Latest / Why We Do What We Do / Mini: Adaptive Sex Industry

Transcript

Mini: Adaptive Sex Industry · Why We Do What We Do

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Why we Do what we do. Welcome
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: to Why we Do what we do Many I'm your
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  Speaker 1: host to Abraham, and I'm your host Shane. We are
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  Speaker 1: a psychology podcast. We talk about the things that humans
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  Speaker 1: and non human animals do. And this is a mini episode,
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  Speaker 1: which means 's short. We get in there, we talk
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  Speaker 1: about something, and then it's short, and then we're done
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  Speaker 1: with it. And that's how it goes. That was my
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  Speaker 1: Rick Sanchez impression.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, and we are going to get in it.
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  Speaker 3: This is going to be a buddy episode for the
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  Speaker 3: episode that comes out this week related to sex and disabilities.
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  Speaker 3: This episode is all about the adaptive sex industry. So
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  Speaker 3: we want to give a quick disclaimer before we start,
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  Speaker 3: Like at the very top of the episode, before Abraham
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  Speaker 3: does his preamble and all that, we want to give
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  Speaker 3: a quick sexuality warning. We are going to discuss topics
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  Speaker 3: that may be sensitive some folks. We're not going to
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  Speaker 3: be explicit in our descriptions, but regardless, we want to
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  Speaker 3: share a fair warning.
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  Speaker 2: Please feel free.
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  Speaker 3: To skip this episode if topics around sexuality make you
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  Speaker 3: uncomfortable or nervous, or you're listening around children.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, specifically for whom you don't want to hear that
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  Speaker 1: sort of thing because some people, their kids are exposed
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  Speaker 1: to that and they just know more stuff and that
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  Speaker 1: happens too. Yeah, anyway, no judgment either way. We hope
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  Speaker 1: that you enjoy what you hear in this one, and
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  Speaker 1: if you would like to support us, you can like
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  Speaker 1: and subscribe, but leave a rating and review, join us
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  Speaker 1: on Patreon, tell a friend, and I'll talk more about
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  Speaker 1: the ways that you can do those things at the
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  Speaker 1: end of this discussion. But as we said, we're talking
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  Speaker 1: about this whole week is sort of on a somewhat
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  Speaker 1: sexual oriented discussion topic, which is to say, in the
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  Speaker 1: space of disability and accessibility, sex is a thing that
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  Speaker 1: people with impairments will experience and want to experience, and
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  Speaker 1: so there is an entire industry that exists around sex
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  Speaker 1: and specifically adapting devices to facilitate engagement in sexual experiences
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  Speaker 1: of some sort. So yes, in our episode on sex
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  Speaker 1: and Disabilities, which comes out this week, we do briefly
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  Speaker 1: mention that there is an industry related to adaptive sex
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  Speaker 1: toys and equipment, and this is going to be the
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  Speaker 1: discussion on that. So we're going to figure we figure
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  Speaker 1: we'll share a bit of that information in our mini Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: I was having a hard time finding the word to
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  Speaker 3: use because I kept going between like toys and devices
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  Speaker 3: and all that.
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  Speaker 2: I think I landed on products.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, so, like, I think that's an easy way to
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  Speaker 3: kind of capture everything, like.
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  Speaker 2: Because I was doing this thing that was kind of
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  Speaker 2: like what do you say here? But products feels like
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  Speaker 2: it's kind of a catch all.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, okay, cool, got it? Did you get through
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  Speaker 1: all the preamble stuff in order to go?
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  Speaker 2: I think? So?
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  Speaker 1: Okay, cool? All right, Well this is mini, so it's short.
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  Speaker 1: So let's dive in inclusive sex products. I guess we'll
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  Speaker 1: call them or disability friendly sex related products. It aligns
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  Speaker 1: with the universal design principles, which we covered in a
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  Speaker 1: recent full length episode, talking about when we're creating any
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  Speaker 1: kind of materials or goods for people, creating them for
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  Speaker 1: the broadest possible audience in most cases, so we make
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  Speaker 1: equipment that can benefit everyone and include as many people
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  Speaker 1: as possible. And that is something that's actually been sort
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  Speaker 1: of tackled and thought about by engineers and developers working
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  Speaker 1: in the space of the products around like sexual and
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  Speaker 1: interaction and experiences. These products absolutely.
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  Speaker 3: Historically, these types of products have required some level of
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  Speaker 3: like and you're going to see some products in the
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  Speaker 3: space too that require some level of like fluid mobility
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  Speaker 3: and stuff like that. Now, what we found is that
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  Speaker 3: there are so many products because of the advancements of
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  Speaker 3: technology and the advancements in ergonomics and really like the
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  Speaker 3: thought processes behind this to make it so much easier
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  Speaker 3: to engage with.
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  Speaker 2: So there are few ways that some of these.
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  Speaker 3: Products have been designed to specifically meet people's needs. And
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  Speaker 3: when it comes to specifically the stimulating toys like we're
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  Speaker 3: going to talk about, like braids and dildos and things
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  Speaker 3: like that, there are a few ways the industry has adapted.
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  Speaker 3: One of them is that they've created hands free or
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  Speaker 3: remote controlled products that don't require extensive mobility for that person.
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  Speaker 3: Some of these products can be controlled with an app,
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  Speaker 3: which is even easier. And when I say like an
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  Speaker 3: app like, you'll find that some of these products they
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  Speaker 3: don't even require you to use your hands. They can
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  Speaker 3: be voice controlled, or they can use you can use
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  Speaker 3: some other type of modality to control the sensations with
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  Speaker 3: the with the device.
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  Speaker 1: Wow very accessible. There are also sort of gender neutral
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  Speaker 1: toys that can be used for a variety of different
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  Speaker 1: bodies and body setups, so they're kind of already designed
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  Speaker 1: with various shapes, sizes, orientations, et cetera, so you can
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  Speaker 1: pick whichever one sort of works best for you if
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  Speaker 1: you're looking for that kind of thing.
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  Speaker 3: Yep, there are lightweight options for folks with strength deficits.
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  Speaker 3: So if you have a hard time holding or gripping
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  Speaker 3: something for a long period of time, there are lightweight
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  Speaker 3: options that allow for you to avoid that muscle fatigue
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  Speaker 3: while you're using that product.
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  Speaker 1: There are some products that do have those buttons so
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  Speaker 1: that you have some that have voice controller apps and whatnot.
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  Speaker 1: But there are ones that have buttons, and to make
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  Speaker 1: those more easily accessible, they've made them with larger buttons
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  Speaker 1: and the button can have less resistance so they're very
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  Speaker 1: easy to push. And again this might be related to
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  Speaker 1: strength or just like ease of use as well.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, some of the products have modified grips or grip
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  Speaker 3: surfaces that allow that and actually aid with fine motor
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  Speaker 3: deficits or strength deficits in somebody's hands, so like you
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  Speaker 3: can grip and and like hold the thing or even
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  Speaker 3: some of the products are a little bit longer, so
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  Speaker 3: for people who have a problem with reach, they.
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  Speaker 2: Can actually reach the parts that you're trying to stimulate.
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  Speaker 1: And then they have machines that will simulate movement as well,
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  Speaker 1: so that depending on if you struggle with different forms
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  Speaker 1: of movement, this one doesn't require very much effort. You
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  Speaker 1: can sort of get the experience regardless of sort of
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  Speaker 1: your current setup in situation. Yeah, and doesn't require very
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  Speaker 1: much effort totally. It'll do a lot of the moving
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  Speaker 1: for you.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, I have no idea what AD's going to come up,
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  Speaker 3: but I would imagine that this AD that's going to
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  Speaker 3: come up now is probably not going to be thrilled.
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  Speaker 2: They're going to be in the middle of all.
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  Speaker 1: I hope it's like Adam and Eve or one of
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  Speaker 1: those like, Yeah, that would be rad I would love that. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: we'll take a sponsorship. Okay, we are back talking about
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  Speaker 1: the various accessibility adaptive designs that exist in the space
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  Speaker 1: of sexuality and the products that have been designed there.
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  Speaker 1: So there are also things like swings, pillows, wedges. Wedges
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  Speaker 1: are kind of like pillows, but they're more rigid. They
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  Speaker 1: like have it the foam, Yeah, the foam. They set
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  Speaker 1: up particular angles they can They might be used to
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  Speaker 1: help prop you up or hold a person up and
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  Speaker 1: reduce a strain on the body so you can more
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  Speaker 1: readily relax during any kind of sexual activity. And those
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  Speaker 1: are made widely available, so the product itself actually has
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  Speaker 1: no inherent like reference to sex. You could look at
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  Speaker 1: this pillow and have no idea that someone maybe got
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  Speaker 1: it at a supply store that supplies sexual equipment and products,
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  Speaker 1: because it's just designed to help support someone's body position. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: and it's great that that's something that they're considering in
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  Speaker 1: those spaces as well.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and there's also specialized sexual furniture that can be
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  Speaker 3: specifically designed for someone with mobility issues that would allow
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  Speaker 3: them to move onto those bits of furniture. It's almost
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  Speaker 3: like kind of how you see this in the medical world,
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  Speaker 3: where there's like shower stools and chairs and stuff like that,
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  Speaker 3: or like beach wheelchairs that have bigger tires that allow
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  Speaker 3: people to access that. Like there's a whole industry or
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  Speaker 3: sex furniture that does this type of thing too.
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  Speaker 1: They have wheelchairs that have removable armrests to aid in
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  Speaker 1: transfers and so that you have just less barriers around
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  Speaker 1: you if you're engaging with somebody else or by yourself,
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  Speaker 1: you know, whatever your activity are engaged in, that just
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  Speaker 1: gives you more freedom of movement. And again those transfers
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  Speaker 1: are helpful yep.
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  Speaker 3: And then acts to a transfer hoist can aid in
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  Speaker 3: transitions to a better other furniture that you might prefer
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  Speaker 3: to use. So some folks will be able to access
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  Speaker 3: that type of equipment that will help them move into
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  Speaker 3: those different types of apparatuses apparatus i, apparati apparati.
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  Speaker 1: Other tactics include varied positioning that can reduce strain on
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  Speaker 1: the person. So you might actually find books and guides
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  Speaker 1: that will provide illustrations and instruction for various positions that
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  Speaker 1: might be more accommodating depending on your situation or impairment,
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  Speaker 1: and may include laying on your side, adaptive missionary, et cetera.
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  Speaker 1: And that can aid with like comfort and ease of
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  Speaker 1: engagement in the activity.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and in the main episode that is really this week,
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  Speaker 3: we dispel the myth indicating the people with disabilities are
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  Speaker 3: not sexual people. This is one that comes up so often,
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  Speaker 3: and we want to return to this because we also
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  Speaker 3: want to point out that folks with disabilities do participate
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  Speaker 3: in the sex industry, including purchasing items and objects and
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  Speaker 3: equipment and furniture and all that stuff. In the industry itself.
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  Speaker 3: The sex product industry generates about forty two billion dollars
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  Speaker 3: in annual global revenue per year, so it's a pretty
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  Speaker 3: involved industry. The adaptive sex toy industry or a product
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  Speaker 3: industry also has these universal design principles and it worked
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  Speaker 3: at its finest and at its sexiest, so.
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  Speaker 2: It's really cool to see how it works.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, No, that's fantastic. I really love that. Like, this
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  Speaker 1: is one of those industries where, yeah, the universal design
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  Speaker 1: and considerations around accessibility were baked right into a lot
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  Speaker 1: of what they were doing, and they were very open
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  Speaker 1: to the idea that, like, as they create and design
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  Speaker 1: various implements, that they're considering a wide range of different
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  Speaker 1: users who are trying to navigate those those products. And
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  Speaker 1: so just said, really proud of the group of people
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  Speaker 1: who have that in mind as their designing products because
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  Speaker 1: and there are a lot of them, Like it's not
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  Speaker 1: just the sex industry, but it's cool that that's a
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  Speaker 1: space where they acknowledge the need for that kind of
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  Speaker 1: support for different body types and different people with different situations. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: so good on them, really, just kudos. Absolutely, yes, all right,
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  Speaker 1: very good. Well, I think that's what we have to
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  Speaker 1: say about the adaptive sex products industry. If you'd like
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: to tell us your thoughts on that, you can email
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: us directly at info at wwdwwdpodcast dot com. You can
• 10:12
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• 10:14
  Speaker 1: so much for listening. Thank you to my team of
• 10:16
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• 10:18
  Speaker 1: you Shane for your notes, and you're recording with me today.
• 10:22
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• 10:23
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• 10:26
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• 11:26
  Speaker 1: And yeah, so that's what we do and how you
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• 11:31
  Speaker 1: a thing that I missed or that you'd like to
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: add before we wrap up?
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: No? All right, enjoy yourself.
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  Speaker 1: Enjoy yourself. Thank you for listening. This is Abraham and
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Missus Shane Why we do what we do Mini is out.
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  Speaker 2: Bye.
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