Aphrodite: “Sex should be about self-love, healing, and the joy of discovery”
The Problem
Media and popular culture is currently being saturated with sex-related content in the form of music, TV, movies, social media, and other platforms such as OnlyFans. This shift towards being more open about sexuality is good, but it also places a lot of pressure on people from more conservative, guarded backgrounds to conform to the culture. This holds especially true for individuals, mostly women, who grew up socialized in “purity culture,” in which women are taught that their bodies and sexual thoughts are evil and impure. Growing up to reject bodily pleasure and sexual thoughts means that there is a lot of reframing and unlearning that is going to happen for college-aged women, and a lot of sexual talk right now is not very welcoming to that kind of growth.
Many people just don’t know how to approach it and are afraid to explore even though they do have a desire to do so. Often times, “sex positivity” can be interpreted in an uncomfortable way because of the aggressive, degrading, and crude ways that pleasure and sexuality are displayed. This tends to alienate a huge demographic of people that might otherwise be more open to exploring their sexuality, and prevents them from pursuing the many benefits that sex positivity and self-pleasure actually hold. Sexuality encompasses intimacy, sexual anatomy, reproductive rights, and emotional relationships. For young women, proper sex education is of utmost importance, especially going into college. During college years, sexual growth and exploration is often developed and can lead to vulnerabilities not previously exposed to the female undergraduate.
Misinformation prior to college years has adverse effects on the idea and implementation of female sexuality. Poor sex health education can lead to unintended pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and sexual violence. In addition, young people are at a higher risk of exposure to sexually transmitted infections, with 15–24 year olds accounting for 50% of new STI cases. The United States has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy among all industrialized countries, and it has been reported that 25% of teens have not received adequate information about abstinence before their first sexual experience. All these statistics and more point to the dangers of misinformation and the repercussions they may have. These statistics stigmatize sex, making it shameful for young people — especially women — to explore and take ownership of.
The Mission
Aphrodite aims to empower young women entering college to explore their sexuality in a comfortable and safe way at a time when sexual growth and exploration is at its highest. Our mission as a whole is to create change in an industry that is typically seen as dirty, inappropriate, and shameful, and rebrand it into something that promotes self-love, healing, and the joy of discovery.
Our flagship product, the Aphrodite subscription box, is a monthly curated package that includes sex toys, condoms, pregnancy tests, educational pamphlets, and an Aphrodite journal that provides customers the space to document their sexual journeys.
The Business Plan
Based on wholesale websites that offer discounts on large orders of sex toys, a subscription box that includes a sex toy, condoms, pregnancy tests, pamphlets, and a notebook would cost around $20, hence the monthly price of $35. More importantly, the revenue we receive with this price allows us to sustain our ability to provide high-quality, useful items to our subscribers, while still having the budget to heavily market our product.
The current market is saturated with the idea of exploring and enhancing their sexual life with a partner, but not exploring your own body. We differentiate ourselves by allowing women who have been suppressed from a healthy sexual life to explore their body and needs, while providing the tools to achieve that.
Brands that are marketing a more organic selection of sex toys are at a high price point, ranging from $50-$60 a month, something that is not affordable to female-identifying college students. With Aphrodite, we strive to work with certified wholesale companies that can still provide quality products at a better price, which leads to our monthly $35 box.
In terms of our competition, we have identified three main groups of retailers that offer products and services similar to Aphrodite, as well as their primary shortcomings: 1) “adult stores” which are oftentimes inaccessible, embarrassing, raunchy, gendered, and carry a lot of negative stigmas, 2) large online markets like Amazon, which can be very overwhelming to search through for inexperienced people, and 3) modern pleasure product companies (Dame, Crave, Maude) whose overly “sophisticated,” “minimalistic,” and “sleek” design and branding tend to intimidate and ultimately alienate less experienced, younger customers.
Contrary to other modern pleasure companies, we don’t want to limit our brand’s power to provide quality, educational content by sticking to minimalistic, sleek designs. In order to differentiate ourselves from our competition and appeal to younger, inexperienced customers, we will instead create a bright, informative, and uplifting atmosphere using the logo we design, the language we use, and the images and stories we share on our website, packaging, and social channels. We want Aphrodite to emulate the energy of a supportive and knowledgeable, yet enthusiastic and easily approachable “older sister” to young girls seeking guidance about sexual health.
In order to reach our target market of female identifying college students, Aphrodite will allocate a chunky portion of our budget for marketing purposes. Specifically, trendy social media applications like Instagram and TikTok will be integral to gaining the attention of our audience and engaging them with our story and mission. With their engagement, they can make their way to our sole channel of distribution — our website.
Once customers reach Aphrodite’s website, they can learn more about the mission of the company and look through potential items they may receive when subscribing. New customers will take a short quiz upon entering the website to help them identify the stage they are at in terms of their sexual health and wellness journey. Using this data, our website’s algorithm will inform them about different products and educational materials that might be of interest to them depending on their current stage and personal preferences. Ideally, at the end of their exploration of the website, they will add a subscription to their cart, check out, and receive our monthly curated subscription box. While the customer is able to cancel their subscription at any time, Aphrodite hopes that the constant presence of sexual well-being and health, as well as the discovery of new products each month, will incentivize subscribers to stay with our company for an extended period of time.
The Impact
Exploring one’s sexuality can be most difficult for women, especially those who grew up in conservative cultures. This all comes to a head during one’s most typically formative years: college. Current sex culture and the way sex is depicted in society makes the sexual learning process for these women even more difficult. Aphrodite’s impact is becoming that space and opportunity for these young women to learn and engage with their own sexuality in a safe, healthy, and educative way.
Through Aphrodite, we hope that she who was taught to reject sexual thought learns about the true power and beauty of sexual health and wellness. We hope that she who was taught that sex is solely for the pleasure of men discovers the world of her own bodily pleasure. We hope that she who did not have access to proper sex education in school finds knowledge and helpful information from the many sex resources that we provide. Through Aphrodite, we hope that people relearn and rediscover sex.
