They are no longer perceived as prohibited objects. The toy industry seems to have no limits. A range of options to explore the universe of sexuality.
Canonical Penelope
Hernán Marmol
02/28/2020 - 7:00
- Clarín.com
- Society
The usual classics. Dildos, vibrators and dildos top the list. Lubricant gels with heat or cold effect, lingerie, vacuum pumps and rings with base complete the ranking of the favorite sex toys of Argentines. “The month they sold the most was October. If we compare with last year, the turnover increased by 124% ”, they assure in Mercado Libre. Other data highlighted by the company is that 39.9% of users are millennials between 25 and 34 years old; 56% are usually men.
Sales increased both in stores and on social networks and websites during the last time. “It is important to understand that sexuality is part of our biological health. The toys bring new possibilities, sensations and can even be of therapeutic use, ”says Christian Milosevic, owner of the sex shop and wholesale distributor Rey adult (@sexshopelreyadultos), in Malabia and Corrientes, with more than 16 years of experience in the trade .
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Fashion or pleasure?
Increasingly, the sex toy market demands items and novelties. Demand is strong, but it does not always match the needs. “It's not about buying because it caught my attention. It is necessary to analyze if it is appropriate for what I am looking for: that it is silent so as not to wake my children, that it vibrates with different speeds, that allows me to play with my partner from a distance ” , recommends Paola Kulliok, sexologist specializing in erotic games from 14 years ago. For his part, Christian says he is trained to provide appropriate guidance when selling a product.
“It is important to live a full sexuality, free from prejudices. I think that the few taboos that remain are associated with the lack of knowledge, ”he reflects.
Christian in his local sex toys. Photo: Maxi Failla
But, at the forefront, how does technology impact sexual life?
They say that visiting a sex shop is like entering a toy store. “My task is to naturalize the fact that you use a toy to stimulate pleasure. I teach specific games and what are the safety rules, ”explains Paola in reference to the guided tours he organizes at the sex workshops.
Christian says that in the last trips he made he noticed a growing innovation of products. Which? New genital stimulators, items to use as a couple via USB, clitoral suckers and high gamma vibrators. "Most of them come with USB charging ports, which means that batteries are no longer used," he says.
The boom of toys handled via bluetooth
The traditional ones always remain the most chosen to extend the sexual life. The specialists affirm that the digital ones never displaced the product of national manufacture in the market. But, the technology industry revolutionized the market. Its consumption was enhanced, marking a high rise in recent years. "It impacts users by the variety, packaging and functionality that each product presents," says Christian.
Products evolve with better materials. Photo: Maxi Failla
Increasingly sophisticated, remote control toys are trending. They are handled by the phone via bluetooth. The purchase includes the free download of the application. From $ 5,000 to $ 15,000. “You receive the stimulus that your partner sends you from a different place. The distance does not matter. The other controls the vibration. I can be in Punta del Este and make it enjoy in Buenos Aires. But if you just begin to explore this universe, I recommend using other types of articles first, ”suggests Paola.
Sex toys can be simple or increasingly sophisticated, but they are always playful. Photo: Maxi Failla
With bright colors, they combine shapes that move away from traditional vibrators or dildos. “They allow toys to be chosen according to their function and not because of the genital size. This is valid especially for women because they usually look for the degree of pleasure they could obtain, unlike men who prefer synthetic vaginas or be penetrated by more phallic objects, ”emphasizes Walter Ghedin, a psychiatrist and sexologist.
Sexnology: new trend
A very widespread and used experience. Cyber sex can be complementary to the autoerotic practice with the chosen sex toys. Modern designs, soft textures and bluetooth connection that allows you to add music or talk with your partner via Skype or WhatsApp. “Everyone does their thing from their side of the screen,” adds Walter.
View of the Mysteryvibe device, a silicone unisex vibrator that can be molded to best fit each body, presented during the CES 2020 consumer electronics fair, in Las Vegas (USA).
Alert: hackers are on the prowl
The devices that are part of that growing universe called Internet of Things (IoT) have a double standard: the virtue, on the one hand, of connecting unlimitedly with everything and, on the other, the vulnerability of any technological object that can be pirated or hacked From an incandescent lamp to a refrigerator or a sex toy, they all have components that were violated by someone.
Today, sex toys can reach unthinked functionalities and allow couples to "keep their flame burning, together or apart," as creators often say when promoting them. They work through a specific app that connects to the device via Bluetooth.
Products of the Satisfyer company during the consumer electronics fair CES 2020, in Las Vegas (USA): a wide range of female vibrators based on air pressure wave technology with which to stimulate the clitoris without contact. EFE
But of course: being a wereable device, like smart watches that deal with health care, they use the Bluethoot low energy protocol, common among IoT devices. "In any of the phases, the cybercriminal could interfere or interrupt the process to steal data or take control of this device," says specialist Denise Giusto Bilic. "These teams publish constant information that could have serious consequences in the hands of criminals. The data ranges from mode and time of use to even measuring temperature," he adds.
Some also allow you to take screenshots of the phone or tablet and the photos are never deleted from the remote equipment, such as the case of the male masturbator Max 2 manufactured by Lovensen. Although they do not contain metadata, the images are hosted in the Google photo application to which the cybercriminal can access.
But how can a hacker get directly involved with this kind of pleasure accessories? ESET specialists say that anyone could find it just by scanning the network. Both the vibrator and the masturbator constantly seek connection. When you find one, stop doing it. But if the user puts the cell phone on standby, it is available again. Through a Bluetooth scanner you can detect if there is any type of device that is looking for connection. Through the Bluetooth website you can emulate it to get the user to connect with him and not with his sextoy.
Computer viruses allow an attacker to be able to control these sex toys connected remotely, as well as to carry out a ransomware attack, that is, to kidnap private or sensitive information for the user and to request in exchange a ransom commonly via the payment of digital currencies ( bitcoins)
There are sex toys, such as the We-Vibe 4 Plus female vibrator, from the Canadian company We-Vibe, which does not express the security measures taken to protect user data anywhere. In none of the cases, experts say, there are details about safety.
During the Las Vegas Def Con 2016 conference, two independent hackers from New Zealand, whose aliases are GoldFisk and Users , revealed that the way the vibrator talks to its control application is not really safe, which makes it possible to take Remote control of the vibrator and activate it at will. Following this episode, many Canadians decided to file a class action lawsuit against the company that was favorable to the victims, who received the sum of 4 million dollars.
After this episode, the company began to change its privacy policy to stop handling personal data using a security token - similar to that used by banks to make online transfers - that connects to a dedicated site only once and provides protection against bruteforcing (brute force attacks from various IPs).
What role does sexuality play in society?
Pudores and fears exist. The triple moral too. Prejudice free, Paola teaches sex classes, rises, cruises. Remember when a 70-year-old lady approached to share her experience. He confessed that he was horrified at first, but later revealed that at his long age he had never allowed himself to enjoy his sexuality. He thanked her for the possibility of reuniting with her husband, after 40 years, from another place. "The importance attached to eroticism varies according to the stage that is going through," says the specialist.
Phallic sex toys, of national production, the most sought after. Photo: Maxi Failla
María Marta Castro Martín is a teacher in sex education. He also had revealing experiences of patients in consultation. It offers training in different regions of the country in which it has informal conversations with its students.
"Do you think there are prejudices when going to a sex shop or using toys?" He asked in a WhatsApp group he coordinates. "A lot, but when you are instructed on the subject, you start looking at it in a more relaxed way," says S. Another user believes that most people have setbacks when buying them at the store. "It makes me ashamed. It always depends on the generations, ”adds F. His partner is convinced that it is women who are increasingly encouraged to use them. “The problem is the look of the other. We live very aware of what society can think ”, concludes O.
Did the advance of feminism change the market?
“Women were empowered by their sexuality, their pleasure and their preferences. The market was accompanying them in this change, ”says Christian. In villages in the interior of the country, where there is usually no sexshopp, there are exclusive tappersex meetings. “In this we remain very binary. The girls, on the one hand, the babies on the other, ”Marta asks.
New niches of consumption. “Sex toys became a kind of mediator that operates between cultural patterns and sexual freedom. They help couples to free them from sex ruled by "what should be done", says Walter. The use of dildos is a reflection of this change.
Walter tells that the first dildos reproduced the genitals of pornographic actors, under the stereotype of the active man who dominates the passive woman. The image was displaced by new ways of conceiving the erotic encounter. "While there are still sexual products that reproduce the patriarchal imaginary, the new objects are focused on obtaining and providing pleasure," he explains.
In homosexual relationships, the use of toys is a common experience. It is not the case of heterosexual orientation that needed more time to include them openly as part of their erotic. “They saw with a certain prejudice - not without temptation - how the unions between people of the same gender incorporated them without so many turns,” Walter analyzes.
Today, there are exclusive erotic shops for women. Some think that there is no equal link if there is penetration of one over the other and that they do not need this practice that they call patriarchal. “Sexual articles are different, they are not phallic. Each person has to do what they want. I work for a personal sexuality with full consent of the participants. That feminism does not decide what we can or cannot do, ”Marta demands.
Each experience goes through different sociocultural mandates. The use of sex toys as a springboard to freely express sexuality gained ground in the 21st century market.
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