It’s hard to remember a time when sex wasn’t talked about as openly as it is today, and yet it really wasn’t all that long ago when any indication of sexual behavior which deviated from societal norms was met with disapproval, censure, and far worse. And even though we undoubtedly have a long way to go in terms of guaranteeing the rights for and acceptance of people who fall outside of our still dominantly heteronormative and patriarchal culture, it’s pretty great that people aren’t shamed these days for talking about things like sex toys. Hell, Broad City even had a whole episode devoted to pegging! What a time to be alive.

And yet, even if vibrators have long since left the realm of forbidden secrets, and everyone and their mother (and even their mother’s mother) is all too familiar with the language of BDSM thanks to the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey, the fact is that many people still don’t necessarily know where to begin when it comes to shopping for sex toys for themselves, for their partners, or both. Plus, because so much sex toy shopping now takes place solely on the internet (along with other shopping, and, like, all of our lived experiences, basically), it can feel overwhelming for the average sex toy virgin who can’t just go into the old mom-and-pop sex toy shop that every Main Street used to have. Well, okay, maybe not on every Main Street, but there did used to be more brick-and-mortar sex stores, which were problematic in their own ways, but did offer the potential for a more, shall we say, hands-on consumer experience.

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