As a woman and as the owner of www.boutiquedamour.com I agree it's long past time to have sex toys, sexuality, and pleasure come 'out of the closet'!! Sex is healthy, natural, and enjoyable and the 'taboo' associated with it where women are concerned is the unnatural part.
The selling of vibrators in your local CVS or WalMart brings with it some concerns though. The adult toy industry has been working hard to erase the stereotyping associated with it. More and more 'boutique' type stores are opening both on and off line in an effort to give women the comfort, freedom and enjoyable shopping experience that buying a new toy should give. Many women find purchasing a new sex toy to be an erotic experience itself, and I can easily see this 'bonus' to buying a toy being a non-existent feature if purchasing at your local department store.
20 years ago when I was buying my first toy I would definitely have appreciated the ability to walk into my local pharmacy as opposed to walking into the adult stores of the 80's where it was full of men, items for men, neon, and garishly dressed shopkeepers who eyed everyone coming in the door as potential deviants and had no clue about the items they were selling. But today? I would much rather walk into one of the boutique type stores staffed with women who know their products and want to make every aspect of your shopping experience fun and pleasurable, or online in the comfort of my home where I can browse each item and research it if I choose to before buying. You won't get this from your local CVS. In fact, while sales of vibrators will probably rise with this new addition due to more impulse buys, I'm not so sure it will bring toys or sex 'out of the closet'. Women who purchase at a department store will likely hide their item in their baskets, under the toilet paper, and hope that the person behind the counter ringing in their purchase isn't a 16 year old boy. There won't be anything enjoyable or erotic about that buying experience.
Sex toys from your local convenience store is definitely a 'sex positive' step for women, but I think we're a long way from giving women what they want in their shopping experience. Easy access is not always the best way to move forward.
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Great article!
As a woman and as the owner of www.boutiquedamour.com I agree it's long past time to have sex toys, sexuality, and pleasure come 'out of the closet'!! Sex is healthy, natural, and enjoyable and the 'taboo' associated with it where women are concerned is the unnatural part.
The selling of vibrators in your local CVS or WalMart brings with it some concerns though. The adult toy industry has been working hard to erase the stereotyping associated with it. More and more 'boutique' type stores are opening both on and off line in an effort to give women the comfort, freedom and enjoyable shopping experience that buying a new toy should give. Many women find purchasing a new sex toy to be an erotic experience itself, and I can easily see this 'bonus' to buying a toy being a non-existent feature if purchasing at your local department store.
20 years ago when I was buying my first toy I would definitely have appreciated the ability to walk into my local pharmacy as opposed to walking into the adult stores of the 80's where it was full of men, items for men, neon, and garishly dressed shopkeepers who eyed everyone coming in the door as potential deviants and had no clue about the items they were selling. But today? I would much rather walk into one of the boutique type stores staffed with women who know their products and want to make every aspect of your shopping experience fun and pleasurable, or online in the comfort of my home where I can browse each item and research it if I choose to before buying. You won't get this from your local CVS. In fact, while sales of vibrators will probably rise with this new addition due to more impulse buys, I'm not so sure it will bring toys or sex 'out of the closet'. Women who purchase at a department store will likely hide their item in their baskets, under the toilet paper, and hope that the person behind the counter ringing in their purchase isn't a 16 year old boy. There won't be anything enjoyable or erotic about that buying experience.
Sex toys from your local convenience store is definitely a 'sex positive' step for women, but I think we're a long way from giving women what they want in their shopping experience. Easy access is not always the best way to move forward.
June 21, 2011 - 6:04amThis Comment
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