizmos to improve our sex life.
There are a lot of concrete examples: Smitten Kitten from Minneapolis positions itself as “the first ever anti-toxic and safe to use toy store”, California retailer Good Vibrations has a whole section on eco-erotic, toy manufacturer Doc Johnson was awarded a PETA certificate in February for that their products are not tested on animals, and another brand, Sportsheets, collaborates with veterans and develops products for people with disabilities.
Both manufacturers and sellers agree that climate change in the market and a turn towards social and environmental awareness in the sex toy industry are largely due to small independent companies. Buyers accepted their products with a bang, and only after that the major players in the market picked up the trend.
From alternatives to boutiques
“Younger companies are inspiring large manufacturers to introduce new materials and experiment with design - this is healthy competition,” explains Dr. Carol Queen, a regular sexologist at Good Vibrations. “Good toys have a great reputation in the eyes of society, and they are much more valued than 25 years ago. This also contributes to the development of the industry. It can be said that “boutique” companies play the role of innovators, large ones tend to produce more than affordable goods that will be sold everywhere, both in retail and delivery by mail, and price plays an important role. "
Quinn notes that when she first joined the company in 1990, there were very few “alternative” companies on the market that produced silicone dildos. The large and well-standing brands, in turn, did not risk taking them - first of all, the high prime cost stopped them. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that silicone is considered to be the safest and high-class material from which sex toys can be made. So "the appearance of the first silicone vibrators was a truly revolutionary event" - it happened at the very beginning of the 2000s, and the Fun Factory was behind this. As a result, the production cost has decreased, and already more companies have already been able to connect to the business.
The basis of any production is demand. And although Queen herself and her colleagues do not believe that most buyers really care about the ecological or ethical purity of sex products, it can be a good selling point for new generation toys.
“Large companies that are still producing toxic toys, in fact, produce not only them - harmless things are starting to appear in their product range, and this is where the emphasis is placed in their advertising. Because there is a demand for this,” says Sarah. Müller, sex counselor Smitten Kitten.
A trip to the headquarters of Doc Johnson in North Hollywood confirms the words Muller and Queen. The latest acquisition of a company with almost 40 years of history is a new workshop dedicated exclusively to the development and production of toys made of silicone. Elegant black and purple butt plugs of mountains lying around in plastic baskets. Silicone-filled molds for dildos wait patiently in the wings. A marketing company manager, a blonde named Sunny Rogers, says that just a year and a half ago, they had only one silicone-making machine in their arsenal. Now there are three of them.
“The most common question we are asked is: which material is the safest?” Says Rogers. The answer is medical silicone. This is the same material used for prosthetics, but: “Its main drawback is its price. People are not very enthusiastic about silicone products, because they really are not cheap. But an increase in production will inevitably affect price cuts, "she adds.
Watch out: "rubber jelly" and "silica"
In addition, silicone is not just the leader in the world of pleasure. It is famous for its versatility - products from it can be of different density, almost any shape that you can imagine, and all the colors of the rainbow. If it is a solid silicone toy, that is, without internal components, then it can be boiled, that is, sterilized at home. It is not porous and it will never crack with old age.
Regarding materials, Muller speaks with the same enthusiasm about ABS plastic (which is at the opposite end of the price spectrum), cast stainless steel, certain types of glass and even stone and wood, if they are, of course, properly processed with an appropriate sealant.
In turn, she warns against using “pieces made of invented materials” like “transparent jelly”, “rubber jelly” or “silica leather”. Latex, PVC and rubber are porous, and therefore, they will deteriorate over time. "However, they are still used most often, simply because they are much more affordable." This paradoxical situation exactly repeats the problem from the world of healthy food: quality costs money.
Most sex shops, including the aforementioned Good Vibes and Smitten Kitten, try to present the full range of products in different price categories: their task is to reach the widest possible audience. As a rule, this means that in the lower price segment cheapness is valued much more than quality. Alas, poor tormented genitals suffer from this.
Buyers who are trying to make the right choice can sometimes be trapped not only out of greed. So far, there are no official regulations on the positioning of sex toys. In practice, this means that even if the company claims that they are made from organic raw materials, are harmless and so on, it still does not mean anything - there is often no way to check if this is so.
“As a result, it’s the consumer who has to keep a close eye on what he is getting,” reminds Tom Stewart, President of Sportsheets. “If you need safe sex toys, you should know the list of reputable companies that produce them that you can trust.”
Tricks, fakes and "organic" lubricant
There are a number of tricks that companies use to lure potential buyers. For example, according to Müller, the word “organic” often slips into the names of lubricants: “If they claim that it is 100% organic, then this is most likely a lie. For most lubricants, the content of ingredients of organic origin varies from 50 to 85 percent ".
Products from online stores cause even more suspicion, especially considering that now a wave of fakes from China and other countries has rolled into the market. Sunny Rogers says that it is impossible to take into account all manufacturers of counterfeit goods: you usually find out about it when it is too late. She is regularly approached for publication comments investigating cases of allergic reactions to Doc Johnson products. Each time it ends with the fact that she is looking for the real culprits, "whom to condemn." Müller swears she saw photos of cut dildos that were sold in the guise of solid silicone toys - they were stuffed with rags inside.
Bright sexual future
The US Food and Drug Administration has recently once again attempted to regulate the production of toys and lubricants. Despite the fact that most of the proposed measures should, in theory, improve the lives of sellers and buyers, most of the manufacturers and distributors with whom I managed to talk were extremely against. In particular, according to Timothy Crawford, director of research at Doc Johnson, the management insists on costly, meaningless tests, including animal testing. “Each new formula will kill one rabbit,” he says.
But the fact remains that the world is already full of high-quality, safe for humans, exquisitely eco-friendly, non-crappy goods. In the future, toys will be better and cheaper or at least we will be more serious about what they are made of and whether they can help us or only harm us. I want to believe that research will continue, and the topic itself will cease to be taboo.
Carol Queen summarizes: “Of course, even if every component in every sex toy of the world is 100% green, it will not be able to solve the whole problem of environmental safety. We can only wish that in this area at least we take an important step.” The rest, as usual, depends on consumers.
Photo: Doc Johnson, Smitten Kitten, Good Vibrations