LAS VEGAS — Amid intense criticism and accusations of gender bias, organizers of the Consumer Electronics Show have given an official sanction to sextech companies to display their wares at next year’s expo.
“Sextech will be included under the Health and Wellness category at the 2020 CES in Las Vegas,” writes CNN Business. “The products must be new or emerging tech to be displayed at the show and compete for awards,” CES' organizers said.
The policy change is a direct response to the international outcry earlier this year when an award that was to be presented to sextech company Lora DiCarlo was abruptly rescinded.
The company’s Osé Robotic Massager was to be one of a handful of honorees at CES in January, but was disqualified by the award’s organizer, the Consumer Technology Association. Citing its rule that bans products that are “immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA’s image,” the organization’s apparent gender bias was quickly blasted in multiple media reports around the world.
That decision was rescinded and the honor, an Innovation Award in the show’s robotics and drones category, was again presented to Lora DiCarlo.
Jean Foster, CTA’s senior vice president of marketing, affirmed the reasoning behind the policy change. "We've been really open about how we didn't handle it well and we apologized publicly ... and it caused us to revisit this and say, we should look at this as a technology,” she told CNN.
Earlier this evening, Lora Haddock, Lora DiCarlo's founder, released a statement in response to the policy change.
"We firmly believe that sextech should not be excluded from the world's largest technology showcase and celebration of innovation and influence. Sextech has driven business and technology for decades and shows no sign of stopping," she said. "It is important to acknowledge a place for sextech in human health and its potential for innovation."
The company released an additional statement to its official Twitter handle. "Today, CES announced updated policies, which were drafted in collaboration with our team," the statement reads. "We have made it clear from the start that enhancing diversity, and creating an environment of safety and inclusion was our end goal. We are excited to exhibit at CES 2020!"
The changes were also drafted in collaboration with Shelley Zalis of The Female Quotient and a team from OhMiBod. There is a caveat: the new policy is actually a trial run and currently applies only to the 2020 edition of CES.
The CTA has also banned "sexually revealing clothing," reports CNN, and will invest “part of its $10 million investments budget into two venture capital funds dedicated to diversity.”
Pictured: Osé Robotic Massager.
