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Notes -
For any of you who's familiar with New York Times's Wirecutter, which publishes products reviews and lists hot deals:
As of right now, among deals on toys, subwoofers, and mattresses, there are also two vibrators, both around $100.
As far as I can tell, there are no deals on sex toys for men (I'm ignoring vibrators' cross sex appeal here, or how men may use toys to pleasure their female partners).
I don't expect this observation by itself to generate much new insight, as it seems fairly obvious that culturally, men tend to be viewed as perverted or losers for pleasuring themselves with tools, while for women it's fun and almost virtuous (well, certainly less slutty than finding a casual partner). I can see a Wirecutter staff member publishing a review of her personal experience testing various toys, but cannot fathom a male staff member talking about how this particular lifelike doll had very full lips but that one has perkier breasts, and this third company makes ethnic dolls for your fantasies. If you Google Wirecutter and sex toys, all the articles that come up are exclusively focused on women or gay men (i.e. anal stuff).
So my question is more about a prediction for how culture may evolve along this front. By what year do you think Wirecutter will publish reviews and deals on sex toys targeted at straight men looking for thrusting fun?
The year that I'll pull out of my ass is...2032
Alright, I'll take one for the team and describe my own experience with "masturbatory aids" as they like to call them. I'm a SuperStraight™ guy with what normally is a healthy sex life (I keep a spreadsheet) but the first time I ever got these was in the middle of the first pandemic winter where NOTHING was going on. I was single then and I distinctly remember reading the news about some upcoming new variant and knew I had to brace myself for a long dry-spell. But I had pandemic relief money to burn (how ironic) and so I splurged on some purchases and bought two different kinds. One was about the size and shape of a large egg, relatively flimsy, and intended to be more-or-less disposable after a few uses. The other kind had an integrated spinning coil built inside and was intended to be reusable.
The pros are obvious to delineate: these things feel way better than your hand based solely on increased surface area contact. The spinner coil one especially felt great because it created a vacuum suction that caused the coil to tighten. You definitely didn't have to work as hard or risk as much friction with these things, that much is true.
Cons? Clean up. It was just so gross having to rinse all this with soap and water after you're done. And just washing it wouldn't be the end of it since you had to leave it out somewhere to dry for like a day.
I remember one night, once civilization started waking up again, I had brought a girl home after a date and realized I had left one of these things drying on my kitchen counter. I quickly covered it up and threw it in the garbage without her noticing. After that I realized that the downsides just were not worth it, and I wondered if maybe it discouraged me from pursuing real vaginas. So I just threw everything away and didn't think about them again. Maybe if somehow I ended up in a situation where money was plentiful but women were not (like a covid winter), I'd consider buying them again.
Beyond masturbatory aids, the only male sex toy I ever used semi-regularly was a cock ring. This was kind of a mixed bag with regards to whether it helps or not, so I eventually just threw it away. But for women, they're so sexually complicated and high-variance that you encounter no shortage of creative new devices intended to enhance their pleasure, and I'm a fan of using sex toys with my partners. The Magic Wand is so good as an all-purpose workhorse, but pretty much any woman likely also has figured out her special brand of vibrator by the time she's in her mid-20s. Butt plugs are also great (for her, not me) also leashes and nipple clamps for the freaks out there. Whatever works, especially if they're fun.
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