" was a clamoring of brands to produce new and better prostate massagers," Thomson tells VICE-from larger toys to vibrating devices triggering a hands-free anal orgasm Babeland went from stocking two prostate toys in 2008 to 23 today.
Long embraced by men who have sex with men as something like the male anatomical equivalent of the g-spot, heterosexual guys began to realize they could trigger independent or stronger orgasms by embracing this old-yet-new erogenous zone-a recent LELO survey found that 71 percent of straight men in relationships had tried or wanted to try prostate stimulation.
The same period also witnessed what Steve Thomson of LELO, a meticulously-designed luxury toy brand from Sweden, calls "The Great Prostate Rush of 2010-a bona fide run on the anal bank," in which consumers, especially heterosexual men, began to demand more stimulation for the p-spot. Vibration opened up a new world for couple's toys as well, which could be used to simultaneously stimulate the happy bits in two people with the same or different anatomies. They started incorporating vibes into everything from cock rings to masturbation sleeves, creating new bestselling toys. Meanwhile a host of developers realized what men playing with vibrators had long known: dicks like vibration. Masturbation sleeve maker Tenga, launched in 2005 in Japan, started to get a foothold in the US with products using innovative textures to move beyond mimicking flesh, and pushed sleeker, more modern designs. Things got interesting around the turn of the decade, though. "That's an entry point to everything else." "They made masturbation with a toy popular among straight men," says Leo Debois of, a male-focused toy retailer that launched in 2013.
The market got a boost following the 1995 creation of the Fleshlight, a masturbation sleeve that tried harder than prior toys to mimic the feel of human orifices using better materials. Yet it's safe to say that by the mid-to-late 20th century male toys were often shady, poorly crafted, and targeted at men with performance issues-think penis pumps-likely limiting their wider appeal. There's not as much information out there on the history of male toys as there is on the ancient origins of toys for females. Within the past decade, male sex toys have come into a renaissance of design, quality, and diversity, fueling rapid growth (at some stores, sales are up by 1,000-percent over the past decade) from a changing demographic of men, and shaking off much of their old stigma.Īs Claire Cavanah, co-founder of the sleek and popular sex-positive toy retailer Babeland, puts it: "It's a good time to have a penis and prostate when it comes to sex toys." But recently this image has become outmoded. That's where vibrators, prostate massagers, and butt plugs come in.These depictions are part of a prevailing dim view of the historically limited world of male sex toys. the male G-spot, while simultaneously working the front. You’re also going to struggle-by virtue of the limitations of the human anatomy-to stimulate your own prostate, a.k.a. And unless you're Sting, you can't make your penis vibrate on its own. Adult toys do things you and your partner can't, no matter how advanced your yogic practices. The best men's sex toys do for masturbation what hot sauce does for a couple of perfectly over-medium eggs-take a great thing to whole new heights. Who needs silicone when you’ve got your hands? A harder, stronger, and more life-affirming orgasm sounds nice, but how much room for improvement from a prostate massager or a male masturbator could there really be?Ī lot. Or maybe it's the misguided notion that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Following the Malcolm Gladwellian 10,000-hour theory, you feel like an expert in the field. When it comes to the best sex toys for men, the first step is getting past whatever's kept you from using a male sex toy-alone or with a partner-up until now: a mildly Puritan shame about masturbation, the hassle of cleaning up, the fact that the best sex toys for men kinda look like alien appendages.