Saturday, April 30, 2011

Colors and Sex Toys

There are many aspects that may one your eye to a certain sex toy. Perhaps it is phallic and that arouses you, perhaps it is not, which turns you on even more. Maybe it has the right pulsation, or buzzes ever so softly. Some of the most common feedback I get on the sex toys in our shop is about their color. Today I was helping a woman find the right vibrator for her and she refused to even look at one because it didn't come in the right color. This happens often. I believe we choose toys based on what appeals to us and is arousing, after all, we are having sex with it, so shouldn't we be attracted to it? So it would make sense that if someone if not turned on by the color green, they would veer away from toys that color.

My favorite observation about color revolves around gender. Sex toys come in a large variety of colors, but pink and purple dominate the market. This is gendered marketing, assuming that all girls like pink and purple, so they will want these certain colors on their sex toys. This form of marketing sometimes works, as many women who come in (usually to buy their first toy) will go with something pink and light colored to feel at ease. My favorite moments is when women refuse to buy anything pink/purple as a way to defy this gendered industry. I have even had customers announce to me that they didn't want to buy "pink shit."

At the counter at the shop we have a display for bullet vibrators. These small clit vibes are usually bought last minute as an add on with a purchase. At least we keep them there for that reason. Through these quick purchases it is fun to figure out and guess which color someone will buy. The bullets come in four colors: pink, purple, blue, and green.

The pink vibes always sell first, followed by purple, then blue, and lastly green. A friend of mine once summarized the gender theory of color vibrators pretty well, "Pink is for girls, blue is for defiant girls, purple is for queers, and no one ever wants green." As blunt and slightly off putting this statement may be, it's pretty true. Time after time I have watched young girly girls squeal and giggle and grab for the pink vibrators. I have seen lesbian and gender queer couples and individuals prefer purple toys due to it being a gender neutral shade. I have sold blue vibrators to customers who have stated that they refuse to buy "pink shit". And the green vibrators end up piling up, being the choice for customers when there is no other option.

1 comment:

  1. Oh if I only could wave a magic wand and color my toys green! Or dark red. Or even purple but in a dark, almost black shade.

    I was so upset when my Tantus Acute arrived because it was light purple instead of dark I was expecting. Since the photo on the site was showing a shade that was in between I didn't have grounds to send it back. It looks nice. But if it was the shade I wanted it wouldn't get much use because I'd be staring at it in stead of putting it where the sun doesn't shine.

    BTW green is good because if an ABS plastic toy yellows it doesn't show. Same goes for jelly, but that's not a material anyone should buy.

    ReplyDelete