Liberal snippage from The Economist on Family values: Capitalism and sex toys in China:

Mr Wu pauses only briefly in the first section, adorned with reproductions of antique Chinese paintings of copulating couples. He points to one showing women in classical attire buying dildos from a street merchant. “Look, they used them in those days”, he says, as if to justify with historical precedent what comes next.

Mr Wu ushers the visitor into the main exhibition: row upon row of sex toys in a rainbow array of rubber, plastic, leather and—he proudly asks your correspondent to squeeze this one—a sponge-like material designed to simulate the texture of female flesh. Hung on one wall is a macabre line of near life-size inflatable dolls, their rouged mouths agape as if in horror at the implements before them: the Vertical Double Dong, the Occidental Vagina, the Waterproof Warhead Vibe (“Bathtime was never this fun”) and a variety of black leather and metal goods for fans of sadism and masochism (for overseas markets, that is; the Wus see S&M potential in China too, but party cadres do not).

Taking to heart (and bank account) what some may think of as a uniquely “Sex Toy Sales, American Style” (born in the 70’s, refined in the 80’s, mass market in the 90’s) business model, the Wu family plans to expand their business into something I’m glad to find is cross-cultural.

The Wu family empire is trying to adjust to the rapid evolution of China’s sex-toy industry. Brother number two, 35-year-old Wu Hui, is spearheading the effort. His company (the three brothers’ businesses are separate but interdependent) has exclusive control of the distribution of the Wus’ products in China. He believes that profits can be sustained only if more value is added to the company’s brands: Loves, LustyCity and Daily Planet.

The way to do this, Wu Hui says, is to set up chain-stores across the country to give the products a more upmarket image. Unlike the grubby little stores around China offering “health protection items”, the franchised outlets would have trained staff. Storefronts would be clearly branded in red and yellow with a sun and moon logo. Wu Hui and the youngest brother, Wu Xiao (who runs the retail business in Shanghai), already own 20 or so. The plan is to have 1,000 of them across the country, beginning with at least two in each provincial capital.

Can pleasure and profit united lead the world to better — if not, better accessorized — sex?

For further hot-t-t theory, a classic from Mimi Nguyen’s worse than queer blog:

Those battery-operated vibrators aren’t manufactured by other First World, savvy urban (white) women. Turn the box over and there’s the “Made in China” tag that potentially signals poor factory conditions and low wages. In an age of globalization of “free trade,” it’s the goods that get to travel across national borders (in order to “liberate” First World sex radicals), but not the workers (who might be a little queer themselves). The sex-toy industry is also just that: a multi-million dollar industry pulling down more than the GNP of not a few “Third World” nations. We may be purchasing opportunities for self-reinvention and sexual pleasure, but we are also hopelessly complicit in –and appropriated by– the commodity logic of techno-culture.

Here would be a fair place to note that you are pretty likely to find more “fair trade” sex toys these days amongst the stereotypical “novelty” offerings.  (From our personal evaluations, we can recommend Vixen Creations, Tantus Silicone, and Bend With the Wind/Psychosexual.)

BONUS TRACKS

China’s Sex Toy Revolution (ThingsAsian.com)
Handmade by shy Chinese women: adult toys for the world market (Helsingin Sanomat)
Shanghai adult sex toy fair hits the spot (China Daily)

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 22nd, 2005 at 4:28 am and is filed under Sex Toys, Sex Tech, Tight Fitted News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.