Wednesday, September 9, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Page 22
Sexual Scholars
Hard questions about sticky situations
Brian placed the thick, double
headed phallus in my hands.
“Feel how heavy it is,” Brian
said. “Feel how soft it is,” Lisa
said.
I turned the dual stimulator over
in my hands and agreed that it’s
heavy but soft. It was also bubble
gum pink, thick as a silver dollar
and curved like a check mark.
Lisa called it the “Share.” The
Share’s body began as a sculpted
penis head and travelled down
about seven inches where it bent
towards the ceiling at a 60-degree
angle, forming into a four-inch
diamond shape.
I noted aloud the whole thing
was the texture of a remote con
trol’s buttons or the grip of a
toothbrush handle—definitely
something we all know. But I was
mostly stalling while I tried to
imagine how exactly this pink gi
ant is employed.
Then it comes to me:
“I see, the first person goes
here,” I indicated the shorter, dia
mond extension. Lisa nodded.
I point to the main shaft, “And
so the main part here is for...”
“The female receiving,” Brian
said.
“Or male,” Lisa interjected,
“But yes, the Share is one of our
most popular sellers with our les
bian customers.”
Lisa Ziemer and Brian Kirk
own Va Va Vpom, a lingerie and
sex accessory shop on Battery
Park in downtown Asheville.
Customers can browse the store’s
section of sex toys called the Trea
sure Chest.
For those interested in trying
sex toys, alone or with a partner,
Lisa and Brian offer a few point
ers for beginners and a couple of
precautions for even the experi
enced accessorizer.
“There is a real danger posed
by chemicals sometimes found
in plastic called phthalates,” Lisa
said. “We’re aware of this with
the products we carry, and we tell
people to watch out for cheap toys
that could contain anything dan-
eerous.”
By Jason Howell
Promotions Director
In Sex Toys, An A to Z Guide to
Bedside Accessories, authors and
sex advisors Emma Taylor and
Lorelei Sharkey explain manufac
tures often use phthalates to soften
plastics in their products. Today,
some countries ban phthalates but
the United States does not.
“The latest studies indicate
that phthalates can interfere with
hormones and may reduce sperm
count, cause testicular cancer or
counteract breast cancer medi
cines,” Taylor and Lorelei write.
Sex Toys directs readers to A-
Womans-Touch.com, an online
shop with test results from a
chemist.
“You can avoid phthalates al
together if you go with glass or
stainless steel,” Lisa said, taking
the Share and placing an “N-Joy”
in my hands. I studied the ques-
tion-mark-shaped piece of metal
with a cherry-sized ball on one
end and a cherry-tomato-sized
mate on the other as Lisa went on,
“People like these because they’re
easy to wash up, and they last for
ever.”
Lisa and Brian also say any lu
bricant is safe on non-plastic sex
toys. However, they warn that oil-
based lubricants can eat away at
plastic or rubber products.
“We carry some good water-
based lube,” Lisa said. “That’s
what we recommend.”
Sadie Allison’s book TOY-
GASMS also has some things to
say about lubricants. First, lubes
are necessary because they re
duce friction and increase sensi
tivity. Second, be smart and check
what’s in the lube. Ingredients
like glycerin may cause yeast in
fection.
Keeping these lubrication les
sons in mind, Lisa and Brian
showed me several models of toys,
giving me the details on each:
Jason Howell- Promotions t^ctor
Lisa Ziemer, co-owner of Va Va Voom, holds up a popular sex toy.
The Power Bullet ($18): Dis
guised as a lipstick tube, this
small vibrator fits in your pocket
and comes equipped with a USB
jack so you can charge it through
your computer.
The Duckie ($20): This inno
cent-looking bath duck is in fact
a floatable, water-proof vibrator.
Lisa recommends this toy for its
camouflage abilities. “Fake out
your mom when she pops into
your dorm,” she said.
Kegel balls ($50): Even if sex
accessories never enter your bed
room, they can make sex better.
This device consists of two teth
ered balls containing weights. A
woman inserts them in her va
gina and goes about her day. The
movement tones the kegels, or
pelvic-floor muscles.
So, now we know a few things
about sex toys. I left Brian and
Lisa’s shop confident I now pos-
.sessed a beginner’s knowledge of
the subject.
You know, I asked numerous,
random students about this sub
ject as I wrote this column, and
I received mostly embarrassed
snorts, vague looks and a “what
the hell?” or two. But, according
to Abbey Allen, Va Va Voom’s
store manager and sex expert,
about half of her customers are
college-age.
“Some people might be hesitant
about trying new things, but I try
to make everyone feel comfort
able,” Abbey, a prospective UNC
Asheville student herself, said. “I
would tell people to just come in
and check it out.”
And it never hurts to check
out something new. Maybe we’re
not all comfortable talking about
things like sex accessories, but
that’s why Sex Scholars is in
printed form, not spoken.
The ideas glide in easier with
the written word.