by Count of Shadows
(01/03/01)
The
artificial whang, the fake dong, Mother's not-so-little helper,
you know what I'm talking about. Certainly less than a generation
ago in "civilized nations" it was relegated to the hidden shoebox
under the bed or tucked at the bottom of the lingerie drawer. Nobody
talked about them in mixed sex circles and even when they were referred
to it was as the innocuous "vibrator." Uh huh. Used to release stress
and those oh-so-aching muscles. Sure, it was.
In ancient or so-called primitive societies, the phallic doodads
proliferated in many varieties, as ritual object, fertility symbol,
and as pretty little objects d'art for show and play. Today's dildo
stands a bit more in the open. In some cases, stiffly (stiffy?)
going where no man has gone before.
From unnamed anonymity, the dildos of 2000 now go by names like
The Titanic or the Mars, the Celtic, the Goddess of Love. Rarely
anymore are they just a big rubber sausage-shape but instead are
made of realistic cyberskin, body-heat maintaining silicone, or
artistically designed and molded glass.
One of the best known purveyors of the new sex toys is Blowfish
and your roving reporter tracked down (okay, I emailed her) Greta
Christina, General Manager, Vice-President and most importantly
-- the buyer -- for Blowfish with probing questions about the brave
new world of the little (and not so little) dildo that could (and
does).
CofS: How does a company like yours find manufacturers of sex
aid devices and maintain -- well, I guess, a cutting edge --- in
technical developments and new products for their customers?
GRETA: We find out about new products in a number of different
ways. Customer feedback is a big one -- customers tell us about
a product they've seen or tried out, and we go looking for it. There
are also certain manufacturers that we know and like (such as Vixen
and Inner Space), and whenever they come out with a new design,
we're almost certain to pick it up. Also, manufacturers that we're
not aware of will often contact us and send us product samples for
us to review.
We also get information from distributors that we currently buy
from; many of our distributors have a fair idea of the sort of stuff
we like to carry, and will let us know when they get a new product
in that they think we'll like. We do pay some attention to other
sex product companies and what they're carrying (and of course,
they pay attention to us as well); but that's not as much of a source
as you might think, since the different companies have somewhat
different markets and customer bases. There's obviously some overlap
in what the different companies carry, but there's a heck of a lot
of non-overlap as well. We also keep a close eye on adult magazines
(such as On Our Backs) and trade publications (such as AVN) that
have product ads and reviews. Trade shows and sex-oriented events
(such as the SM Flea market or the Folsom Street Fair) are obviously
good sources. And sometimes we find out about things from friends
and lovers and play partners, or just stumble on something at a
store that looks fun and interesting.
My girlfriend jokes about how I can never go into a sex toy store,
or even a bookstore or video store, without taking notes. A buyer's
work is never done...
CofS: I'm sure sales info is understandably proprietary, but could
you give me a ballpark figure, approximation even, of how many of
all types of dildos are sold in a year?
GRETA: Unfortunately, that information is not just proprietary
-- it's also inaccessible. There's no way for our order system to
spit out that information without it taking forever. Short answer
to your question -- a lot. In the thousands.
CofS: Is there more of an openness in women purchasing sex devices
-- in other words are we finally beyond the era of the "plain brown
wrapper"?
GRETA: Hm. That's a good question. I think things certainly have
changed and are continuing to change, both for women and for men.
The clearest sign of this change is the immense explosion in the
adult products business, especially among the higher-end companies
and companies that are aimed partly or mostly at women. There are
now several such companies, where not that long ago there were only
one or two; and while I can't say for sure how successful those
other companies are, I assume they're doing pretty well. Goodness
knows we are. Blowfish is growing by leaps and bounds. And I don't
think that would be happening if folks weren't becoming more comfortable
with buying sex products. Also, we get a lot of customers who tell
us how much they appreciate our approach to sex products in general,
and to product reviews in particular. Our style is very direct,
no-nonsense, and unapologetic, with a lot of humor and no pussyfooting
around about what we sell and what it's meant to be used for. I
think the fact that people do enjoy and appreciate that approach
is a sign that they're feeling more open and comfortable about sex
in general, and sex products in particular.
Now, we do still get a good number of customers who are very concerned
about privacy; they want to make sure that we ship our orders discreetly
(we do), and that we don't sell our mailing list or email addresses
(we don't). A lot of folks still don't want their neighbors or co-workers
to know that they buy sex products. But I get the sense that this
is less a result of shame, and more a result of practicality. The
reality is that a lot of the world is still uptight about
smut and sex toys, and that neighbors and co-workers can and will
make your life pretty damned miserable if they find out what exactly
you're doing in bed. Remember that sodomy, and adultery, and even
oral sex, are flat-out illegal in some states, not to mention
pretty damned unpopular. I think this is something that people in
big, progressive, Sodom-and- Gomorra cities like San Francisco and
New York tend to forget -- people can actually go to jail for having
certain unpopular kinds of sex, even when that sex is completely
consensual and completely private. Even when it's completely legal,
unpopular sex can get you into a lot of trouble --- people have
lost their jobs, their homes, their kids, because their neighbors
or families or co-workers didn't like how they fucked. So yes, people
are still very concerned about keeping their Blowfish purchases
private, especially in the Midwest and the South. And as much as
I wish this weren't so, I can't say that they're wrong.
One of the things that makes this question a bit difficult to
answer is that our customer base isn't mostly women; we do have
a lot of women customers, but more than half of our customers are
male. However, we do know that a lot of the men who order from us
are hetero men in relationships with women, who are ordering stuff
for both themselves and their partners. So clearly, there is still
a common hetero dynamic in which the man is doing the sex-toy-buying
in the relationship. This may well be because a lot of women are
still uncomfortable buying sex toys, or feel that it's a man's role.
I don't know.
CofS: What are some of the latest developments in refining and
improving dildo design and manufacture?
GRETA: The main development I see is simply the sheer number and
variety of products, especially high-end products, that are now
available. Vixen, for instance, started out with maybe a dozen dildo
designs. They now have 30, most of them in several different colors.
And when we first started buying toys from Inner Space, they had
two toys -- the Observer and the Venus -- in two sizes each. They
now have at least 15 different products, some in multiple sizes.
There's also a greater emphasis on appearance than there used to
be. I think Vixen had a lot to do with that, and the acrylic dildo
makers like Inner Space and Cox Industries. Their toys are extremely
beautiful as well as functional, and they definitely raised the
bar in terms of what dildos could look like.
At the same time, there's also a big trend towards greater realism
in dildo design. The Cyberskin dildo is so realistic it's almost
scary -- not just in its look, but in its feel. And it's a very
popular dildo, as are the more realistic varieties of silicone dildos.
The real-dick look is very popular right now -- interestingly enough,
among lesbians as much as straight folks. Maybe even more so.
CofS: What can buyers look for in new sex toys for next year?
GRETA: Butt toys, butt toys, butt toys! 2000 has been The Year
of the Butt. And for that matter, so was 1999. I'm betting that
2001 will be, too.
I also might expect an increase in the kinds of materials dildos
are made from. That's certainly been the trend in the past. Time
was, pretty much everything was rubber or nasty plastics. Then about
fifteen years or twenty ago, we had the silicone revolution, and
all of a sudden there's a zillion cottage-industry companies making
silicone dildos. A few years ago, acrylic was the new high-end kid
on the block; while the bigger, more mainstream companies like Doc
Johnson were getting into the whole jelly thing. And about a year
or so ago, we started getting dildos made from glass, which I would
never have predicted; while the mainstream manufacturers were getting
into the whole ultra-realistic Cyberskin thing. I wouldn't be surprised
in the coming year to see dildos made from materials nobody would
have thought of. Ceramic? Plasticine? Foam rubber? Recycled cat
hair?
I'm reluctant to do too much predicting. Like any business that
depends on creativity, the sex toy business is kind of unpredictable.
And I wouldn't want it any other way. That's half the fun -- getting
a sample of something in the mail that you never would have thought
of but now can't do without. Mostly, I just predict more. More stuff.
More variety.
CofS: Once products are sold, do you ever receive input back from
customers?
GRETA: Absolutely. Customer feedback, both positive and negative,
gives us a good sense of what kinds of products to look for or get
more of, as well as what kinds of products to stay away from. Customers
often tell us what kinds of sex toys they'd like to see, and we
do look for those kinds of toys, and even pass the suggestions on
to our manufacturers.
A perfect example is the Titanic from Vixen (they call it the Randy,
but we thought that was a dumb name, so we call it the Titanic).
We were getting a lot of customer requests for a dildo that was
very fat, but not very long. Most of the very-large dildos
on the market at that time were both hugely thick and hugely
long, which isn't actually very practical for most people. We passed
this on to Vixen, and they came out with their short, fat dildo,
the Randy/Titanic.
Vixen's Seamless Butt Beads are another good example. We personally
refused to sell anal beads for years, since the only ones on the
market had these nasty seams around the perimeter. This was probably
the most common complaint about anal beads, not just from us but
from everybody. So Vixen figured out a way to make anal beds with
no seams, essentially driven by customer feedback. Both of these
items are pretty popular. And they might not have come into existence
if customers hadn't spoken up.
So there's the tale of the (artificial) cock, so to speak, from
its root. You should feel more informed, more educated now. Heck,
you ought to feel downright inspired, know what I mean?
Contact Blowfish at: http://www.blowfish.com
