Chinese millennial women stimulate growth in sex toy demand during Covid-19 lockdown, as attitudes change
- The sale of sex toys surged in China during the first half of 2020 as the pandemic kept people apart
- This reflects a shift in attitudes towards sex in a country often thought of as conservative
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Single and locked out of Beijing’s dating scene by the pandemic, Amy was encouraged by other women in online chat rooms to find a solution to her enforced abstinence – a sex toy. “Before, I felt a bit scared and embarrassed to use them,” said the 27-year-old, who did not wish to disclose her real name. “Then I discovered a new world.”
Amy now plans to expand her collection. Demand for sex toys is increasing in China, which is already the world’s biggest exporter of bedroom aids.
But it is also a product of a wider cultural shift in attitudes towards sex by a younger and more open-minded demographic.
“Quite a lot of women … who are sexually active have a very open attitude towards using sex toys,” Yi Heng, a prominent sex and relationships advice blogger, said. “They see it as very natural and normal.”
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China is more commonly associated with conservative public attitudes to sex – pornography is banned and authorities have launched periodic crackdowns on “vulgar” online content. President Xi Jinping has pushed for a “clean and righteous” cyberspace, and the Chinese government has sought to promote marriage and traditional family values as a way to revive flagging birth rates.
But China’s divorce rate reached a record high of more than 3.1 million in the first nine months of 2019 – a sign of change in societal values. As they become increasingly empowered over what they want in the bedroom, women in their 30s and younger are getting more comfortable with the idea of using sex toys.
“Sometimes they don’t find the orgasms and pleasure they really want, maybe because men’s skills in bed are not good enough,” Yi says. “Women are then perhaps more motivated to find a way to please themselves.”
China’s domestic sex toy sales lag far behind those of Western countries and Japan. Still, driven mainly by female and millennial consumers, the country’s nascent sex toy market is valued at over 100 billion yuan (US$14.7 billion), according to Chinese research firm iiMedia.
Queries for the keyword “sex toys” on the Baidu search engine surged between January and June, according to Steffi Noel, an analyst at Shanghai-based market research firm Daxue Consulting.
But the spike in domestic demand during the pandemic may not result in major long-term growth, she said. “The people who bought (sex toys) during the pandemic were mainly first-time buyers,” said Noel, and for “70 per cent” of them it will likely be a one-time purchase.
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Meanwhile, overseas demand is insatiable. China now produces 70 per cent of global exports of sex toys, Daxue Consulting said in a March report.
The surge in orders came from “France, Italy and the US”, said Noel, “mainly for vibrators and sex dolls.”
In the first half of 2020, exports jumped by 50 per cent year-on-year, Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress said, as factories raced to meet demand in a world stuck at home due to the virus.
Quite a lot of women … who are sexually active have a very open attitude towards using sex toys. They see it as very natural and normal
“We export more than 1,000 lifelike sex dolls per month … we’ve reached full production capacity,” a manager surnamed Feng at ShengYi Adult Products in Shenzhen said. The US, Germany and Japan are major destinations for dolls, which sell for nearly US$300 each. “They don’t see (sex dolls) as a taboo,” Feng said. “Now people are more open, and they don’t think these objects are very weird.”
Amy says she hopes Chinese society will gradually become more accepting of sex toys, and that their use will eventually be seen as normal. “I hope that everyone can experience this kind of happiness,” she said. “It is something you can give yourself and is very easy to acquire.”
