Sex Toy Shop Showcases Products On Campus

Buying a vibrator is like buying a blender—always make sure it has a variable speed setting.

Or so says Elise Schuster, BC ’04 and a representative for Babeland, a sex toy shop which put on a presentation last night in John Jay lounge about sex toys and their use. With two locations in New York City, as well as stores in Seattle and Los Angeles, Babeland serves as an educational source, holding lectures and workshops about how people can improve their sex lives.

Justin Laird, an educator with Health Services’ Alice! Health Promotion Program, said that his department has been hosting Babeland’s programs for at least the past two years. And in the nine months that Laird has been at Columbia, he added, interest has been steadily increasing.

“We do a lot of our programs at student request,” he explained, “so when several student groups request that we put something like this on for them, we just do one big event.” About 40 people attended last night’s presentation, and, even with the side attraction of free food, most students appeared to be listening to Schuster’s lecture more intently than they would a professor’s.

In recent years, sex toy retailers have begun to operate like cosmetics and lingerie sellers, hosting workshops and in-home parties to teach people about their products and hopefully drum up some sales on the side. Thanks to these efforts, many sex toy manufacturers and sellers have reported double-digit growth in the past few years.

Schuster said she believes that the growing interest and acceptance of sex toys had a lot to do with their increasing appearance in pop culture, specifically the TV show Sex and the City. Such appearances have eroded the stigma the toys once carried.

“A lot of people think of sex toys as a step into something a little too kinky,” Schuster told her apprehensive crowd, “but I can promise you thousands of people here use them.”

Yet Schuster’s treatment of sex toys was ultimately more academic than voyeuristic. She stressed the fact that the same device is not best for everyone, but that “our bodies are all different, and they respond to different things.”

Her taxonomy of different erotic instruments, which took up most of the presentation, was nearly scientific. Like any good teacher, she was particularly enthused by the learning of her students. “I really like it when people come in with questions or new ideas,” she explained. “It shows that they’re taking steps, opening up.”

In the end, the company’s efforts aren’t just about the toys or the sales. “It’s really just about helping people improve their sex lives,” Schuster said. “But if they happen to come in to Babeland and buy something,” she added, “it makes us happy too.”

zack.hoopes@columbiaspectator.com