• Artificial vaginas, also known as “pocket pussies”, “male masturbators”, or “strokers”,^[4] are tubes made of soft material to simulate sexual intercourse. The material and often textured inner canal are designed to stimulate the penis and induce orgasm. The male masturbators come in many shapes and styles; they can be shaped like vulvas, anuses, mouths, or as non-descriptive holes. Some male masturbators are disposable and some can be washed and used repeatedly. Some are equipped with sex machine options that work similar to milking machines.^[5]
• A cock harness is a more elaborate harness designed to be worn around the penis and scrotum. Its function is similar to that of a cock ring. These devices are often associated with BDSM activities such as cock and ball torture. An Arab strap is one such form of harness, purported to be a device used for maintaining an erection.
• Cock rings prolong male erection by holding blood inside the penis. A man may wear a cock ring to combat erectile difficulties, or for the sensation of tightness and engorgement that wearing one provides. Some models include a protruding clitoral stimulator, designed to stimulate the clitoris during sex. Others vibrate, either vibrating the ring itself, or in a popular ‘Dolphin’ variant by using two removable bullet vibrators to provide stimulation to both the testicles and clitoris. Some cock rings also have vibrators attached which can be worn to stimulate a partner during sexual intercourse, especially in the scrotum or perineum.^[6] Yet other cock rings have arms that rub and apply pressure to the perineum of the wearer.^[7]
  • A triple crown is a special cock ring that has additional rings for restraining the testicles. In orgasm, the testicles usually retract toward the body before ejaculation. A triple crown changes and intensifies the sensation of orgasm by forcing the testicles to stay away from the body.
• A docking sleeve is a cylindrical device similar to a penis sleeve, but is open at both ends, so that two men can dock, a form of mutual masturbation.
• An FTM stroker is a pocket-pussy-style toy designed “for [the] t-cock/enlarged clitoris” of a transgender man on hormone replacement therapy. In 2016, Buck Angel released the first such device, the Buck-Off.^[8]
• A penis extension is a partially hollow device like a very short dildo, with the hollow end placed on the end of the penis, intended to increase the effective length of the penis, again for the benefit of the person being penetrated. These are generally worn with condoms to prevent them from falling off during use.
• A penis sleeve is a cylindrical device that is placed on the shaft of the penis, with the aim of increasing stimulation for the person being penetrated. They often have soft bumps intended to provide further stimulation.
• Urethral sounds are rods, known after the nautical “sounding rods” that measure water depth, — usually silicone or metal, often with a ball at one end — inserted into the urethra for sexual stimulation.^[9] There are sounding rods for women, but they are used far less.

Vulva toys

• Vibrator wands, such as the Hitachi Magic Wand, are large vibrators that generally plug into an electrical outlet (versus operating on battery power) and are often marketed as back massagers.^[10] They are able to produce far more powerful vibration than most battery-powered vibrators.^[10] Various attachments made of silicone or a rubber material allow the toy to be used penetratively, or give the toy more interesting texture.^[10][11]
• Clitoral vibrators are designed to stimulate the clitoris by direct contact.^[12]
• The Womanizer is a clitoral stimulator that uses air vibrations and suction.^[13][14]
• Clitoral clamps are used to stimulate the clitoris by applying pressure and restricting blood flow.^[15]
• Pussy pumps and clitoral pumps are used to sensitize the genital area prior to masturbation or sex with a partner.^[16]
• Clitoral suction toys consist mainly of a small tunnel that when placed around the clitoris and powered on, creates a feeling of suction.^[17]

History

Dildos in one form or another have existed widely in history. Artifacts from the Upper Paleolithic of a type called bâton de commandement have been speculated to have been used for sexual purposes.^[18] Few archaeologists consider these items as sex toys, but archaeologist Timothy Taylor put it, “Looking at the size, shape, and—some cases—explicit symbolism of the ice age batons, it seems disingenuous to avoid the most obvious and straightforward interpretation. But it has been avoided.”^[19][20]

The first dildos were made of stone, tar, wood, bone, ivory, limestone, teeth,^[21] and other materials that could be shaped as penises and that were firm enough to be used as penetrative sex toys. Scientists believe that a 20-centimeter siltstone phallus from the Upper Palaeolithic period 30,000 years ago, found in Hohle Fels Cave near Ulm, Germany, may have been used as a dildo.^[22] Prehistoric double-headed dildos have been found which date anywhere from 13 to 19,000 years ago. Various paintings from ancient Egypt around 3000 BCE feature dildos being used in a variety of ways. In medieval times, a plant called the “cantonese groin” was soaked in hot water to enlarge and harden for women to use as dildos.^[21] Dildo-like breadsticks, known as olisbokollikes (sing. olisbokollix),^[23] were known in Ancient Greece prior to the 5th century BC.^[24] In Italy during the 1400s, dildos were made of leather, wood, or stone.^[25] Chinese women in the 15th century used dildos made of lacquered wood with textured surfaces, and were sometimes buried with them.^[21] Nashe’s early-1590s work The Choise of Valentines mentions a dildo made from glass.^[26] Dildos also appeared in 17th and 18th century Japan, in shunga. In these erotic novels, women are shown enthusiastically buying dildos, some made out of water buffalo horns.^[21]

Dildos were not just used for sexual pleasure. Examples from the Eurasia Ice Age (40,000-10,000 BCE) and Roman era are speculated to have been used for defloration rituals.^[21]

Many references to dildos exist in the historical and ethnographic literature. Haberlandt,^[27] for example, illustrates single and double-ended wooden dildos from late 19th century Zanzibar. With the invention of modern materials, making dildos of different shapes, sizes, colors and textures became more practical.^[28]

Ancient Greece

Greek dildos were often made out of leather stuffed with wool in order to give it varying degrees of thickness and firmness. They were often lubricated with olive oil, and used for sexual practice and other activities. The Greeks were also one of the first groups to use the term “toy” in reference to a dildo.^[21] Dildos may be seen in some examples of ancient Greek vase art. Some pieces show their use in group sex or in solitary female masturbation.^[29] One vessel, of about the sixth century BCE, depicts a scene in which a woman bends over to perform oral sex on a man, while another man is about to thrust a dildo into her anus.^[30]

Page DuBois, a classicist and feminist theorist, suggests that dildos were present in Greek art because the ancient Greek male imagination found it difficult to conceive of sex taking place without penetration. Therefore, female masturbation or sex between women required an artificial phallus to be used.^[29]

In literature

Dildoes are mentioned several times in Aristophanes‘ comedy of 411 BCE, Lysistrata.

LYSISTRATA

And so, girls, when fucking time comes… not the faintest whiff of it anywhere, right? From the time those Milesians betrayed us, we can’t even find our eight-fingered leather dildos. At least they’d serve as a sort of flesh-replacement for our poor cunts… So, then! Would you like me to find some mechanism by which we could end this war?^[31]

Herodas‘ short comic play, Mime VI, written in the 3rd Century BCE, is about a woman called Metro, anxious to discover from a friend where she recently acquired a dildo.

METRO

I beg you, don’t lie,

dear Corrioto: who was the man who stitched for you this bright red dildo?^[32]

She eventually discovers the maker to be a man called Kerdon, who hides his trade by the front of being a cobbler, and leaves to seek him out. Metro and Kerdon are main characters in the next play in the sequence, Mime VII, when she visits his shop.

Talmud

The Talmud’s Avodah Zarah Tractate^[33] records the interpretation which Rav Yosef bar Hiyya gave to the Biblical reference of King Asa of Judah having “(…) deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as Queen Mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley“.^[34] According to Rav Yosef, Maakah had installed “a kind of male organ” on her Asherah image “in order to fulfill her desire”, and was “mating with it every day”. Rav Yosef’s words are quoted by Rashi in his own interpretation of 2 Chronicles 15:16. Whether or not Rav Yosef was right in attributing this practice to the Biblical Queen, his speaking of it indicates that Jews in 3rd Century Mesopotamia were familiar with such devices.

Early modern period

In the early 1590s, the English playwright Thomas Nashe wrote a poem known as The Choise of Valentines, Nashe’s Dildo or The Merrie Ballad of Nashe his Dildo. This was not printed at the time, due to its obscenity^[35] but it was still widely circulated and made Nashe’s name notorious.^[26] The poem describes a visit to a brothel by a man called “Tomalin”; he is searching for his sweetheart, Francis, who has become a prostitute. The only way he can see her is to hire her. However, she resorts to using a glass dildo as he finds himself unable to perform sexually to her satisfaction.^[36]

Dildos are humorously mentioned in Act IV, scene iv of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. This play and Ben Jonson‘s play The Alchemist (1610) are typically cited as the first use of the word in publication (Nashe’s Merrie Ballad was not published until 1899).^[35]

John Wilmot, the seventeenth-century English libertine, published his poem Signor Dildo in 1673. During the Parliamentary session of that year, objections were raised to the proposed marriage of James, Duke of York, brother of the King and heir to the throne, to Mary of Modena, an Italian Catholic princess. An address was presented to King Charles on 3 November, foreseeing the dangerous consequences of marriage to a Catholic, and urging him to put a stop to any planned wedding ‘…to the unspeakable Joy and Comfort of all Your loyal Subjects.” Wilmot’s response was Signior Dildo (You ladies all of merry England) Archived 2003-10-15 at the Wayback Machine, a mock address anticipating the ‘solid’ advantages of a Catholic marriage, namely the wholesale importation of Italian dildos, to the unspeakable joy and comfort of all the ladies of England:

You ladies all of merry England

Who have been to kiss the Duchess’s hand,

Pray, did you not lately observe in the show

A noble Italian called Signor Dildo? …

A rabble of pricks who were welcomed before,

Now finding the porter denied them the door,

Maliciously waited his coming below

And inhumanly fell on Signor Dildo …

This ballad was subsequently added to by other authors, and became so popular that Signor became a term for a dildo.^[37] In the epilogue to The Mistaken Husband (1674), by John Dryden, an actress complains:

To act with young boys is loving without men.

What will not poor forsaken women try?

When man’s not near, the Signior must supply.^[37]

Signor Dildo was set to music by Michael Nyman for the 2004 biopic, The Libertine.

Many other works of bawdy and satirical English literature of the period deal with the subject. Dildoides: A Burlesque Poem (London, 1706), attributed to Samuel Butler, is a mock lament to a collection of dildos that had been seized and publicly burnt by the authorities. Examples of anonymous works include The Bauble, a tale (London, 1721) and Monsieur Thing’s Origin: or Seignor D—o’s Adventures in London, (London, 1722).^[38] In 1746, Henry Fielding wrote The Female Husband: or the surprising history of Mrs Mary, alias Mr. George Hamilton, in which a woman posing as a man uses a dildo. This was a fictionalized account of the story of Mary Hamilton.^[39]

Dildos are obliquely referred to in Saul Bellow‘s novel The Adventures of Augie March (1953): “….he had brought me along to a bachelor’s stag where two naked acrobatic girls did stunts with false tools”.^[40] A dildo called Steely Dan III from Yokohama appears in the William S. Burroughs novel The Naked Lunch (1959).^[41][42] The rock band Steely Dan took their name from it.

Health, safety, and privacy concerns

Standards set for sex toys are set in ISO 3533:2021. The sex toys are sold as novelty items so they do not need to adhere to certain regulations such as reporting the chemicals and materials used in a product. Due to this status, manufacturers are not responsible if their toys are used for any other purpose than being a novelty.^[43] Regulations such as REACH^[44] do exist, and some sex toys may be compliant to this though, despite that there is no obligation for manufacturers on attaining compliance. A 2006 study conducted by the Greenpeace Netherlands office found high level of phthalates in seven out of eight plastic sex toys tested.^[45] Phthalates are chemical plasticizers that are added as softeners, to create the malleable and soft effect that many look for in sex toys.^[46]

Sex toys are classified as novelties in the United States because the Food and Drug Administration has extensive testing and financial requirements in order for sex toys to be classified as medical devices. Therefore, sex toy manufacturers more often choose less complex production by labeling them a novelty, where their listed ingredients do not have to be accurate in chemical composition or percentage of ingredients. Due to the novelty classification, sex toys may contain toxins such as phthalates, which have been banned in children’s toys by the CPSC.^[46][47]

Before using a sex toy, owners should take precautions. One should check for tears, rough seams or cracks that could harm the inside of the vagina or anus. Condoms should also be used on porous sex toys and sex toys that are being shared between two or more partners. They should also use appropriate lubricants; silicone lube will break down silicone toys, and oil-based lubes will break down latex condoms.^[48]

Care

Cleaning sex toys is also very important for sexual health and sex toy safety. Cleaning them will avoid the potential of bacterial infection, transmission of STIs (if shared), or pregnancy (if sperm is present on the toy). Porous sex toys (ridged, flexible, soft and squishy) are difficult to clean and can hide bacteria that multiply and harm the human body. Non-porous toys are easier to clean, making them less potentially harmful.^[46] When cleaning sex toys, always use warm water and unscented anti-bacterial soap.^[48]

Anal toys (butt plugs, small dildos, etc.)

• When used in the anus, sex toys can easily get lost as rectal muscles contract and can suck an object upward, potentially obstructing the colon; to prevent this serious problem, it is recommended that individuals use sex toys with a flared base or a string.^[49]

Non-porous toys^[48]

• Glass toys: some can be put in the dishwasher, but it is recommended not to expose them to extreme temperatures and to wash them with soap and water.
• Hard plastic toys: do not boil the toy, and wash with soap and water.
• Silicone toys: put it on the top shelf of the dishwasher, boil for 5–10 minutes, or wash with water and soap.
• Stainless steel toys: boil or soak them in 1:10 bleach-water solution for ten minutes, put it on the top shelf of the dishwasher, or use soap and water (if there are electrical components to the toy).

Porous toys^[48]

• Cyberskin and vinyl toys: clean with warm water, air dry, and sprinkle it with a small amount of cornstarch (to keep them dry and not sticky).
• Nylon toys: put it in the top rack of the dishwasher or wash with soap and water.
• Rubber toys: cannot be properly cleaned because bacteria is absorbed into the material, so it is recommended to always use a condom.

In 2016, the security software company Trend Micro demonstrated that some Internet-connected electronic sex toys are vulnerable to cyberattacks,^[50] thus creating the field of onion dildonics.^[51] The ethical, legal, and privacy concerns are an area of active research by Sarah Jamie Lewis, amongst others.

Legal issues

India

Sex toys are illegal in India.^[52] Selling sex toys is a punishable offense under section 292 of Indian penal code, as sex toys are considered an “obscene” product. Besides sex toys, any book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation, figure or any other object, is also considered obscene by section 292 if it is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest.^[53] The punishment for the offense is up to two years in prison.^[54][55]

Japan

In Japan, many dildos are created to resemble animals or cartoon characters, such as Hello Kitty, rabbits or dolphins, so that they may be sold as toys, thus avoiding obscenity laws.^{[citation needed]}

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the sale and importation of sex toys is illegal.^[56]

South Africa

Section 18A of the Sexual Offenses Act, 1957, inserted by the Immorality Amendment Act, 1969, prohibited the manufacture or sale of any item “intended to be used to perform an unnatural sexual act”. The term “unnatural sexual act” referred to any sex other than vaginal heterosexual sex, and this prohibition was ostensibly aimed at preventing the use of dildos by lesbians.^[57] No longer enforced, the section was repealed by the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007.^{[citation needed]}

United States

Sex toys and lubricants have become increasingly available in major commercial outlets in the United States. On-shelf displays tend to be more discreet than the offerings on web sites. These items tend to be displayed in the “sexual health” sections of stores.^[58]

Until recently, many Southern and some Great Plains states banned the sale of sex toys completely, either directly or through laws regulating “obscene devices”.^[59] In 1999, William H. Pryor, Jr., an assistant attorney general in Alabama commenting on a case involving sex toys and discussing to what end the devices are used, was quoted as saying there is no “fundamental right for a person to buy a device to produce orgasm“. A federal appeals court upheld Alabama’s law prohibiting the sale of sex toys on Valentine’s Day, 2007.^[60]

In February 2008, a federal appeals court overturned a Texas statute banning the sales of sex toys, deeming such a statute as violating the Constitution’s 14th Amendment on the right to privacy.^[61] The appeals court cited Lawrence v. Texas, where the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 struck down bans on consensual sex between gay couples, as unconstitutionally aiming at “enforcing a public moral code by restricting private intimate conduct”. Similar statutes have been struck down in Kansas and Colorado.

Marty Klein, author of America’s War on Sex and an advocate for the moral value of sex toys, has described the sex toy bans as a form of erotophobia and genophobia, claiming the “extraordinary erosion of personal liberty, coupled with the massive disrespect of and fear of sexuality is no joke” and that the “Supreme Court [of the United States] has declared our orgasms a battlefield, and sex toys another casualty.”^[62]

Industry

As of 2008, the sex toys industry was valued at US$15 billion worldwide, with a growth rate of 30%.^[when?][63] Seventy percent of sex toys are manufactured in China.^[63][64][65] Sex toys are sold in various types of local and online sex shops,^[66] at conventions associated with the adult industry,^[67][68] and at parties. However, some items, such as “hand-held massagers”, are sold in mainstream retail outlets such as drugstores.^[67]

In popular culture

• On Millionaire Matchmaker, “Sex Toy Dave” Levine – who earned a fortune selling adult toys and wanted Patti to find him a mate, preferably bisexual, who would accept him as he is – was featured as one of Patti Stanger‘s clients.^[69]
• On Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kandi Burruss frequently discusses, displays, and gives other cast members gifts from her sex toy line, “Bedroom Kandi”, which she also promotes via her online show, Kandi Koated Nights.^[70]

Research

Sex toys have been the subject of scientific research in different disciplines (e.g., medicine, clinical psychology, sexology, queer studies) for decades.^[71] However, in comparison to other sexual aids such as pornography they are regarded as relatively under-researched.^[72]

Prevalence and types of sex toy use

Some questionnaire and interview studies on the prevalence of sex toy use are available. They show that people of all genders and all sexual identities use sex toys during solo sex (masturbation) and – somewhat less frequently – during partner sex. In various countries (e.g., Australia, China, Germany, USA) sex toys are normalized according to empirical studies, i.e. they are already used by large sections of the population, sometimes by the majority of the population.^{[73][74][75][76]}

The Internet has made an important contribution to the popularization of sex toys, since information searches about and the purchase of sex toys can now be carried out discreetly online.^[77][78][79]

Studies demonstrate that sex toy uses are very diverse. For example, many women do not insert vibrators, but use them externally for direct clitoral stimulation, either during masturbation or during intercourse.^[80] Homosexual identified men, on the other hand, report much more frequently that they use vibrators for anal insertion.^[76]

Negative and positive effects of sex toy use

The meanings and implications of sex toys are controversially discussed in academia. Some authors criticize sex toys for pushing the commercialization of sex, others endorse them for fostering sexual empowerment.^[81]

Empirical research has demonstrated negative effects of sex toy use such as sexually transmitted infections (when sex toys are shared without proper cleaning or without barrier methods such as condoms), injuries (e.g., from anal insertion of toys unsuitable for anal use), or allergies.^[82] Some women also report that they are urged by their partners to use sex toys even though they do not want to. The literature also discusses whether sex toys contribute to performance pressure.^[83]

Most empirical studies show that people of all genders and sexual identities experience the use of sex toys predominantly positively. In questionnaires and interviews, they report an increase in sexual arousal and satisfaction, the facilitation of orgasms (especially for women), the exploration of new preferences, a playful approach to sex and the fun of something new during sex.^[80][84] There are decidedly feminist or women-oriented sex toy stores and sex toy party organizations that link the sale of sex toys with sexual education and aim to support women’s sexual empowerment.^[85][86][87] Further positive effects are reported from clinical settings: Sex toys are used therapeutically, for example, in the context of therapy for orgasm disorders.^[88] They can also enable people with disabilities to have more sexual self-determination.

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