What does one need to know when making products for women? In 2009 computer company Dell created a website marketing their laptops ‘for women’. It was pink. Instead of updating it’s out of touch software, the company focused on fitting the laptop with a calory counter and recipe search function. Of course, the criticism was swift and harsh. The company had no choice but to admit their mistake and promise to correct it. That mistake has become one of the last decades biggest marketing fails, still referenced today as an example of ‘pink washing’. As Forbes pointed out at the time, making products for women is difficult. It needs to be ‘smart information that smart women really need—and want’. Many companies make mistakes when creating and advertising products specifically for women. But there has been a lot of progress. In particular, the sex tech industry is rapidly becoming a women led, and women focused area. These days, women are developing their own tools for pleasure. And they don’t make mistakes. As women, they know how smart and demanding we are when it comes to what we buy. We’re going to introduce 5 of the most popular and high-quality sex toy companies created by women, for women.
1. Dame
Studies have shown that straight women are the population that experiences orgasms the least. Who experiences them the most? Heterosexual men. For too long, mankind has turned a blind eye to the pleasure of women. Scientific answers were needed to end this era of inequality in pleasure. In 2014, sexologist Alexandra Fine and MIT graduate engineer Janet Lieberman created their company ‘Dame’ to address this.
Dame’s first product, Eva, was a hands-free vibrator for the clitoris. The clitoris is arguably the most important erogenous zone in the female body, but it’s often ignored during penetrative sex. Wearing the Eva on the vulva during sex can allow for continued clitoral stimulation. One of Dame’s best sellers, Zee, is a bullet vibrator designed to maximize the sensitivity of the clitoris when playing solo. It looks like a cute little crayon, delicately targets erogenous zones, and consistently surprises users with its power and performance.
Dame products are different to what many of us think of when we imagine ‘sex toys.’ Their cute designs and sophisticated color schemes make it impossible for others to guess their purpose. This can help users to completely erase prejudices and resistance towards toys. However, more than anything, they are faithful to their original purpose of making women happy. Customers recognize quality, and Dame was able to become the highest-selling sex toy brand in crowdfunding history. It’s now the most prominent start-up in Silicon Valley.
👀 Check out Dame’s Instagram here
2. Maude
People are naturally attracted to beautiful things. So what aesthetics are appropriate for sex toys? Maude brings a sleek minimalist design to the sexual wellness industry. Maude’s founder, Éva Goicochea created a vision for modern sex toys that are simple, functional, and open to all genders.
In 2020 actress Dakota Johnson joined Maude, connecting with their philosophy of sexual wellness as self-care. That’s right, the star of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is Maude’s Co-Creative Director. She has stated that through Maude she hopes to help people to affirm their relationship with sex and develop new habits for taking care of themselves.
Maude’s sex toys feature calm, achromatic colors and simple silhouettes. They bring to mind a luxurious five-star hotel spa. They even look good just casually sitting on your best. Their representative product is the ‘Vibe’. As the name suggests, it’s a vibrator. It has a single button which starts the movement, and its three levels are a simple and reliable way to stimulate women.
👀 Check out Maude’s Instagram Here
3. Puissante
Which adjective best suits women? How about ‘Puissante’? In English it means powerful. French engineer Marie Comacle created Puissante for all strong women. They are focused on developing products to support all women in finding the power and strength of her mind and body by herself.
After being involved in sex workshops over the years Marie Comacle found that women were discovering themselves too late. She decided to create sex toys because she wanted to let all women know a simple and easy way to change everything. If you can do something pleasurable every day, your life will surely become happier.
Puissante’s best seller, ‘Coco’, pleasures women with versatility and flexibility. It can stimulate erogenous zones in multiple dimensions using suction and vibration. The smaller, rounded end can be inserted into the vagina. Its strongest feature is that it can be bent by the user to find the perfect angle for them. Finally, we don’t have to fit our bodies to match the product, the toy adjusts to fit us.
👀 Check out Puissante’s Instagram Here
4. Unbound
What if you could buy a sex toy just like you buy an accessory? Unbound creates a wide variety of sex toys for women. Some even look like fashionable rings or necklaces. Bringing sex toys closer to everyday life is the goal of unbound co-founder Polly Rodriguez.
Unbound drew media attention for its necklace-like nipple clamps, and a vibrator that looks like a gold ring. It demonstrated that you can wear sex toys in a hip and chic way like a fashion item.
Their most popular item is the suction toy ‘Puff’, which resembles a toy gun. This intense pink and green device doesn’t hide its presence. Buyers often post pictures with their Puff to Instagram, proud and unapologetic. It’s quiet but powerful and receives a lot of love from people experienced in using sex toys.
5. Wet For Her
Made by lesbians, for lesbians. Founder Alice Derock felt that the world lacked pleasure tools specifically for her to enjoy with her girlfriend, so she started making her own. She then opened ‘Wet For Her’, to share with other women who felt the same discomfort as her in the heteronormative sex toy industry.
Alice asks, ‘Is there anyone who can make toys for lesbians as well as a lesbian?’. Using the personal and professional experiences of herself and her friends, ‘Wet For Her’ products are specialized for women who want to pleasure other women.
Wet For Her’s representative product is the ‘RockHer’, a toy made especially for scissoring and other positions popular amongst women who love women. While one person inserts the toy into their vagina, the external ring also transmits vibrations which can be used to stimulate the partners clitoris. This single vibe can unite two people in pleasure.
👀 Check out Wet For Her’s Instagram Here
