Women. Drunk women. Drunk, screaming women passing around a vibrator. The scene sounds like a “Girls Gone Wild” video, but in actuality, it is a scene that has become more and more common among ordinary women.
While mothers and grandmothers had Tupperware and Mary Kay parties, sex toy parties are the growing fad of the millennium.
Groups of people get together in someone’s home and are introduced to an array of sexual toys. They have the opportunity to handle all of the toys to get an idea of the feeling they provide, and afterwards, partiers are given the opportunity to buy some of the featured products.
Dawn Hubbell, manager of outside sales for The Garden – a specialty store for adults- is in charge of arranging sex toy parties for the store.
“For two years I have been a professional smut peddler,” said Hubbell, a full-time student at spa school. “I’m all about self-pleasure – facials during the day and sell dildos at night,” she said. “I just like to help people.”
For a fee of $25, Hubbell provides a three-hour presentation in which she introduces an array of vibrators, lubricants, books and videos. She caters the products to the needs of the audience.
Party hosts range from sorority houses to bachelorette parties, but the most common hosts are married couples in their late 30s or early 40s, Hubbell said. Sometimes, a sex toy party can come as a surprise.
“(One group of couples) went out to dinner and were told they were going to go back to their house, but I was there,” she said. “This lady was a riot, she actually bought four $50 gift certificates and gave one to each of the couples,” Hubbell said. “She was like, ‘That way, they’re going to have to buy something.’ “
Many party-goers are embarrassed or think the parties are jokes. “A lot of the times, the people are still shy because they don’t actually buy toys,” she said. “The younger they are, the shyer they are.”
Jenny Nogle, a junior in psychology, was a guest at a party that she attended with her friend and boyfriend’s mom. “It was fun but a little weird because we were there with a bunch of older ladies,” Nogle said.
To ease any apprehensions, Hubbell tries to make the transactions in a separate room so the people may maintain their privacy. She also uses humor as an ice breaker.
As in any party setting, alcohol is often a factor, though it is up to the host to provide it. This pleases Hubbell, who said Jell-O shots are very common at the parties.
“I want them nice and loosened up,” Hubbell said of the guests.
The Garden’s profits range from $200 -$400 per party, of which Hubbell makes 20 percent.
While most of the parties take place in the host’s living room, Hubbell has had to improvise in some very limited spaces.
While frequently thrown for couples, sex toy parties have proven to be most popular among women and though she has not given a party for an all-male crowd, Hubbell said she is not averse to the idea.
Formats for the parties vary. Some offer games, while others may offer themes. Hubbell does not include games as part of her presentation. “I bring so much stuff with me, and the girls are asking me questions,” she said. “I don’t even have time for all that. They have fun regardless.”
The parties originated in the late 1980s because women did not want to go into stores to buy sexual products for themselves, Hubbell said.
Hubbell proved to be an exhibitionist before her days as a party leader. At her first sex toy party she surprised her fellow partiers with her openness. “We were all bringing food and I made a great big penis cookie, with dribbled icing,” she said. The cookie was the cause of a lot of flak. “I was like, ‘It’s a sex toy party, lighten up girls,’ ” Hubbell said.
Hubbell often brings notebooks so the participants can take notes on the information. “It’s like the true sex ed,” she said.
Popular sellers at the parties include special lubricants and Stamina rx, an herbal Viagara, Hubbell said. “We went to a party with the $100 vibrator. It does 100 different things. We all know that it’s not physically possible for a man to do what this vibrator does.”
Hubbell said her help is appreciated by the guests at the parties.
“A guy introduced me to his girlfriend, and she was like, ‘You’re the one that sold wireless remote panties to my boyfriend,’ and she kissed me.” Hubbell said.
Adam Strait, a graduate student in medicine, has not attended a party but has reaped the benefits after his girlfriend attended one.
“She bought a back massager, a personal lady finger and vibrating metal balls,” he said. Strait said he would be willing to go to a sex toy party under the right circumstances. “It depends on the ratio of girls to guys,” he said.
