Articles by Julia Margo

opinion

What Pleasure Brands Can Learn From Gen Z's Approach to Sex

The most shocking thing I’ve read about sex recently was in the autobiography of the late Matthew Perry, where the “Friends” star cheerfully admitted there was a time in his life when his penis didn’t work for many years.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Examining How Sexual Cultural Differences Drive Sales Globally

Are the French really the world’s best lovers, or is that just what the movies make us think? Does the old adage “No sex please, we’re British” still apply, or has the U.K. become a bit more “Ooh, Matron!” in a post-Victorian world?

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Misguided Notions: A Look at How Vulvas Have Been Misunderstood Throughout History

When the U.K. cervical cancer charity Jo’s Trust recently included the term “bonus hole” in a glossary of language relating to trans and nonbinary people, as an “alternative word for the vagina,” it sparked fervent online backlash.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Circumventing Unfair Advertising Standards Against the Pleasure Industry

In 1964, a cinema owner was prosecuted for obscenity for showing Louis Malle’s “The Lovers.” The case became sensationalized news and went all the way to the Supreme Court. This led to Justice Potter Stewart nebulously defining “hard-core pornography” by originating the infamous phrase “I know it when I see it.”

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Sex Is a Part of Life, So Why Is Silicon Valley So Afraid of It?

Sex is a fundamental part of life. That ought to be an uncontroversial statement. Yet my experience as co-founder of a sex tech brand with a mission to destigmatize sex and pleasure is that we have entered a new era of censorship.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Stats You Need to Know to Get Your Business on the Road to Inclusivity

Over the past months, my team and I have been writing about disability and business — why it matters, why the time is now, and most crucially, why it can and will benefit your bottom line to be inclusive.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

A Look at the Real-World Negative Effects of Excluding Disability From Marketing

Sexual experience and pleasure are fundamental human rights, and it should be the industry’s mission to bring those human rights to those who are traditionally excluded not just from the physical act of masturbation, but from the conversation itself.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Is Your Inclusivity Agenda as Inclusive as You Think?

You’d have to have your head in the clouds not to notice that inclusivity is the new diversity in business. And that’s a great thing — not only for the affected communities, but also for profitability.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Why Overlooking Disabilities Is Bad for Business

As a manufacturer, our objective has always been twofold — firstly, to create unique sex toys that celebrate every body; and secondly, to make money.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

How Stereotypes in Marketing Prevail, Reject Inclusivity

It’s important to speak difficult truths, so today I want to tackle the trickiest truth of all: you sell more product in the short-term if you abandon inclusivity.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

What the U.K. Government Can Learn From Sexperts

Perhaps one of the strangest things I saw in the U.K. in the last month was a conversation about the “casual sex ban” that’s in place here thanks to coronavirus.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Has Lockdown Helped to Ease Masturbation Stigma?

Lockdown loving has been a hot topic over the last few months, with articles about keeping your sex life alive when you’re stuck in close quarters.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Bringing ‘Tech’ Into Sex Helps Us Break Out of the ‘Adult’ Silo

After initially seeming like a welcoming environment for adult innovations, last year CES was embroiled in scandal after it gave an innovation award to sex toy company Lora DiCarlo, and then swiftly took the award away.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Why Do People Feel the Need to Hide Their Adult-Related Career Past?

Were you to switch away from the adult industry, how much detail about your current work would make it to your CV?

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Women’s Bodies Aren’t Inappropriate — Sex Stigma Is

A challenge for you: can you think of a sex-related topic that is no longer stigmatized at all? Is there any type of sexual pleasure, partnered or solo, which doesn’t have any stigma attached?

Julia Margo ·
opinion

How Can We Make Sex Talk Easier?

Have you ever played the word game, Taboo? The idea is that you have to get your teammates to guess a word that’s written on your card.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

What Does the FDA’s Approval of Female Sex Pill Vyleesi Mean for Pleasure Product Biz?

We talk about erectile dysfunction a lot. As Dame Products recently highlighted by suing the MTA, we are so comfortable talking about erectile dysfunction that ads for erection pills are allowed on the subway...

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Why Twitter Needs to Learn the Meaning of ‘Consent’

There are quite a lot of penises in my Twitter timeline. And breasts, and vulvas, and plenty of animated gifs of people having a sexy time together.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

The Problem With Ageism in Advertisements

As those of you familiar with our brand Hot Octopuss will know, we are based in London. According to census data, around 28 percent of London’s population is over 50 years old.

Julia Margo ·
opinion

Making Sense of Reddit’s Ban on Sex Toy Ads

It’s 2019 — do we really still think masturbation is somehow dirty or evil? Reddit appears to, as it announced last month that it will no longer accept advertisements for sex toys on its platform.

Julia Margo ·
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