The thing about political sex toys
By Allison • Oct 16th, 2008 • Category: Blog
With the presidential election so close and no shortage of controversial topics, opinions, tactics, and hullabaloo making the rounds from Fox News to Satruday Night Live, of course the adult industry is bound to hop on the bandwagon and take advantage of the insane influx of interest in “Sexy Sarah” Palin and Barack “The Dreamboat” Obama by quickly producing sex toys, novelties, and even porn based (at least loosely) on these current political powerhouses.
There’s been a recent rash of press releases and new products hitting the market over the last couple of weeks including a Sarah Palin inspired blow-up doll cleverly titled “This Is Not Sarah Palin”, A Barack Obama Dildo , and of course Hustler Video’s soon to be released Nailin’ Palin, who’s Craigslist shout-out for a Palin lookalike actress has already caused quite a stir around the blogosphere.
With all these politically inspired toys making the rounds it’s become somewhat common for customers to ask us if and when we’ll be carrying these provacative products and the answer is simple, we’re not.
While it’s easy to ride the gimick train and hop on every press-crazed opportunity that arises, and believe me, in the adult industry they are pretty common, Good Vibrations doesn’t believe in carrying products that could so easily offend our customers at the expense of an another person’s dignity just for a few extra bucks.
At GV we’re all about personal expression and in fact there is even an satirical article about Sarah Palin in this week’s edition of The GV Weekly. The power and importance of words, free expression, and being able to openly discuss political ideals when it comes to sexuality issues is something we will always stand behind. There are however lines, good judgement, and basic decency. As Jonathan Plotzker, our Director of Merchandising recently told the San Francisco Chronicle, “[Good Vibrations] received a pitch from a company selling a Sarah Palin blow-up doll. The candidate is “the hottest thing to come out of Alaska in years,” said the vendors, who also cited unprintable reasons to buy this product. No thanks, said Plotzker. GV doesn’t believe in blow-up dolls and “wouldn’t carry something that offends women, or in this case a particular woman.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Blow-up dolls in general have never been something Good Vibrations would sell and despite any personal fears, frustrations, or extreme disapprovals of Sarah Palin’s politics (especially when it comes to Sex Education), we would never condone a toy that so outrightly disrespects her as a woman and as a human being. And while the Obama dildo might seem like a fun novelty or even a way to get a little closer to your idol, the idea of putting the likeness of a person who could potentially be the next president of the United States on a dildo, especially one who is already such an important historical and cultural figure, can easily be perceived as intensely disrespectful in the eyes of our customers and a chance at angering our supporters in a way we would not be willing to risk.
That’s the thing with political sex toys, sometimes it’s a joke, a novelty, a picture on the internet to show your friends, or just a toy to put on your nightstand, but at the end of the day it’s about the fact that these are real people and whether we respect their politics or not, we need to at least respect them as people. People who may or may not be comfortable having their face on a dildo because at the end of the day, they didn’t give their OK to the project, they don’t want to be porn stars, and they have no interest in creating their own line of blow-up dolls. They are politicans, not entertainers (though at times even that is debatable), just people who have for better or worse lent their faces to the horrors of public property in the hope of pushing their agenda and ideals on the rest of the country in the sincere belief they are making America a better place.
When Sarah Palin decides to launch a personal line of anal beads we’ll talk.
Allison >> Allison was a past editor of Good Vibrations Magazine! And, she likes bats.
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Awesome post that perfectly sums up how I feel about these kinds of political sex toys. While I think satire is totally valid and a needed expression, I think stuff like the blow up Sarah Palin definitely goes beyond satire into a degrading space that only happens because she is a woman.
I can’t imagine anyone making an Obama or McCain blow up doll (ew). Even a Palin dildo wouldn’t have felt so obnoxious. And while I would love Sarah Palin to shut her mouth on most topics, I don’t think it needs to be stuffed with dick. Thanks for the great post.
I completely agree with your post here about how disrespectful it is that the adult industry would just jump on the political bandwagon in this manner. Having been a part of the sex toy and adult video industry for the last year I’ve realized that the industry is a bit skewed as to what is a “safe” to make fun of – because in general we poke fun at everything. In this case, these people did not ask to be viewed in a sexual manner, and although I believe everyone in this country has the right to do it in private, it shouldn’t be a public matter. I think that it falls very close to the line of sexual harassment.
The only thing in your article that took me aback was the reference to blowup dolls being disrespectful to women in general. I don’t think that sex dolls or masturbators made in the likeness of a porn star or in the form of a woman is disrespectful. Porn stars have already given their consent and the female form is very beautiful. If there are men (or women) out there that want to screw a blowup doll in the privacy of their own home, I think that they should be allowed to purchase it from an educated, healthy site. They should not be forced to shop at sites they don’t trust simply to purchase a sexual aide. If by saying on your About Us page that you are here to “promote healthy attitudes about sex” does that make Joe Blow ‘unhealthy’ because he’s looking for something that’s a little more realistic than his right hand?
Thanks for this article and for so straightforwardly stating your position. I myself much appreciate it and am glad to know your policy as such.
Best,
Emerald
I LOVE this post — in fact I think this is one of the best posts written about sex toys and the presidential campaigns. I submitted it to Sugasm, and hope more people will read it and share it with their friends!