Looking at how this can be applied in the adult retail industry is what last week’s Retail Inclusivity panel was determined to tackle during the ANME/XBIZ show.
Moderated by Nenna Joiner from adult retail boutique Feelmore510, the panel included Raven Faber, founder and CEO of EngErotics; Josh Ortiz from XR Brands; Andy Duran, education director of the nationwide chain Good Vibrations; and Carly S., from online seller Spectrum Boutique.
Together, they represented almost 50 years in many facets of the pleasure products industry and their own personal stories of bringing diversity into the adult market world.
Faber was the most animated when talking about racial inclusion. “As a brown person, what do I see that’s missing? Where do I start? All the times I’ve walked into a retail store and they haven’t seen me: I’m brown, have two kids, and we’re glorifying the white standard of beauty: historically cisgendered, white, airbrushed; tits aren’t up here anymore, the titties landed where they landed! That’s not marketed as sexy. With EngErotics, our clients are mommas, minorities, disabilities, trans or maybe born with a deformity. When you walk into a sex shop, they’re not represented because they’re not ‘sexy.’ Whether you’re in a wheelchair, brown and so on, it doesn’t mean you don’t have needs or don’t want to feel seen.”
