This article contains graphic content that may be NSFW.
While the majority of sex toys are targeted exclusively at women, anyone familiar with the Guybrator or the Handie knows there’s an emerging market for male sex toys as well. But what about sex toys for people who don’t fall within the gender binary? There’s the Transformer, a new product that’s being marketed as the world’s “first ever truly inclusive sex toy,” for “gay, straight, bi, queer, intersex, transgender, [and] cisgender” users.
There’s also a teaser video that quotes Albert Camus, which is a plus:
Created by Picobong, the Swedish brand owned by luxury sex toy company Lelo, the Transformer is a 24-inch piece of firm but flexible silicon that essentially doubles as a two-headed vibrating dildo. (There are about 10 different “stimulation modes,” or levels of vibration.) Depending on how you bend and twist the Transformer, it can be used as a rabbit vibe, a G-spot stimulator, a prostate massager—the list goes on and on.
Basically, it’s like the high-end sex toy version of one of those eight-in-one household products you see on QVC or SkyMall. The user guide for the Transformer even includes a helpful diagram of various, origami-esque uses for the device.
Asethetically speaking, the Transformer isn’t exactly revolutionary: It looks a little bit like what would happen if a snake swallowed a ton of radioactive waste. But according to Picobong rep Kathryn Catney, the Transformer isn’t just a sex toy: It’s intended to spur “a sexual revolution, the vibrating underground,” encouraging users to reject labels and embrace their sexuality.
“When you go shopping for a sex toy, you’re faced with a lot of very linear, very clearly defined choices: ‘This is for the G-spot.’ ‘This is for couples.’ ‘This is for him.’ ‘This is for her.’ And so on,” she wrote in an email to the Daily Dot.
“But the truth is, that kind of approach doesn’t suit everybody, and there are a lot of us who wanted a sex toy that transcends the same boundaries that we do during sex. We want a single brilliant sex toy to do a thousand different things, rather than a thousand different sex toys, each brilliant for a single thing.”
It’s an ambitious goal, to be sure, but is there actually a need for a sex toy that appeals to all genders and sexual orientations? While standard vibrating sex toys could theoretically be used in some pleasurable way by pretty much everyone (who doesn’t love a piece of vibrating plastic on their junk?), it’s true that there’s a paucity of sex toys on the market exclusively targeted at non-gender-conforming people, who may have different requirements depending on their anatomy. (Pre-op trans men, for instance, might be averse to using a standard masturbation sleeve like a Fleshlight, as the fit will likely be too loose.)
While that gradually seems to be changing—the Bro Sleeve, for instance, is marketed as a masturbation sleeve for men with penises under two inches, making it an ideal option for transmen—the vast majority of sex toys are targeted at a heterosexual female audience. But unlike most other sex toys, the Transformer doesn’t differentiate between different types of anatomy—in fact, “it’s designed in a way that has no prejudices about which part of the anatomy it’s used on,” says Catney.
“It’s long enough for deep internal use, small enough for anal use, bendy enough to be wrapped around the penis, ticklish enough for the nipples, quiet enough for privacy, waterproof enough for submersible pleasure, shareable for couples and powerful enough for solo use,” she writes. “The gender or sexuality of the user are the least important factors—and that’s the point.”
Which, of course, begs the question: Is that necessarily a good thing from a user perspective? While Picobong’s utopian goal of celebrating all sexual orientations and types of anatomy is admirable, can a sex toy that purports to be able to do everything for everybody, succeed in doing the one thing it’s supposed to do—give you an orgasm? That remains to be seen, but if you’d like to find out for yourself, the Transformer is $129 on Picobong’s website.
Photo by greybeard39/Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
