Understanding the trends in sexual retail is an insight into how many people are exploring themselves in new ways and hopefully will give people comfort that they are not alone in their journey.
Pegging and Erotic Confinement are two areas in which the industry has begun to leap forward in meeting our customer’s needs.
Some areas of sexuality are no longer seen as so unusual, and as a wider variety of people share their positive experiences online, it encourages and empowers others to start feeling comfortable stepping outside their vanilla zone.
Retail trends indicate that this is true. Two areas have recently seen surges, as reported by both retailers and manufacturers, reflecting the new exploration we also see among all ages of our customers.
PEGGING – NEWBIES LEAD THE PACK
For those who don’t know, pegging is a term typically used to describe a woman using a harness and a dildo to engage in sex with their male partner. This is a practice which has a base in trust, but also explores the intense cluster of nerves which only cis men have, called the ‘prostate’. Enjoyment of this erotic sexual practice does notmean that the man is gay, or that the woman is extraordinarily dominant. It means that there are no barriers between two people, and that there is a beyond-believable-earth-shattering-orgasm to be had if that nerve cluster of the prostate is hit just right.
In recent years, pegging has become destigmatized to a further degree, and the amount of people buying the tools and toys for this type of play has increased significantly as seen in many retail shops, online writings, and the terminology has become more integrated into jokes, postings, and intimate conversations between friends.
Sabi Kanwar, Owner and Founder of Kookie International which is a leader in the leather pleasure industry says that they have experienced significant growth in the sale of leather harnesses in their wholesale business and have heard from retail stores that ‘newbies’ are returning with their partners and investing in a more expensive leather harness, which is frequently a second-level purchase in the pegging or strapping journey. It is one of their top 10 categories of sales, which was not the case a few years ago.
Beginner: exploring via inexpensive nylon harnesses, body-safe TPE dildos.
Intermediate: moves forward financially to satisfy comfort for both the giver and the receiver, investing in other harness material like fabric and leather, and adjustment in size and material of the dildos, raising the pricing as moving into pure silicone.
Ready to enjoy regularly: satisfaction of comfort has been established through multiple higher levels of quality products including softer, stronger, more stylish leather harnesses; dildos with life-like liquid silicone skin feel, vibration, and even internal stimulation for the giver; and outfits which support the desired visuals.
We applaud the people who are discovering their bodies, and their ability to trust their partner with play that brings new levels of pleasure. We support this exploration with a variety of products which enhance the experience, both in functionality and style.
Please don’t hesitate to ask our advice when you are in our shop, because we are glad to explain to you what we have learned, and help you find the right items to carry you through your journey to the next level.
EROTIC CONFINEMENT
Another area of extreme growth in our industry is Erotic Confinement. Erotic Confinement includes elements of BDSM which range from physical and mental submission, to the intense focus and closeness that can develop during the confinement. The psychological aspects of the fantasy can be as important as the physical ones.
The exploration of power-exchange that occurs with erotic confinement, first requires that there is a societal recognition of specific power-dynamics, and a desire to be released from them.
This practice is beginning to flourish more openly in a world where the psychology of yielding control as a means of mental release is becoming more clearly understood and is gaining wider acceptance.
The world has taken us so far from our flesh-and-bones-animal-base, and pressed upon us the worries, burdens, anxieties and fears that most corporeal bodies besides humans never experience. We bear up under increasingly stressful mental responsibility, no matter what our gender role is, and as such we sometimes need extreme relief.
For some people, that’s a spa.
For others (some of them extremely alpha) that’s letting someone else take charge at the most basic level of their freedom: naked and vulnerable, in complete trust.
Erotic confinement encompasses a lot of toys, tools, genital restraints, and temporary removal of senses; but at its core is the desire to yield control, and connect in trust, even briefly. To put a salve on what burns, no matter what that burn is. To allow someone else to take over full control, with very few limitations, if any at all.
In retail, we have seen a significant increase in the sales of cock cages, confinement toys, and more extreme items which lead to a journey of trust, vulnerability, and release.
What were previously considered taboo sexual practices are now being addressed by sex toy and wellness boutiques throughout the country, with a desire to further connect with our partners and ourselves.
