The mere existence of our industry, our companies, and the products we make is an act of rebellion. While society is gradually opening up about the importance of sexual health and pleasure in every part of our lives, we’re still fighting against the bias of the old guard in tech, media and mainstream retail — particularly when it comes to female sexuality and pleasure. To break down those barriers it’s going to take more than just talking about orgasms or teaching people how to use our products. The only way we’re going to normalize sex and improve gender equity and LGBTQ+ representation is by building education and activism into the very DNA of our companies, and placing it on the same level of importance as our profits.
Creating a world that embraces the importance of sexual wellness rather than shunning it is more than just a “bleeding heart” issue — it also increases the size of our market. Censorship of brands and educators across media and tech is infuriating on an individual level, but it’s also limiting the economic potential of the industry as a whole. According to the Guardian the sextech industry is already worth at least $30 billion and growing 30 percent each year, but scaling into mainstream markets could easily blow that number away.
Victories like winning tech innovation awards and making huge organizations reconsider their policies is one of the steps needed.
Many of us got into this space because we know sextech can be better and that there is something inherently wrong about the way our society stifles sexuality and pleasure — and we want to change that. If inclusivity and a social mission for society’s sake isn’t enough incentive, there is also a compelling business case to be made both at the brand level and the retail level.
Customers Want to Align With a Mission, Too
The way that people spend their money is changing, especially with the rise of millennials and Gen Z. They have money to spend and they’re more likely to spend on companies that support a social mission. A Businessweek and Morning Consult study of 11,000 customers found that 35 percent of millennials and 40 percent of Gen Z participants would spend more for a product if the brand or retailer promotes gender equality initiatives (compared to 19 percent of baby boomers and 23 percent of Gen X). Brands like Tom’s shoes and LUSH cosmetics are great examples of mission and profit driving each other in highly competitive industries. Increasingly, customers are looking for more than just good products (though that’s obviously crucial too) — they’re looking for companies that embody their values and make positive changes in the world.
Authenticity and Inclusivity Equal Profit
We can’t fake it. Token gestures and false overtures are easy to sniff out. We have to mean what we say and be committed to fighting for change. It starts with our own internal policies — creating an environment in which everyone feels valued and where there are processes in place to ensure that we make the right decisions for our brands and our teams.
Our products and our marketing must be inclusive of all types of people regardless of gender, sexual identity, ethnicity or body type — not just because it’s politically correct but because those are our customers too. They buy products and are looking for brands that reflect their lives and values and if we ignore them, we’re ignoring a substantial and lucrative demographic (just like those social media and advertising companies that refuse to take our money).
Our teams need to change and evolve too. Hiring for skillset and diverse perspectives means that we’re creating products and brands that reflect the diversity of our customers and their needs. Mission-driven brands create mission-driven teams. Pairing sales goals with social action and charitable giving galvanizes our employees to strive for something more than just hitting numbers.
And most of all, publicize it. We need to give ourselves benchmarks and allow our customers and community to gauge our success on what we’ve achieved beyond just sales and profits.
An Explosive Example of Embracing Social Activism
Lora DiCarlo’s debacle with CES is the perfect example of how strategically embracing activism can pay off. When CES revoked our innovation award for robotics and called us “obscene and immoral,” we didn’t just shrug and walk away. The puritanical bias against vagina-focused sextech damages our business, stiffles innovation across all sectors, and is insulting to the work we and our engineers have done. But more than that, it damages the mental and physical wellbeing of each and every person ashamed of their sexuality and desires. We saw that we could affect real change and took advantage of a perfect storm of shifting cultural norms and society’s distaste of the misogyny and gender-bias in tech and business.
When we released our open letter we didn’t just have a positive reaction; it was the biggest story at CES 2019. The firestorm of media attention and social pressure forced CES to confront their bias. They’ve apologized and returned the award, but more importantly they have had to re-evaluate their policies to make them more equitable and inclusive.
We had 20,000 email signups as a result of that furor, and then when the CTA gave the award back in May, we had an additional 10,000 newsletter signups in two days. Over 30,000 people waiting impatiently for our product to launch and to be involved in the movement we had started.
Risky, But Worth It
There is risk in activism, anything that makes people uncomfortable can alienate a few curmudgeons — especially on “taboo” topics like sex, pleasure and gender equity. But at the same time we also know that society is trending towards a more open, holistic view of sex, and being the clear, ringing voice leading that conversation has a lot of benefits.
Sextech and the adult space have always driven innovation (see encryption, online payment systems, and the miniaturization of motors and robotics). We’re also thought leaders in culture and society, so it is up to us to keep this moving in the right direction. Victories like winning tech innovation awards and making huge organizations reconsider their policies is one of the steps needed, but we all have to remain committed to driving meaningful and progressive change and keeping sight of the real goals — diversity and inclusion across all sectors of tech and business.
Sarah Brown is the director of marketing and sales at Lora DiCarlo.
