Net Compulsives

“I’m not going to replace a man with some battery-operated device,”

“I’m not going to replace a man with some battery-operated device,” to which Samantha responded, “You say that, but you haven’t met The Rabbit.” Popular toys like The Rabbit, Fleshlight and Purple Rocket may now make up part of the $15 billion global sex toy industry, but it’s been a long road to success for these pleasure props.Early models of the vibrator were used to treat women with hysteria, which, up until 1952 when the American Psychiatric Association dropped the term, was a disorder associated with repressed female sexuality. “[Hysteria] displayed a symptomatology consistent with the normal functioning of female sexuality, for which relief, not surprisingly, was obtained through orgasm, either through intercourse in the marriage bed or by means of massage on the physician’s table,” explained Rachel P. Maines in The Technology of Orgasm: “Hysteria,” the Vibrator, and the Women’s Sexual Satisfaction. Today, sex toys have broken free of their medical means and are making a significant mark in contemporary culture.Not only does the topic of sex toys warrant shout outs in such television shows as Sex and the City and the upcoming TLC program Mother Knows Sex, a reality show which follows the life of a church-going housewife who has made millions selling sex toys, but it has also been integrated into mainstream culture in more tangible ways.Sex toy parties have grown in popularity as a more provocative take on the Tupperware party. “[They] might make people more comfortable, because someone is coming to your home, you’re with friends, it’s fun and informative,” said Michelle Everest, who teaches human sexuality at Western. Everest also mentioned the existence of progressive sex shops, such as Come As You Are and Good for Her in Toronto, which offer information and sex workshops to help people become better in tune with their sexuality.Despite the growing popularity, acceptance and booming business of sex toys, it’s still an industry facing a number of challenges.“There’s still probably a stigma about going into a sex store, regardless of how progressive it is,” Everest said. “We hope to de-stigmatize the use of them. They’re not for oversexualized people. They’re not for single people who don’t have intimate partners. [Sex toys are] a way to explore your sexuality in a very healthy way,” she added.Susan Knabe, who teaches in both the Faculty of Information and Media Studies and the department of women’s studies and feminist research at Western, identified female sexuality and the idea of sex toys as a joke as problematic. <blockquote>“It’s the way women are positioned as sexual consumers,” Knabe said, adding that lingerie and sex toys have come to be how women position themselves sexually.</blockquote> “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but I do think it’s easily recuperated within the discourse of women’s sexuality as being sort of trivial. It’s associating it with toys, infantilizing or at least juvenile.” The Libido Erotic Emporium for Women, a female-friendly sex store located in London, was dedicated to promoting a comfortable, non-judgmental space to shop. <blockquote>“[Kelly Garland, the owner of Libido] really tried to support women-only businesses. She was also very conscientious of the packaging things were sold in,” explained Sarah Scanlon, internal relations manager for the Women’s Issues Network and a former employee at Libido. </blockquote> “If things were ever sold in packaging that was inappropriate — and that could basically be anything from being oppressive to women or hetero-normative — she just refused to buy it.”Scanlon also explained how more traditional sex stores can be alienating to customers who stray from our society’s narrow frame of who should be having sex, such as Libido’s customer base that consisted largely of older women. When Libido closed its doors in September 2008, Scanlon recalled a lot of regular customers were devastated, as they felt unwelcome in conventional sex stores. “It was really, really hard and sad,” she said.

“I’m not going to replace a man with some battery-operated device,”

“I’m not going to replace a man with some battery-operated device,” to which Samantha responded, “You say that, but you haven’t met The Rabb...

making masturbation interesting,Before becoming a porn mastermind, Houston worked at Good Vibrations, another pillar of San Francisco's sex industry.

On the very edge of Bernal Heights, right before the residential streets drop away and the passing highway begins, lives Shine Louise Houston -- the creative force behind self-proclaimed indie dyke porn studio Pink & White Productions. Climbing up the stairs, stepping over scattered children's toys to Houston's apartment, nothing gives away the fact that the ex-film student living here shoots and edits high-quality queer porn. From her home office, Houston has worked on multiple critically acclaimed, award-winning features, like Crashpad and Superfreak -- films that take a craftsman's approach to sex. As Violet Blue explained in her recent SF Chronicle column about Pink & White's new film, Champion: Love Hurts, the members of this women-run production studio were "primed like evil gay masterminds to conquer the world with their superlative films" from the very beginning back in 2005 -- and it they have.Before becoming a porn mastermind, Houston worked at Good Vibrations, another pillar of San Francisco's sex industry. Every day, as part of her demanding retail job -- which, she explains, required her to be both "salesperson and sexologist" -- she saw the void in available porn DVDs where decent, female-oriented films featuring non-cookie-cutter bodies should have been. Sure, a few movies had popped up here and there. Even Good Vibes had tried its hand at making features. As she saw it though, there were no long-term, sustainable studios putting out the type of porn she wanted to see. Once she hit 30, she decided to quit. "I said, 'Fuck this. I'm starting a company," she laughs. Soon enough, she found herself telling a potential backer who asked who she was, "I'm going to be the best dyke porn producer in San Francisco." <blockquote>Above all, Houston believes in the art of film, no matter what her subject. The original Crashpad, for example, Pink & White's early feature about a mysterious apartment where women can go for uninhibited fun, was shot in four days at a friend's apartment, using models (i.e., actors) who'd simply heard about the project by word of mouth. The editing process, by comparison to those three days, took eight weeks. "Every other genre of film conforms to a certain visual language," says Houston, so why can't porn? Why should viewers have to suffice with long takes, single shots, and awkward camera movement? When she's on the job, Houston isn't thinking about the beautiful women in front of her, she says. She's thinking about how to film them. "Four-ways are the hardest to shoot," she explains, "because there are always bodies blocking everything." Also tough: making masturbation interesting.</blockquote>Houston and Pink and White as a whole have received a lot of praise for the "realness" of their sex scenes -- but when it comes to her art form, ironically, Houston doesn't believe in the "real." It's true that, unlike a lot of mainstream pornographers, she doesn't choreograph her models. She just lets them go at it."What they're doing is fine," she says. Though the natural pace to this kind of sex be longer and more drawn out than what normally appears in porn, she can compress everything down in postproduction, giving each scene a steady beat - if not an authentic one. Houston isn't worried the extra time she dedicates to her films will slow her down. She prides herself on featuring alternative bodies, on presenting the queer without exoticizing it. "The porn audience as a whole is getting smarter," she says, and that's just what they want.

making masturbation interesting,Before becoming a porn mastermind, Houston worked at Good Vibrations, another pillar of San Francisco's sex industry.

On the very edge of Bernal Heights, right before the residential streets drop away and the passing highway begins, lives Shine Louise Housto...

505 cent is now on to sex toys.

Female First reports, "The sexy rapper is desperate to release a line of condoms and waterproof sex toys designed to excite his female ...