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Intimate Transactions: Sex Toys and the Sexual Discourse of Second-Wave Feminism

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Abstract

This article examines customer correspondence to Eve’s Garden from women throughout the United States from 1974 to 1989 to determine how ordinary women at the height of the second-wave feminist movement grappled with fraught issues surrounding changing conceptions of sexuality. These exchanges show that feminist sex debates were incorporated into women’s everyday lives, often in terms of a conflict between sexual desires and feminist principles, providing evidence that the personal truly was political. My article shows that sex toys helped women envision their sexuality in new ways. Letters show how ordinary women struggled to take control of their sexuality by creating relationships with commercial establishments in a world awash in social and political changes. Three principal themes emerge from customer correspondence. First is that many feminists were initially skeptical that sex toys could be reconciled with feminist political beliefs. Second is the ambivalence about using an inanimate object, a machine, for sexual pleasure. And third is the complicated role of sex toys in relationships, both lesbian and straight, particularly when women desired vaginal penetration with dildos.

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Notes

  1. I extend the period to the late 1980s because the third-wave of feminism is believed to have begun in the early 1990s (Siegel 2007, p. 16, 17).

  2. The notable exception to this is Samuel Pepys, (Stengers and Van 2001, p. 36).

  3. See, Douglas (1995), pp. 245–268, Howard (2010), Frank (1998), Siegel (2007), pp. 63–68.

  4. Jan. Sale of Drugs Toilet and Manicure Goods ad, Macy’s Department Store, 26 Jan 1910, New York Times, 7.

  5. “To Explore Define and Celebrate Our Own Sexuality,” p. 6–7, 6. In Women’s Sexuality Conference Proceedings. New York: National Organization of Women, 1973.

  6. Similar to what Beth Bailey describes (2002, pp. 169–174).

  7. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 3 Apr 1975. In Customer Correspondence, Box 5, Folder 3, Dell Williams papers, #7676. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, New York (Hereafter referred to as “Williams Papers”).

  8. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 7 Feb 1985. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 3.

  9. Eve’s Garden Catalog, 1975, Sex Aids Dealers 1960–1979, Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. Indiana University. Bloomington, Indiana.

  10. Eve’s Garden Catalog, 1975, 2.

  11. Ad Proofs. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 106.

  12. Interview with Dell Williams, 9 Jan 2015.

  13. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 5 Aug 1983. Williams papers, #7676. Box 5, Folder 1.

  14. Customer to Eve’s Garden, circa 27 Mar 1986. Williams papers. Box 5, Folder 13.

  15. “Crimes Against Women: Pro Se Defense Victorious,” The Amazon Vol. 8, No. 6, Oct/Nov 1980, pp. 36–37.

  16. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 6 Nov 1975. Williams papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  17. Williams to Customer, 1 Nov 1975. Williams papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  18. Customer to Eve’s Garden, March 1984. Williams papers. Box 4, Folder 2.

  19. Customer to Eve’s Garden, April 1975. Williams papers. Box 5, Folder 1.

  20. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 21 Sept 1986. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 14.

  21. Customer to Eve’s Garden, circa 1975–1985. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 1.

  22. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 3 Apr 1975. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 3.

  23. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 9 Aug 1979. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 1.

  24. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 4 Oct 1975. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 6.

  25. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 4 Oct 1975. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 6.

  26. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 1, Aug 1976. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 3.

  27. Williams to Customer, August 1976. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 3.

  28. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 1 Aug 1976. Williams papers. Box 5, Folder 3.

  29. Customer to Eve’s Garden, circa 1975–1985. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 1.

  30. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 1976. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 4.

  31. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 8 Feb 1982. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  32. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 8 Feb 1982. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  33. William to Customer, 18 Feb 1982. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  34. Customer to Eve’s Garden, circa 14 Mar 1983. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  35. Williams to Customer, circa 14 Mar 1983. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  36. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 9 Aug 1979. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 1.

  37. Customer to Eve’s Garden, circa 1975–1985. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 1.

  38. For example, see Off Our Backs (1977, 23).

  39. Phone Interview with Dell Williams, 22 Nov 2013.

  40. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 12 Dec 1977. Williams papers. Box 5, Folder 1.

  41. Customer to Eve’s Garden, undated. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 15.

  42. See also Starrett (1974), p. 15; Fullerton (1972), p. 5.

  43. What she means by “virgin” is unclear, although from her letter she seems to defines virginity as penetrative vaginal sex. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 19 Oct 1987, 1. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  44. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 19 Oct 1987, 1. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  45. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 19 Oct 1987, 3. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  46. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 19 Oct 1987, 1.

  47. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 19 Oct 1987, 2.

  48. Williams to Customer, 30 Oct 1987. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 2.

  49. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 15 May 1988, 1. Williams Papers,. Box 5, Folder 13.

  50. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 15 May 1988, p. 1–2.

  51. Customer to Eve’s Garden, 23 July 1988, 1. Williams Papers. Box 5, Folder 6.

  52. As David Edgerton argues, “Technology has not generally been a revolutionary force” (Edgerton 2011, p. 212).

  53. Sex and the City (Season 1, Episode 8, “The Turtle and the Hare,” 1998).

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Funding

This study was funded by Cornell University’s Human Sexuality Collection Research Support Grant.

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  1. Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Hallie Lieberman

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  1. Hallie Lieberman
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Correspondence to Hallie Lieberman.

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Lieberman, H. Intimate Transactions: Sex Toys and the Sexual Discourse of Second-Wave Feminism. Sexuality & Culture 21, 96–120 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9383-9

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