Future of Sex
tagline
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Designers Unveil Wildly Creative Fashions for Pandemic Living

  • This Stroker Gives Female-like Orgasms to Trans People and Men

  • Lora DiCarlo Responds to WOW Tech Group’s ‘Pleasure Air Technology’ Patent Claims

  • Sex Tech in 2021: What Industry Leaders Expect in the Year Ahead

  • VDOM’s ‘Cyber Penis’ Evolves Wearable Sex Tech for All Genders

  • When Will Male Sex Toys Go Mainstream?

  • The ‘Virtual Girlfriend’ Experience: AI Love Doll Sends Racy Pics and Texts

  • Touching Issues: Are COVID-19 Virtual Relationships Doomed to Fail?

Future of Sex is supported by our readers. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Home > Sex Tech > ‘Approved, Not Approved’ Protests Blatant Sexism Against Women’s Sex Tech Advertising

Sex Tech
Home›Sex Tech›‘Approved, Not Approved’ Protests Blatant Sexism Against Women’s Sex Tech Advertising

‘Approved, Not Approved’ Protests Blatant Sexism Against Women’s Sex Tech Advertising

By M. Christian
August 24, 2019
1088
3

Two female-led sex tech companies lead the fight for equality.

Why is it, with 2020 right around the corner and so many ground-breaking technological innovations happening practically every day, are we still having to wage so many battles for the basic right for women to be treated fairly?

This disregard for equality is especially glaring when the women involved own and operate businesses that are all about a woman’s right to sexual pleasure.

Sexism on the subway

Case in point, an alarming example of this clear bias that recently came up in New York.

The story first begins with Unbound, a female-owned and operated sex tech company, that wanted to place ads for their products with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which oversees buses, trains, and subways throughout the New York area.

According to the New York Times, at first Outfront Media, which handles ad placement for the MTA, was more than willing to work with Unbound on its ads.

Hearing of this potentially positive development for sex tech companies, Dame, founded and operated by Janet Lieberman and Alex Fine, also approached Outfront Media to possibly get ads placed.

Then things took a turn for the worst.

After more than a few back and forths with the agency over potential ads, Dame received an email claiming the MTA was revising its advertising guidelines: the upshot is that they would not, at all, accept an ad“that promotes a ‘sexually oriented business,’ and advertisements for sex toys or devices for any gender fall within this category.”

But what about Unbound? Well, the news there wasn’t much better. After the MTA publicly said it would work with them to get ads approved, the MTA began to demand Unbound make change after change.

The breaking point for Unbound was the MTA’s clear and obvious hypocrisy, especially in light of its willingness to allow sexually evocative ads for other products and services.

A ridiculous double standard

Speaking to Vice, Polly Rodriguez, Unbound’s CEO and co-founder said of the situation:

Because of their unwillingness to change the policies and the ridiculous double standard regarding phallic imagery (see: Hims ads), we did not move forward and the ads we submitted were never approved.

Insult to injury, and further evidence that the decision not to allow the ads was purely sexist is that the mentioned Hims ads—dealing with erectile dysfunction—had no problem getting approved.

View this post on Instagram

Think your beliefs about what’s “appropriate” line up with advertising gatekeepers? Test the logic – link in bio. #ApprovedNotApproved

A post shared by Approved Not Approved (@approvednotapproved) on Jul 30, 2019 at 10:35am PDT

#ApprovedNotApproved

Dame, meanwhile, received their own letter from the MTA that did nothing but add fuel to the fire.

In a different Vice article, Alex Fine from that company reported that she’d been forwarded a letter addressed to Outfront from MTA’s Chief

Development Officer, John Lieber, stating:

After a careful review, the MTA determined that the proposed ads promote a sexually oriented business, which has long been prohibited by the MTA’s advertising standards.

Fine further pointed out that these decisions were clearly sexist, a telling sign that everyone she dealt with at the MTA were men: “The MTA platform favors male-run organizations that tackle sexual health with a male-centered lens,” she further told Vice.

But after all this, there is actually some good news. No, the MTA didn’t do the right thing and become a responsible and inclusive business but their laughably obvious sexism did do one right thing: they rightfully pissed off some very determined women.

#DerailSexism

Dame and Unbound did not take the situation with the MTA laying down. First, Dame sued the MTA—publicizing the suit with the #DerailSexism hashtag on their social media.

As noted by another New York Times article, their suit and Alex Fine’s statement about it and the situation, became a powerful call to arms against this kind of biased behavior on the part of advertisers:

What we allow in advertising validates certain scripts and devalues others. When Facebook or the MTA allow erectile dysfunction medication to advertise, they are saying ‘this is a necessary product that you should feel entitled to.’ On the contrary, when they ban our ads, or Unbound’s, we are subtly encouraging sex, but not pleasurable sex. Most people don't know that advertisements are censored, that the people who have dedicated their lives to improving sex are being silenced. If we can't tell you that sex is supposed to pleasurable… who will? I think this ad regulations build the container for larger issues, including sexual discrimination and harassment.

Fine further points out the financial ramifications of the MTA’s bias, asking in the suit to be reimbursed for money used on the campaign and, more importantly, a clear explanation from the MTA for their actions.

We’re a female-owned, majority-minority company […] contributing to New York’s tax base while employing women and minorities in STEM positions. A great deal of time and money was spent responding and bending to your direct feedback […] If your agency claims to help the small business women of the Empire State, then we would love to understand your reasoning behind this exhausti[ng] and abortive review process.

Approved, Not Approved

But Dame and Unbound were far from done with this issue—not by a longshot.

Partnering up, they created Approved, Not Approved: an interactive site that calls attention to advertising’s double standard by asking viewers to view a series of real and potential ads and try to guess which ones were, you guessed it, approved or not approved.

While deceptively simple, the site is, in reality, a powerful statement: each image is shown with the frustrating explanation of why or why not each ad was allowed to run, perfectly highlighting that there are no real guidelines or consistency behind any of them—aside from their sexism and bias against female sexuality.

Calling out Facebook

But Unbound and Dame aren’t just going after the MTA. Another well-deserved target is the social media monster that’s Facebook; with their own accepted and rejected ads appearing on the “approved, not approved” site to show that this problem is hardly limited to just one company.

Part of their activism also included bringing their “approved, not approved” message to the streets of New York, where they asked Gothamites to play their game, resulting in many people being clearly outraged by the bias taking place.

They also recently brought their message to the front door of Facebook itself, their protest launching these sex tech entrepreneurs further into the spotlight.

Talking to Business Insider, Alex Fine said of Dame that they’ve “proven that people are interested in what we've created, yet this third variable, these advertising platforms … have impacted the business. They have a bias towards sexuality in general, and then more specifically to female sexuality.”

Polly Rodriguez of Unbound echoed this, adding that the issue is larger than the financial ramifications in that Facebook needs to step up and do the right thing:

MeToo took place in a big way on their platform. They have a moral responsibility to take action on that movement and figure out how they can team with voices in these communities to allow users to engage in the counter narrative.

Where from here?

Meanwhile, Facebook and the MTA have stayed silent on the issue, which is practically an admission that they will continue to remain part of the problem: continuing to drag back sexual equality and the right to female pleasure through their silence.

Fine and Rodriguez’s are being far from quiet, however. “Approved Not Approved” is still going strong, their battle with sex and female bias in adverting placement being covered by many more major news outlets.

That this is still an issue shows that, despite our technological advancements, we have a long, long way to go before our sense of social responsibility catches up.

And if we ever do get there it will be through the power and dedication of women like Fine and Rodriguez, plus the other innovative women-founded and run sex tech businesses out there, who continue to fight for what’s right—and equal.

Image sources: Unbound, Approved, Not Approved

M. Christian

M.Christian loves nothing better than exploring the intersections of sex and technology—and speculating on the future of both. A highly regarded erotica writer he has six novels,12 collections,100+ short stories, and 25 anthologies as an editor to his name. His non-fiction regularly appears n many sites, but he’s most proud of being a regular contributor to Future of Sex.

Of his erotic fiction, Tristan Taormino said that “M.Christian is a literary stylist of the highest caliber: smart, funny, frightening, sexy—there's nothing he can't write about … and brilliantly.”

Reflecting his unique ability to sympathetically and convincingly write for a range of genders and sexual orientations, his stories have appeared in multiple editions of Best American Erotica, Best Gay Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, The Mammoth Books of Erotica, and others. His collection of gay erotic fiction, Dirty Words, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

While a majority of his stories have been collected into books like Dirty Words, his fondness for combining sex and science fiction is clearly evident in collections that include Rude Mechanicals, Technorotica, Better Than The Real Thing, Skin Effect Effect, Bachelor Machine, and Hard Drive: The Best Sci-Fi Erotica of M.Christian.

As a novelist, M.Christian’s versatility is on full display with and the somewhat controversial queer BDSM/horror/thrillers Finger's Breadth, and Me2.

M.Christian has worked on the industry’s production side as an Associate Publisher for Renaissance E Books and as a Publisher for Digital Parchment Services. The latter dedicated to celebrating the works of science-fiction legends such as William Rotsler, Jerome Bixby, Jody Scott, Arthur Byron Cover, Ernest Hogan, and James Van Hise.

Covering topics like BDSM safety, sexual education, senior sexuality concerns, queer and gender issues, plus reviewing a variety of sextech products, M.Christian’s non-fiction has appeared on sites like Kinkly, Tickle.Life, Sexpert, Queer Majority, Sex for Every Body, and—of course—his ongoing work for Future of Sex.

If there’s anything M.Christian enjoys more than writing, it’s teaching. A featured presenter, sometimes with his friend Ralph Greco Jr, at national sex and BDSM events, he’s lectured on kink play (with an emphasis on safety), polyamory, boosting sexual creativity, and erotica writing--for beginners or those wanting to go pro.

M.Christian is a cohost on two popular sex-education podcasts: Love’s Outer Limits with Dr. Amy Marsh and Licking Non-Vanilla with Ralph Greco, Jr.

M.Christian's Books (Sizzler Editions)
M.Christian's Audiobooks
Previous Article

We Are Going to Fall in Love ...

Next Article

Esthesia Review: G-spot Vibrator Caters to Many ...

Related articles More from author

  • email marketing companies
    Sex Tech

    4 Email Newsletter Services That Won’t Ban You for Adult Content

    February 16, 2020
    By Margaret Andersen
  • Sex Tech

    Meet Ava, a Fertility Tracking Bracelet

    June 27, 2017
    By M. Christian
  • Sexual Wellbeing
    Sex Tech

    5 Sexual Wellness Brands to Watch in 2020

    March 1, 2020
    By Eva Duncanson
  • Taylor Sparks of Sisters of Sexuality Collective
    Sex Tech

    How Womxn of Color-run Collectives Are Disrupting Sextech

    September 7, 2020
    By Valerie Elefante
  • Improving Womens Mental Health
    Sex Tech

    How Sex Tech Is Improving Women’s Mental Health

    November 22, 2019
    By M. Christian
  • Sex Tech

    Male Sex Tech Shows Progress with Neurostimulation and Gamification

    February 15, 2020
    By Marcus K. Dowling

  • Dating & Relationships

    How to Get into Swinging: 5 Tips for Beginners

  • Dating & Relationships

    Why Are So Many People Faking Orgasms?

  • Cindy Gallop
    Sex Tech

    Cindy Gallop Tells Sex Tech Brands to ‘Take Yourself Out of the Shadows’ Despite Threat of Online Censorship

  • TOP REVIEWS

  • Realistic Sex Games

    Review of the Best Most Realistic Sex Games You Can Play [UPDATED]

    0
  • Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    Review of the Best Massively Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    0
  • Sex Games for Mac

    The Best Sex Games for Mac

    0
  • Best Sex Game Apps for Couples

    The Best Sex Game Apps for Couples for 2020 [Updated]

    0
  • The Best RPG Sex Games of 2020

    0

Like Us on Facebook

Latest Tweets

  • "Last year showed how important it is to maintain health and emotional balance and it couldn't be a better time to… https://t.co/9lAnFDeCMl

    6 hours ago
  • Wildly creative designers unveil unique and outlandish fashions made to keep you safe while still getting your haut… https://t.co/J6MHqmrhF7

    13 hours ago
  • The new Ion stroker from @Arcwaveofficial excites pleasure receptors in the frenulum to give the sensation of femal… https://t.co/r6DjPo3Flr

    16 hours ago
  • In a press statement, @LoraDiCarlo_HQ denies claims of patent infringement, alleging the aim of WOW Tech Group's la… https://t.co/9en8yormEy

    Jan 16, 2021
  • Expert insights on #sextech in 2021: *Jeff Bennett/@MedicalMorari *Dema Tio/@Vibease *Angelina Aleksandrovich/… https://t.co/xK2Sm1VY1u

    Jan 15, 2021
Follow @futureofsex

Follow us

  • Home
  • About
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contribute
  • Story Ideas?
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© 2011 - 2020 Future Exploration Network
This website or its third-party tools use cookies to improve user experience and track affiliate sales. To learn more about why we need to use cookies, please refer to the Privacy Policy.

By clicking the agree button or continuing to browse through the website, you agree to the use of cookies. Accept Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary