Funding Women’s Reproductive Health via Sex Toys
We’ve all heard the old cliché — it’s a man’s world — and the current climate in this country and around the globe only emphasizes that brute reality. Access to reproductive healthcare services is under near constant attack and rape culture relegates women to the role of inanimate receptacle into which men can freely empty their sexual desires, no matter how unwanted. We aren’t expected or encouraged to be sexual beings in our own right, and any talk of sex is always centered on men. How can we best attract, please, and keep a man? Are we wearing enough makeup? Too much? Are we at risk of turning him off by voicing our opinions too strongly? Even when considering something as simple as an ad for women’s underwear, the clear audience is men. Women don’t need to see each other scantily clad and contorted into unnecessarily suggestive positions to appreciate a bra and panty set. We’re here for men’s gratification, society assures us, and even our own sexuality is ultimately theirs to define and enjoy.
But the owners of Knotty Vibes are here to change all of that with a bold mission of empowering women through the sale of sex toys.
Yeah, you heard me. Sex toys.
Hear me out.
Just like most advertising for panties and bras aren’t really targeted towards the group of people who actually buy and wear them, the same can be said for the advertising of vibrators and other sex toys ostensibly created for women. It gets turned into yet another over the top fantasy for men, with women merely present to play the tired old role of repository for all of that pent up male desire. All of this just reinforces society’s message that women are there for male entertainment, even when the product advertised should be one for female enjoyment alone.
In case you haven’t noticed, society is undergoing a rapid change, and the patriarchy is taking a direct and focused hit. Part of that change involves women claiming ownership over their own sexuality.
This is where Knotty Vibes comes in.
Sheila and Courtney, best friends and cofounders of this innovative company, were both raised in devoutly religious environments that didn’t encourage discussions involving traditionally taboo and blush worthy subjects like sex. It was only after emerging from their sheltered households to attend college that these budding entrepreneurs began to understand the value of empowering women by giving them the key to their own sexual freedom. Ultimately, that meant being able to access the myriad wonders of sexual pleasure without depending on a man to provide it. These enterprising ladies envisioned a company that would tailor its message to appeal only to women, empowering them by putting the control of their own sexual pleasure at their fingertips, literally.
But the sale of reasonably priced sex toys geared solely towards women is only part of this company’s reason for being. Giving back to the community is also a crucial component of their business model, and it took a jarring personal experience to set the stage for the development of the second aspect of the company’s mission.
After enduring a miscarriage in 2017 and undergoing medical treatment that came with a twenty five thousand dollar price tag, Sheila realized how lucky she was to have comprehensive medical insurance. Without that coverage, she would have been financially devastated. This understanding naturally led to a decision to turn her personal struggle into one that would benefit other women who were not so lucky. It was in this way that the mission of Knotty Vibes expanded to include ensuring access to reproductive services. Without this access to basic healthcare, women can’t be said to truly have control over their own lives and bodies, which leaves them at a grave disadvantage in society. Unfortunately, organizations like Planned Parenthood are in constant danger of losing the funding necessary to provide medical care to millions of women in need. In light of these challenges, Sheila and Courtney agreed that the best way to support and empower women was by donating a portion of each order to a variety of organizations working to provide much needed care to women across the globe.
By partnering with the Pledgling Organization, customers purchasing products on Knotty Vibes have the ability to choose where their donation dollars end up. If they don’t make a choice when processing their payment, that money is split equally between twelve specific organizations — Equality Now, Global Fund for Women, Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network, Inc., League of Women Voters Education Fund, MS Foundation for Women, Partners in Health, Planned Parenthood, Robert R. Frank Student Run Free Clinic, Sexual Health Innovations, Women Helping Women, Women of Power Empowering Women, and WomenOne. All of these groups are doing critical work to improve the lives of women in all walks of life. Inequity in the access of healthcare is one definite way to deny impoverished women upward mobility in society. By leveling the playing field, these nonprofits are giving women a say in what happens in their own lives.
But it’s not just through donation dollars that Knotty Vibes is giving all our sisters a much needed leg up. The company also offers free sex toys to women who can’t afford to purchase them. Ownership of one’s sexual enjoyment equals freedom, and it should be accessible to every woman, regardless of her race or socioeconomic status.
The world is changing, and that means the way we think about things like sexual agency need to change right along with it. Women have a right to fully enjoy their own bodies just as men have done for centuries. That means having access to the full range of reproductive healthcare and feeling free to experience sexual pleasure without shame. Knotty Vibes has found a way to create a business model centered around the elevation of women, truly liberating them by removing the taboo shrouding female sexual pleasure while, at the same time, supporting organizations that provide the full range of reproductive and general healthcare services. Sole decision making power over our own bodies really turns women on. Freedom is sexy, and in this brave new world, empowered women are the wave of the future.
