February 24, 2011
Bangkok (AFP) - It took the erotica industry a decade to turn the sex toy from seedy gadget to sassy lady's accessory, from vibrating rubber ducks to dolphin-shaped dildos. But men were largely left out of the fun — until now that is.
These days dildos in cheerful hues of pink or blue, picked up in lingerie shops or department stores across the West, nestle in the bedside tables of suburban pensioners or trendy urban singles — barely raising an eyebrow.
But now the industry's creative labs have taken on a mightier challenge: the male sex toy.
"The market has really opened up in terms of sex toys for women — and now it's opening up for men too," Patrick Pruvot, owner of a Paris chain of upmarket sex shops, told AFP.
"But it's still a real step for a man to go out and buy a sex toy — it's still much more of a taboo than for women."
Despite the advent of the designer dildo, men's sex gadgets are still viewed with suspicion.
"A woman who uses a sex toy is a woman who is exploring her body," Pruvot told AFP. "But a man using a sex toy is seen as someone who can't get a woman."
Tenga onanism cup, or Onacup for short, was launched in sexually-adventurous Japan in 2005 and is now sold in over 40 countries — with global sales of 13 million units including 1.5 million in Western markets.
Pruvot started importing the Tenga 18 months ago, and now sells 1000 per month from his three Paris stores.
"Design helps to break the ice," he said. "Like the rubber duck that made it okay to own a vibrator. The men's deodorant that conceals a sex toy is the same idea."
The Tenga is not the only toy in town: another is the German-made "Cobra Libre", a rechargeable gadget shaped like a futuristic toy car, with a two-inch deep vibrating socket at one end.
Or for pleasure on the go, there is the Egg, also by Tenga, a ribbed, stretchy rubber sleeve that fits in the palm of the hand and is billed as the perfect travel toy -- promising its users "knee-trembling sensations".
Fun Factory earlier introduced its erotic toys products in Berlin, Germany. Products varied from dildos, intimate jewelry, lubricating gels to love balls and partner games.
With a wide variety of innovative and creative products, every customer's demand is met. The comapny presents partner games such as Phantasms, Kamasutra The Game and the Love Cubes apart from its dildo, vibrator and love ball lines (as cited at http://www.funfactory.de).
