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This Oral Sex Toy Is Unpredictable—Just Like the Real Thing


Hello from your friendly Amazon sex toy review lady! You know the one.

After my orgasmed-so-hard-I-saw-God review went viral, I got the job of reviewing sex toys for Glamour. So maybe I really did die and go to heaven. Either way, here I am, ready to review all the sex toys in the land from a busy mom’s point of view.

Next up, the very elegant Ora 2 by Lelo.

“ORA™ 2 is about pleasure—sheer, raw, indulgent pleasure,” the product description reads. Hi. Hello. Hey, baby, u up? Sounds like Ora and I would definitely get along. I couldn’t wait to see if this little baby lived up to the description and rave reviews.

I have to say, the presentation in the package was stunning. I felt glamorous just opening it. The blue with gold trim made it look like a precious sapphire ring. I half expected wine, candles, and a Boyz II Men CD to come with it. The shape of the Ora 2 is so unique that I know if my kids ever found it by accident, they would have zero idea what it’s for. Shoot, most adults wouldn’t even know.

Enclosed was a black satin storage bag and a sample of their water-based lube. I like a date who brings presents.

School is back in session so I finally have the daytime alone. Naturally, as soon as Ora arrived, I decided to take myself on a date with…myself. The romantic, “light the candles and draw yourself a bath” kind of date. If there’s one thing you need to know, it’s that this is not a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am type of toy. This vibrator definitely requires dim lights, soothing music, and, as I soon discovered, patience.

The Ora 2 is designed to simulate oral sex with a “newly enhanced pleasure nub [that] rotates and vibrates, like a tongue, but better.” I quickly realized that lube is a must with the Ora 2 because when I placed it on my fairly dry clit, the sensation felt dulled.

At first the rotating nub, while pleasant, did not feel like oral. The setting was too predictable—teenagers-in-the-horror-movie-get-killed predictable, which is cool if you are into that kind of thing. Personally, I like my oral unpredictable.

Luckily there are 10 settings. After playing around a bit, I found one in which the vibrations were quite strong. But what impressed me the most was the variation offered by the Ora 2. A few of the settings were completely random intervals and strengths of vibration, which I found very different from other toys that I have used. The randomness brought a realness to it, similar to not knowing the next move your partner would make. It left me waiting in anticipation for each new sensation, totally different from the last.

If this “oral simulator” had a theme song, it would be D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel)”. With its slow build to a possible orgasm, it’s like sweet, sweet foreplay with a lover.

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But unlike many lovers, the Ora 2 took its sweet-ass time, I thought. Technically I did have the whole day to myself, but I didn’t have enough time to spend in bed trying to achieve the big O with a new toy. Every time I was close, a slight variation in the pattern would switch things up. (Again, not unlike a real partner.) It wasn’t for lack of trying! I wanted to pat it on its lil’ blue back and say, “It’s okay, buddy. We’ll get ’em next time.”

I was so close, excruciatingly close, but after an hour I ended up Donald Ducking it (you know, no pants, fanny out) to my closet to whip out my old reliable vibrator to finish the job. Bottom line: Make sure you carve out some time to really experiment with this toy. But if it’s instant O you crave, I found the Ora 2 pairs perfectly with a G-spot stimulator.



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Gender Stereotypes Initiative Toy Cars Mercedes Benz USA and Mattel


When is the last time you saw young girls playing with toy cars on a TV commercial? If you thought, I honestly don’t know, you’re not the only one. According to the National Science Board, women represent only 29% of the current science and engineering workforce, a figure that influences what young girls are exposed to in their formative years. While social stereotypes are changing, the majority of the world still assigns pink and dolls to girls and blue and cars to boys. That’s why Mercedes-Benz USA and Mattel decided they needed to do their part to not only challenge outdated tropes but also empower girls to realize the opportunities available to them.

Earlier this year the car company released a video on gender stereotypes (see below) that racked up millions of views almost instantly. In the two-minute clip, first-grade girls are given various toys to play with and asked why they didn’t choose a toy car. From “that’s for boys, not for girls” to “that’s a boy toy,” the young girls explain why they didn’t give certain toys a second thought. Only when they are introduced to Ewy Rosqvist, a Swedish racing champion who made history for being the first woman to enter and win one of the toughest rallies in the world—the Argentinian Grand Prix—did they realize how they were limiting their choices—and future. Watch (and warning, expect emotions):

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Mercedes-Benz partnered with Matchbox to make Ewy’s car into a toy version and gift it to girls all over the country. Now, on National STEM/STEAM Day, both companies have announced that 50,000 young girls across the nation will not only get toy cars, but also engage in programs tied to science, technology, engineering, and math to challenge gender stereotypes.

Mercedes-Benz also released an updated version of the widely shared video and announced that its No Limits program will launch special workshops in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York City. With help from more than 100 organizations, from now until February 2020, girls across the U.S. will engineer toy racetracks, design cars, engage with female role models, and attend STEM workshops designed to expand how they see their future.

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“Whatever they aspire to be, we want all children to dream big, dream bold, and never give up on that dream,” says Mark Aikman, general manager of marketing services for Mercedes-Benz USA. “We’ve seen that stories like Ewy’s—championing women trailblazers and achievers—can have a big impact by calling into question the gender stereotypes that children may inadvertently adopt.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 26: Young girls from Brooklyn’s Digital Girl Inc. were the first of 50,000 children across the U.S. to receive new Matchbox cars by Mercedes-Benz and Mattel celebrating “No Limits” in honor of November’s STEM Day on October 26, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz)Mike Pont/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz

The Ewy Rosqvist Matchbox replica will be sold in stores nationwide beginning in December. For more information and a list of organizations participating in the No Limits campaign, click here.



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CES Just Doesn’t Know What to Do With a Sex Toy for Women


The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the Oscars of the tech industry. For the rest of us, it’s a chance to get a first look at the coolest new gadgets: self-rolling suitcases, roll-up TVs, smart toilets, and out-of-this world wearables. A big debut here can kick-start interest and orders for a new product. And that’s especially true if you’re honored with one of CES’s Innovations Awards.

So when Lora Haddock, CEO of the company Lora DiCarlo, heard her product was getting the Innovation nod, she was pumped. The company’s little invention? It’s called Osé, and it’s a hands-free robotic massager that stimulates the clitoris and the G-spot to help women achieve a “blended orgasm.” But a few weeks later, the honor was abruptly rescinded and Haddock was told the Osé was disqualified. When she pressed for answers, things got worse—the company was banned from even showing at CES.

The Osé (whosename means “risqué” in Italian) may be titillating, but it’s also a technological feat. Developed by a team of mostly female engineers and with the robotics lab at Oregon State University, the Osé uses advanced micro-robotics to simulate the sensations of the human mouth, tongue, and fingers. The tech is so sophisticated—it currently has eight patents pending in robotics, biomimicry, and engineering—the smart massager earned a coveted spot as an honoree in the robotics and drones category in CES’s Innovation Awards Program. Before the honor was revoked, that is.

So what went wrong?

Sex at CES

CES is no stranger to sex tech. The legendary show has included VR porn booths, smart vibrators, and even a sex robot in recent years. With the background in robotics and impressive list of pending patents, Osé didn’t seem out of place. And for awhile at least, officials at CES were clearly impressed. Emails and letters between the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which hosts CES, and Lora DiCarlo confirm that on October 10, 2018, Haddock’s company received a congratulatory email notifying them the Osé was a 2019 honoree. “The product had been vetted by CTA,” says Haddock, a Navy veteran and nurse who began researching female erogenous zones after having her first blended orgasm in her 20s, “and went on to a panel of expert judges who decided that it qualified and deserved an award.”

The first hint of a problem came via an email several weeks after Lora DiCarlo had been informed they’d won. It said due to the product’s “adult” nature, Osé couldn’t be displayed on the exhibition floor. The organizers suggested a private room could be arranged instead. To Haddock, this felt like a double standard. Just last year Abyss Creations debuted the Solana sexbot, an “artificial female with porn star proportions,” during an event on Engadget’s stage in the main hall of the convention center. “You can see a stark contrast between explicitly sexual products for men, which don’t have to go through the kind of red tape that products for people with vaginas do,” Haddock says. (In an email sent to Glamour, a spokesperson for CTA said that despite Solana’s very visual presence, Abyss Creations was “not an official exhibitor at CES.”)

Shortly after, CTA sent Lora DiCarlo another email informing the company that its award was being revoked, citing a clause which states any entry CTA deems to be “immoral, obscene, indecent, profane, or not in keeping with CTA’s image” will be disqualified. (A subsequent letter from CTA president Gary Shapiro and executive vice president Karen Chupka gave a different reason, making the reversal seem more like an administrative error. This follow-up letter stated Osé was “ineligible for entry in the robotics and drones category” and chalked the entire incident up to a “misunderstanding”; CTA apologized and said it would refund the company’s application fee.)

Based on past award winners, the indecency clause seems like a stretch. In 2016, OhMiBod’s Lovelife Krush kegel exerciser/vibrator was named “Best Digital Health and Fitness Product”; the same year, the Little Bird smart vibrator by B.Sensory won a CES Innovation Award in the wearable technology category. If these devices weren’t considered “immoral, obscene, indecent, profane, or not in keeping with CTA’s image,” why was the Osé?

When Haddock asked for an explanation, she says CTA didn’t have a satisfactory answer. “The only response we got was they went a step further,” she says. “[They] told us we were not eligible for any category at all at CES, and that they were not only revoking our award, but we were banned from the show.”

When Glamour reached out to CTA for comment, the organization emailed saying Osé “does not fit into any of our existing product categories and should not have been accepted for the Innovation Awards Program.” The statement went on: “CES does not have a category for sex toys. CTA had communicated this position to Lora DiCarlo nearly two months ago and we have apologized to them for our mistake.” A spokesperson also added that some of the other sex tech companies that have won past awards were considered examples of “emerging technology categories.” “We have acknowledged certain inconsistencies in our processes and we are continuing to make strides to improve,” the statement read.

A Bros-Only Bias?

Lora DiCarlo isn’t the first sex tech company to suggest gender bias may have been at play at CES. Liz Klinger, the CEO of smart vibrator company Lioness, says she was denied admission to the CES 2018 new company showcase—the same year male-led Naughty America was permitted to demonstrate its augmented-reality porn app, in a “prominent spot,” according to Klinger. “The reasons conveyed to us from backchannels were that [CES] had unspecified ‘bad experiences’ in the past so were banning all ‘obscene’ products,” she says. “[But] having AR porn that can be viewed on a public show floor could also be interpreted as ‘obscene’ and make attendees feel uncomfortable, so I’m not sure what their criteria is.”

A squeamishness about women and sex, or about women’s sexuality, has made news beyond CES. Last May, New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) subway system took issue with sex toy company Unbound’s pastel-hued ads with illustrations of dildos and vibrators in bathrooms, and amid lounging women. But the MTA has accepted erectile-dysfunction ads from companies like Roman, whose ads feature a man’s crotch, and Hims, which uses images of cacti and eggplants meant to suggest erect penises. In 2015, Thinx’s period-proof undies—illustrated with images of eggs and grapefruits—were initially rejected for “too much skin” among other concerns but were eventually approved without changes. And just last week, Dame Products said in an Instagram post that after initially having its ads for vibrators approved last summer, the MTA was now rejecting them due to a policy that “prohibits any advertisement that promotes a sexually oriented business.”

Despite the disappointment over this year’s CES, Lora DiCarlo is still coming out a winner. Another event adjacent to CES—which recognizes “the most innovative technology products submitted by event exhibitors” at CES, but is not endorsed by CTA, selected Osé for the IHS Markit Innovation Award. It took the top prize in—you guessed it—robotics and drones. “One of the judges very quietly came up to me afterwards,” Haddock says, “shook my hand and said, ‘We promise we won’t take this one away from you.’”

Lisa Liebman is a New York City journalist covering entertainment, pop culture, and women’s issues.





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This Shape-Shifting Sex Toy Is Perfect for Creative Types


I had the most romantic night in bed molding voodoo dolls made from the guts of an exploded dildo with my boyfriend. It was so sweet! His doll even has a hat it can wear. I’m gushing, but the Dodil reminded me that we’re the cutest couple ever, even if we enjoyed ourselves for reasons other than prescribed by the manufacturer.

The Dodil is a dildo that you can mold to your own preferences over and over. The idea behind the product is that you get countless dildos within one, and can mold it to fit your body and mood. Prefer a spiral shape? The Dodil can do it. Interested in twisted tornado penetration? The Dodil’s got you.

I want to clarify that any melting of the Dodil was purely my own fault, and not the fault of the manufacturers. I went rogue with their nice toy and did not follow instructions. This aquamarine pleasure device comes tucked into a thermos with a very detailed instruction booklet. My first thought upon reading the instruction manual was, “This would be a truly depressing night if I were single.” The Dodil makes you work for the dildo shape of your choice. Unlike vibrators (the Dodil doesn’t vibrate) which are more or less instant orgasms right out of the box, you need to take your time with the Dodil. You have to run it a hot bath and then give it some alone time. After that, you have to massage it. And then you have to give it even more alone time. And then, eventually, you can put it inside you. Since I screw up the instructions on Easy Mac, I handed everything over to my partner (who is an excellent chef) and asked if he could “just deal with this.”

After boiling water, you fill up the matching thermos with it (be careful not to burn yourself). Then you plop the Dodil inside the thermos, pour out a little bit of the hot water, and screw on the thermos cap. (The instructions claim that you cannot use the thermos for food or beverage, but it’s so cute I was tempted to—it could theoretically hold a ton of coffee.) After the Dodil is happily relaxing in its bath, it needs to sit there for half an hour. When you take it out the countdown begins, as you have 20 minutes to mold it into whatever shape you like. The toy comes with an orange string that you can use to wrap around the toy and set it to your liking. The Dodil truly puts the “toy” in sex toy. Molding it is fun! It’s like grown-up Play Dough.

Now, the instruction booklet clearly states in step five of the third section: “Do not pull on the Dodil, rather squeeze and stroke, to make the inside material move.” However, it’s really tempting to pull on. When you’re playing with a malleable sex toy, the question “how long can I make this thing?” popped into my head so fast I can only assume it was instinct. I held onto one end; my partner held the other; and we pulled each side, giggling at our dildo tug-of-war.

And that’s when the dildo exploded.

The outer silicone cover burst open with a pop, and the lava-like inner core of (thankfully) nontoxic thermoplastic seeped out. If I had just spent an hour of my time trying to cook myself a dildo I would have been bummed, but my partner was there so it wasn’t exactly a necessity. That’s when we used the goo to make voodoo dolls.

Let me again be clear that it is entirely my fault for not following instructions, and anyone who does follow them could truly have not just one, but multiple orgasmic experiences masturbating with the Dodil.

PHOTO: Dodil

The Dodil in some of its variations (when used correctly)

Upon learning what happened to our Dodil, the company quickly and kindly replaced mine. For my second attempt, I was alone and just boiled it in a pot like spaghetti (the instructions say that’s chill). After it was finished cooking, I pulled it out of the hot water with tongs and sat in my bed with the hot orange string ready to create a dildo fashioned from my imagination. I squeezed (no pulling) and shaped it with the orange string in an effort to create a spiral. When it hardened—it took about an hour or two, but you can speed up this process by dipping it in cool water—mine looked like a strangled tadpole.

In conclusion, I am the wrong person for this toy. My dishes look dirty even after I wash them. My cats have better handwriting than me. Attempts at learning to knit have ended in snapped knitting needles. As such, I need my sex toys to deliver orgasms as quickly as possible with minimal effort, which is why I adore wand vibrators.

And it’s a shame, because the Dodil is multipurpose and has a really wonderful, silky-soft feeling. After it hardens into one shape, you can re-boil the toy and harden it into another for endless possibilities and a reasonable price point of about $95 USD for the whole kit (the company is Swedish, so it’s sold in euros from Dodil’s site).

The Dodil would have a good home with someone who excels at crafts and is patient. For those who suck at making macaroni and cheese and enjoy sex toys that don’t make you work for your orgasm, however, skip this one. Fortunately, even an exploded dildo can create a night of romantic bonding between you and your partner. We had such a good time with the dildo goo that I have nothing but love for this product, even if it fundamentally wasn’t the right fit for me.

More:

—With This Warming Wand Vibrator, Winter Won’t Be the Only Thing Coming

—The 2017 Glamour Sex Toy Awards

—`The 15 Biggest Sex Inventions of the Year



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Matt Lauer Once Gave a Female Coworker a Sex Toy As a Gift, According to a New Bombshell Report


As the post-Weinstein reckoning rages on, longstanding Today show anchor Matt Lauer is the latest prominent man in media to be fired for sexual misconduct.

On Wednesday morning, NBC announced that Lauer had been terminated. In a memo to company employees, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack wrote that the decision stemmed from “a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer” and revealed that though this was the first of its kind, “we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.”

Shortly after the news broke, Variety‘s New York Bureau Chief Ramin Setoodeh ‏tweeted that he and reporter Elizabeth Wagmeister had spent two months investigating “serious sexual harassment allegations” against the Today host, and NBC was aware of their work. Within hours of NBC’s announcement, Variety published their report and revealed numerous disturbing allegations of sexual harassment against Lauer.

Three women spoke to the publication—choosing to remain unnamed for fear of career retaliation—and their accounts were corroborated by friends and colleagues. One of the women said she once received a sex toy from the former anchor, who also detailed how he would want to use it on her in an “explicit note.” Another said Lauer once called her into his office, dropped his pants, and exposed himself to her—then chastised her when she refused to engage in a sexual act. And numerous Today employees said it was well-known that Lauer often made lewd comments to female colleagues, be it asking them who they’d slept with or telling them which fellow co-hosts he wanted to sleep with during rounds of “fuck, marry, kill.”

Per Variety, the complaint that resulted in Lauer’s termination stemmed from an incident that first occurred during the 2014 Sochi Olympics and continued for several months. On Monday, an NBC employee met with human resources about the continued encounters and the network quickly took action—but others say that past complaints “fell on deaf ears given the lucrative advertising surrounding Today.”

According to the bombshell report, Lauer’s office was fashioned with a button under his desk that “allowed him to lock his door from the inside without getting up.” This gave him the power to initiate sexual contact with female employees without fear of someone walking in, two women told Variety. And when Lauer was traveling on assignment, he would often fixate on young women on staff, often inviting them back to his hotel rooms.

“There were a lot of consensual relationships, but that’s still a problem because of the power he held,” a former producer told Variety. “He couldn’t sleep around town with celebrities or on the road with random people, because he’s Matt Lauer and he’s married. So he’d have to do it within his stable, where he exerted power, and he knew people wouldn’t ever complain.”

Lauer’s former Today co-hosts addressed the possibility of additional allegations coming forward as they announced the news Wednesday morning.

“As I’m sure you can imagine, we are devastated and we are still processing all of this,” Savannah Guthrie said to viewers at the top of the broadcast. “I will tell you right now we do not know more than what I just shared with you, but we will be covering this story as reporters, as journalists. I’m sure we will be learning more details in the hours and days to come. And we promise we will share that with you.”

Though Guthrie said she was “heartbroken” for her former colleague, she also made clear that she was similarly distraught for “the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story and any other women who have their own stories to tell.”

“This reckoning that so many organizations have been going through is important, it’s long overdue and it must result in workplaces where all women—all people—feel safe and respected,” Guthrie added.





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The Best 2017 Sex Toy Gift Ideas for the Women You Love


Buying the beloved women in your life under-the-radar beauty products or feminist accessories is great, but I believe in the power of—bear with me—giving the vagina owners in my life sex toys as holiday gifts.

Why not? As a sex-positive woman, I’m always looking for ways to destigmatize sex, and since I’ve been handing out vibrators as presents, I’ve found people close to me have felt more open to discussing, questioning, and being honest about pleasure (i.e., it’s a fun way to make awkward conversations easier). As far as who you feel comfortable giving a sex toy to, that’s your call, but I’m here to inspire you with some gift ideas I personally love. Below, 11 sex toys, vibrators, and other devices to buy for the women and nonbinary folks in your life. Truly, it’ll be a gift that keeps on giving.



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