Affording pleasure: the role of objects in women’s and AFAB individuals’ sexual self-knowledge and pleasure

ABSTRACT

Although historically stigmatized, women’s participation in the sex toy industry is significantly linked to their sexual autonomy, and women’s use of sex toys for sexual pleasure is prevalent. In this analysis, we consider how these important market practices are built upon practices established outside the erotic market in early life. More specifically, we reveal how women’s and AFAB (Assigned-Female-At-Birth) individuals’ early-life encounters with household objects prefigure their adult consumption of sex toys. Using the theory of affordances, we demonstrate that the pursuit of sexual pleasure is a perceptual learning process, beginning long before individuals enter the erotic industry as consumers, and continuing throughout their lifecourse with both “erotic” and “non-erotic” objects. This study draws from life history narrative data collected in 2019–2020 from 30 participants, with 26 out of 30 participants identifying as LGBTQIA+. These data permit a “follow-the-body” analytical approach that highlights the ways sexual discovery is perceptual, embodied, improvisational, and cumulative.

KEYWORDS:

• Sex toys
• affordances
• sexuality
• queer
• masturbation
• materiality

Acknowledgements

The authors would first like to thank the thirty individuals who so generously shared their experiences and made this research possible. We would also like to acknowledge the positive and generative feedback we received on this paper from the other participants at the 2022 American Sociological Association roundtable on Qualitative Data and Theory: Michael Sanow and Sachiko Takita-Ishii. Finally, we owe our gratitude to three anonymous reviewers and the editors of this Special Issue for their detailed, constructive, and helpful comments on the previous drafts of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 An exclusive risk reduction curriculum for sex education in the United States (i.e. preventing unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases) fails to also incorporate content around sexual pleasure, consent, how to navigate relationships, and more (Kantor and Lindberg 2020).

2 Resources included contact information to local or electronically accessible mental health resources, LGBTQIA+ Centers, and Women’s Centers.

3 Spencer’s (previously Spencer Gifts) is an American retail company operating in shopping malls since 1963, with over 670 stores in the United States and Canada. They describe their store as “the go-to destination for the latest trends, tees, body jewelry, decor and more” (“Company Information: About Spencer’s,” spencersonline.com). As noted by respondents, Spencer’s is not categorized as a sex store, though they sell ‘novelties’ and adult products.

4 While not the focus of this analysis, sexual partners are very important in many of our participants’ accounts of discovering new affordances for pleasure in their environments. This is in line with the theory of affordances; indeed, Gibson asserts that the “richest and most elaborate affordances of the environment are provided by … other people” (1986, 135).

5 See Table 1 for participant demographics.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Spencier Ciaralli

Spencier Ciaralli is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD, U.S. Their research sits at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and sexual behavior. Their past research has pertained to aging and cancer survivorship. Most recently, she has been published in International Journal of Aging and Human Development.

Kelcie Vercel

Kelcie Vercel is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in the United States. She conducts research at the intersections of material culture, identity, consumption, and the home. Recent publications can be found in Consumption Markets & Culture and Home Cultures.