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Sex toys and the hypocrisy of society

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A couple of months ago I went to a local branch of Ann Summers to get a new toy, but despite there being around 20 different dildoes and vibrators for women there were no equivalents for guys.
The saleswoman asked if she could help so I enquired if they had any in stock but she explained that they weren't allowed to sell them due to some local byelaw. She said they get quite a few men and their partners enquiring about them. Apparaently they can sell them in their Central London stores, but not in Croydon!. We had a laugh about the stupidity of it, but it set me to thinking about the hypocrisy of some of our laws and attitudes.
Given that some branches of Boots are now apparently selling "massagers" why is it that despite the subject of sex toys for women more or less drifting into mainstream topics of conversation there are still pieces of legislation that prohibit guys from enjoying the same sort of activity? And what is the thinking behind it?
I wonder has anyone else encountered problems buying things locally, or is this peculiar to Croydon (maybe it's too near to Purley, eh? nudge, nudge)?
An ex-girlfriend of mine bought me my first one a few years ago and it led to a some great times with our sex life, not to mention assisting with those boring, lonesome evening we all experience from time to time! lol
Good post hun
Being a girl it's not something I've ever considered, but next time I go to by something for myself I'll ask about male toys and see what they say. :thumbup:
Ann Summers is over priced anyway.
Asda started selling the new durex range of toys a couple of months ago but our store (and a few others) had to take them off sale as we had protesters outside the store :shock: so they now in the wear house sat doing nothing confused
just as a matter of interest from someone who has no idea - what exactly would a man buy to pleasure himself ?????? redface
coming from a poor family, the most we could muster would be a rubber glove, empty toilet roll and plenty of handcream :shock:
34fun, if you really haven't seen any, just take a look at any website which sells toys and you'll find a host of different types for sale.
Ann Summers ISN'T a sex shop - which is why you can't buy some items there. The licence for a sex shop has really stringent conditions none of which AS want to met so they are allowed to be an ordinary retail outlet with only 10% of their stock sexually orientated.
cool
That I understand, but what I find odd is that they are allowed to stock sex toys for women but not for men. It's the question surrounding the existing legislation that I find curious. And it seems it's not a question of supply and demand as according to the sales assistant they do get regular enquiries.
It's down to profit and loss I expect! More demand for female sex toys than male ones.
confused
That's of course true, but if the sales woman is to be believed they would like to sell them in that branch, it's just that they are prohibited from doing so. surprised
complain to your MEP...........
id be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too embarrassed to go buy a device from anywhere by the way....... good work fella for havin the confidence to do that.
DeeCee, it's only a piece of plastic! *lol*
I know what you mean though. One of my ex-gf's taught me how to have the confidence to walk into sex shops without feeling grubby. Having said that, I'd never walk into a grubby sex shop!!! cool
Cool Constance! I might just try and find one of those. Nothing better than getting something on recommendation! wink
Excellent! Just got to find a new girlfirend now, otherwise it's £9 wasted *lol*
In that case maybe I'm a vanilla male! Ann Summers may be expensive but they're the only thing that passes as a "sex shop" near here, hence my foray.
Actually, I bought my last toy at Erotica in November and the f**king thing fell apart after about a week! (no jokes please... I have two others that have lasted years!)
Quote by constance
Last time I went in a proper sex shop the whole dirty mac brigade took one look at me and fled!!

And then you had the shop to yourself? Oh, the power.
Mollie x x
That's true and my other three toys were all from Ann Summers and they HAVEN'T fallen apart. They're always friendly in there too, unlike some of the other more seedy joints where you feel it's being run by gangsters (and may well be too!!)..
Naughty Dirty!
I was in one of those Soho places a few years agao and a woman came in and started haranguing the guy behind the counter because he'd sold her a video which was supposed to be hard core and obviously wasn't. Fair play to her... I can't imagine any guy bringing one back and making a fuss.
I agree about the seedyair surrounding actual sex shops but not all anne summers shops are the warm fluffy welcoming places you have experienced.
me and hubby were in our local branch and it was a bit quiet so i guess the staff were just bored but another younger couple came in and a single respectable if somewhat nervouse looking fella on his own. the 3 girls on duty started wandering around the shop and taking it in turns picking up different items of merchandise and shouting comments about them accross the shop to each other.
the poor single bloke turned tail and almost ran out of the shop and though a little more subtley the young couple were not that far behind him, so maybe they are not that different its just that one is seen as predominantly for men the other for women.
but basically they are same sort of shop so yes you should be able to buys toys for men too. this is the 21 century and equality should be second nature, if it was other way round the womens libbers would be kicking up a storm
susan6912000
Until very recently Anne Summers wasn't even allowed to advertise any vacancies in the job centre so it's no surprise that they don't sell sex toys for men in their surburban stores - they've had to tone down a lot to get into the high street/shopping centres compared to the way the stores in Central London. I believe that they are considered to be a retailer of "novelty adult" products - which sums up the attitude of AS parties, it's still got that ooo errrr missus, carry on film feel to it imho.
However, vibrators and other sex toys being sold in high street malls is still quite a big step forward for the market it aims at and AS should be applauded for that - there are three adult stores in my area and the other two are just awful.
Ido find A.S. a bit tame and very overpriced so Rich and i usually go to a sex shop for clothes, toys etc.
A few years ago, he bought me a very nice battery operated vibrator.
Used it a couple of times {not viciously i hasten to add } and it died. tried different batteries etc, nuthin, zilch, kaputt.
Took it back to the shop where a very snotty female assistant basically said because it had been used internally confused , there was nothing she could do..[if a watch broke after being worn a couple of times,would the result be the same?}
We did politely explain about the Sale of goods act and being fit for the purpose intended to no avail.
So if anyone lives in swansea and visits a sex shop, ask 1st if the toys are non returnable wink
dee xx
rotflmao well not all at the same time anyway lol :twisted:
if the issue is going into a shop or the shop not stoking what you want , why not just buy on line?
i actually think ann summers is way over priced and being a size 36e its hard to find anything in there.
xxxxxxxxx lou xxxxxxxxx
did ya mother never teach you to share lol confused ewwgghh sorry that probally doesnt sound very good , i obv didnt mean teach you to share your vibrators and butt plugs lol
ok im :uhoh: making a run for it as ive embarresed myself enough lol
xxx lou xxx
Online is fine, but I just happened to be passing the shop and thought I'd get a new one! biggrin Imagine my utter disappointment!
And, yes, there is a very, very big difference between women's and men's toys! Just check out some websites selling them and it should become obvious very quickly. :shock:
maybe hes talking about cock rings?
are you del??? cuse now im confused?
xxxxxxxxx lou xxxxxxxxxxx
Wow, have many people never actually seen a toy meant for guys (str8 that is)?
OK, well let's put it simply:
Women place cock-shaped toys inside their pussies
Men place their cocks inside pussy-shaped toys
Is this explicit enough??? cool
ahhhhhh shows were all a bit anal i guess pmsl
there was a thread a while back about these tube fanny thingys lol they looked fun
xxx lou xxxx
Well, I think they can fun be at times. And great if a partner finds them a turn on too. cool