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According to the article, they aren't allowed to exhibit their sex toy for women at CES, while a sex doll for men and VR porn targeted at men are on display. T

According to the article, they aren't allowed to exhibit their sex toy for women at CES, while a sex doll for men and VR porn targeted at men are on display. There may be other explanations, but it does look like a bit of a double standard.

lawnchair_larry 8y ago
The previous sex toy that won an award was for women, from OhMiBod, founded by a woman. This is just a weak attempt to create controversy. It has nothing to do with them being women and that’s a silly first assumption. If you go to the OhMiBod website, they have a big ad up boasting of their CES 2019 presence, including their all-female lineup of vibrators. “The company’s experience contrasts starkly with the way CTA has treated sex toy company OhMiBod. Based in New Hampshire, the company has a variety of vibrators on display. They launched more than a decade ago and first appeared at CES in 2011 with a vibrator that synced to music on an iPod. They’ve been at the show ever since, and have received nothing but support from CTA, said co-founder Suki Dunham.” Also, there is nothing gender-specific about VR porn. The fact that they were notified by CES 2 months ago and only launched a cheap smear campaign now is also telling. And another year, a product by B.sensory, another smart vibrator, also won an award. Also a female founder. But yeah, clearly they hate companies run by women and products for women. Face it, you are getting played by a PR op here. Startups will do anything for coverage, and this is a pretty low brow tactic. Sadly, it worked very well. It’s unfortunate because it really waters down actual incidents of sexism, and people are getting desensitized to claims that any adversity someone faces is because everyone else is a racist or sexist. That’s counterproductive to the cause.
- foldr 8y ago
  >The previous sex toy that won an award was for women, from OhMiBod, founded by a woman So...this completely undermines CES's revised story (that they can't give the Lora DiCarlo toy an award because there's no category for sex toys). The fact that CES has given two separate reasons for this decision, neither of which makes sense, isn't exactly making them look good.
  - lawnchair_larry 8y ago
    Who cares. They should write an article about their confusing rules then (it would not be the first, this comes up every year). But don’t cry sexism when there are female “sexual health” devices by female founders on display and winning awards. Maybe they are trying to change their image, and this device couldn’t satisfy another category. Maybe they decided it wasn’t novel enough in the areas that matter, and it’s just a better vibrator. VR Porn is in the VR category, not an adult category, for example. And VR porn for women (whatever that means) is allowed too. Even if the studio has a mostly woman engineering team! There is already a conference for adult toys at the same time. CES doesn’t want to be that.
    - foldr 8y ago
      That's like saying "don't complain about sexism in tech when there are female programmers". The fact that CES doesn't operate a 100% efficient program of sexist discrimination doesn't show that Lora DiCarlo didn't experience sexist discrimination.
      - lawnchair_larry 8y ago
        No, it’s not. A simple examination of the circumstances demonstrates that sexism is the least likely explanation here. There is nothing to suggest that may have been the case, and the weak reasoning they do provide is demonstrably false.
        foldr 8y ago
        Sexism isn't "the explanation", it's the background structure that makes it easier for stuff like this to happen. Trying to isolate sexism as a discrete causal component would be like trying to isolate the causal role of capitalism, or American culture. If your landlord evicts you for not paying the rent, they're probably not thinking "I must follow the principles of capitalism" while they're doing it. But it's still something that happens in the context of a particular economic structure.
noptd 8y ago
From http://fortune.com/2019/01/09/the-ose-toy-ces2019/ http://fortune.com/2019/01/09/the-ose-toy-ces2019/ "Sex toys and CES have an unusual history. While the Ose wasn’t allowed on the show floor, adult novelty company OhMiBod has been a regular attendee for several years (and even won a Best of CES award in the the “Digital Health and Fitness Product” category in 2016). Trojan condoms has also shown branded sex toys in years past. And Naughty America, an adult film studio, has a presence on the show floor this year, albeit in a private meeting room in the back." Which might explain why they couldn't display their product- all of the private spaces were already sold out by then.

lawnchair_larry 8y ago

The previous sex toy that won an award was for women, from OhMiBod, founded by a woman. This is just a weak attempt to create controversy. It has nothing to do with them being women and that’s a silly first assumption. If you go to the OhMiBod website, they have a big ad up boasting of their CES 2019 presence, including their all-female lineup of vibrators. “The company’s experience contrasts starkly with the way CTA has treated sex toy company OhMiBod. Based in New Hampshire, the company has a variety of vibrators on display. They launched more than a decade ago and first appeared at CES in 2011 with a vibrator that synced to music on an iPod. They’ve been at the show ever since, and have received nothing but support from CTA, said co-founder Suki Dunham.” Also, there is nothing gender-specific about VR porn. The fact that they were notified by CES 2 months ago and only launched a cheap smear campaign now is also telling. And another year, a product by B.sensory, another smart vibrator, also won an award. Also a female founder. But yeah, clearly they hate companies run by women and products for women. Face it, you are getting played by a PR op here. Startups will do anything for coverage, and this is a pretty low brow tactic. Sadly, it worked very well. It’s unfortunate because it really waters down actual incidents of sexism, and people are getting desensitized to claims that any adversity someone faces is because everyone else is a racist or sexist. That’s counterproductive to the cause.

foldr 8y ago
>The previous sex toy that won an award was for women, from OhMiBod, founded by a woman So...this completely undermines CES's revised story (that they can't give the Lora DiCarlo toy an award because there's no category for sex toys). The fact that CES has given two separate reasons for this decision, neither of which makes sense, isn't exactly making them look good.
- lawnchair_larry 8y ago
  Who cares. They should write an article about their confusing rules then (it would not be the first, this comes up every year). But don’t cry sexism when there are female “sexual health” devices by female founders on display and winning awards. Maybe they are trying to change their image, and this device couldn’t satisfy another category. Maybe they decided it wasn’t novel enough in the areas that matter, and it’s just a better vibrator. VR Porn is in the VR category, not an adult category, for example. And VR porn for women (whatever that means) is allowed too. Even if the studio has a mostly woman engineering team! There is already a conference for adult toys at the same time. CES doesn’t want to be that.
  - foldr 8y ago
    That's like saying "don't complain about sexism in tech when there are female programmers". The fact that CES doesn't operate a 100% efficient program of sexist discrimination doesn't show that Lora DiCarlo didn't experience sexist discrimination.
    - lawnchair_larry 8y ago
      No, it’s not. A simple examination of the circumstances demonstrates that sexism is the least likely explanation here. There is nothing to suggest that may have been the case, and the weak reasoning they do provide is demonstrably false.
      - foldr 8y ago
        Sexism isn't "the explanation", it's the background structure that makes it easier for stuff like this to happen. Trying to isolate sexism as a discrete causal component would be like trying to isolate the causal role of capitalism, or American culture. If your landlord evicts you for not paying the rent, they're probably not thinking "I must follow the principles of capitalism" while they're doing it. But it's still something that happens in the context of a particular economic structure.

noptd 8y ago

From http://fortune.com/2019/01/09/the-ose-toy-ces2019/ http://fortune.com/2019/01/09/the-ose-toy-ces2019/ "Sex toys and CES have an unusual history. While the Ose wasn’t allowed on the show floor, adult novelty company OhMiBod has been a regular attendee for several years (and even won a Best of CES award in the the “Digital Health and Fitness Product” category in 2016). Trojan condoms has also shown branded sex toys in years past. And Naughty America, an adult film studio, has a presence on the show floor this year, albeit in a private meeting room in the back." Which might explain why they couldn't display their product- all of the private spaces were already sold out by then.