In this final episode of the series, I talk with sex tech founder, Stephanie Alys, about the changing landscape of sex tech… Join us as we discuss how a focus on sensuality and pleasure is helping to re-orient the industry, and redefining some of the ways in which we seek out and experience our sexual selves.
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About Stephanie
Stephanie Alys is the Co-founder and Chief Pleasure Officer (CPO) of MysteryVibe, an award-winning British pleasure brand that designs amazing toys, and focuses on changing perceptions around pleasure in a positive, empowering way.
A strong advocate that pleasure is a beautiful part of the human experience, and fundamental to our happiness, Stephanie is MysteryVibe’s spokesperson on the role of technology within sex and relationships.
She has been featured in major publications such as the BBC, The Times, Guardian, Economist, CNBC, TechCrunch and WIRED and regularly appears as a keynote speaker on international stages.
1. What’s your greatest concern for the future?
That we move back to some kind of Handmaid’s Tale kind of scenario. That’s my greatest fear. For me I think, over the last few years especially we’ve really been opening up conversations, and my greatest fear would be that those are shut down. Because I think we need more open, honest conversations and more opportunity to find information. So censorship is something that I am increasingly being concerned about.
Whether that’s on a big scale, for example, an organisation like Patreon which helps a lot of people earn money for content that they are doing, shutting down sex workers and sex bloggers from Sester Foster? and some of the controversy around those pieces of legislation, to even things like shadow banning content on social networks. I think there’s a lot to think about when it comes to censorship and shutting down conversations rather than opening them up.
2. What’s your greatest hope?
I would love to see sensuality being incorporated into more sex-related stuff. I think conversations, products, sometimes we focus too much on the penetration. I would love to create more technology that allows us to be intimate over distance and not just over Skype.
3. What single action can we take right now?
I would say that the single action would be, whether you’re with yourself or with a partner, instead of asking things like “What can I do?” ask things like “How do you want me to make you feel?”, so start focusing on sensation and focus on what feels good, rather than specific actions.
Find out more
Twitter @StephanieAlys
Websites stephaniealys.com / mysteryvibe.com
Written, recorded & produced by Nathalie Nahai © 2018.
