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
  • Securing Sextech: The Importance of Keeping Your Private Life—Private

  • Where the Boys Aren’t: Sextech, Star Power, and the Sound of Male Silence

  • The Real Deal: Deepfake Sex Sites Going, Going—Gone?

  • More To Love: North American, European, And Australian Polyamory Support Groups

  • A Day to Come: Imaging What Your Sexlife Might Be Like in the Not-To-Distant Future

  • Arms Enough for Love: The Erotic Possibilities Extra Limbs, More Thumbs May Hand Us

  • Hot Times Ahead: Tomorrow’s Male Contraceptives May Be More About Temperature, Less About Drugs

  • This Bot’s in Love With You—Sincerely or Merely a Revenue Strategy?

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 > Q & A: How Estrella Jaramillo Is Taking Women’s Sexual Health Out of the Shadows

Sex Tech
Home›Sex Tech›Q & A: How Estrella Jaramillo Is Taking Women’s Sexual Health Out of the Shadows

Q & A: How Estrella Jaramillo Is Taking Women’s Sexual Health Out of the Shadows

By Jenna Owsianik
August 18, 2018
4681
1

The sex tech expert gets candid about her journey in the industry.

Estrella Jaramillo of B-wom, a sexual health app for women, stands with long brown hair and tanned skin.

Research shows 30% of women experience pain during sexual intercourse. What’s worse is that many of them don’t tell their partners when it hurts, making it nearly impossible to fix any underlying problems.

The state of medical research and its unbalanced focus on male sexual pleasure over female sexual pain doesn’t help either. A recent review of PubMed revealed there are nearly five times more clinical studies on erectile dysfunction than painful conditions affecting women’s sex lives. It’s about time the health community started taking women’s sexual health more seriously.

But where it has failed, sex tech expert Estrella Jaramillo has stepped in. After growing up in the south of Spain, she eventually moved to Madrid and began working in the field of women’s health, maternity, and social entrepreneurship. Upon meeting likeminded friends similarly concerned about the lack of focus on women’s sexual health, together they launched the B-wom app.

I spoke with Estrella over email to learn more about what’s inspired her to take this entrepreneurial journey, as well as the personal and outside challenges she’s battled along the way.

If you are comfortable doing so, can you share more about the trauma you experienced in the health system and how that has informed your work now?

Estrella: The truth is that it was a series of disappointing intimate and sexual health-related experiences that made it very clear to me that: (1) Our approach to health needs to change drastically, and (2) Women’s health, particularly sexual health, has been neglected for far too long.

Also, I found it extremely frustrating to experience how women’s sexuality is suppressed and judged negatively by society, while it is encouraged in men. So approaching gender equality from the perspective of helping women feel healthy and comfortable in their bodies and sexual health just fuels my passion every day.

What does B-wom do and when did you start the company?

Estrella: B-wom is a digital coach that offers personalized programs for women’s intimate and sexual health. Our users take a test and receive an evaluation and a personalized care program with habits, guided pelvic floor exercises, tips, actionable recommendations, educational contents addressing their needs, and a tracking tool to see the evolution.

For instance, if you are experiencing discomfort during sex, besides suggesting seeing a specialist, we would provide you with daily tips and exercises to improve your symptoms, and you can track whether sex is painful or pleasurable and when. You can learn a lot about yourself by tracking and understanding your symptoms.

We launched in the summer of 2015 in Spain, then expanded to South America, then to North America because we saw a great response from the market. And then I came to the US!

A woman's hands hold a smartphone that has the B-wom app open showing a woman doing excercise.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced starting a sex tech company?

Estrella: As with any startup venture, there’s no shortage of challenges! There’s still a lot of awareness raising to be done about these women’s health issues, their causes and how to prevent. But especially we need to understand that they matter. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” mentality around sex is not working, so we need to have a conversation.

We want all women to be in charge of their health and to feel good. We want sexual health to be taken seriously: better sex ed from an earlier age, better support for the woman during her postpartum recovery so that she can have a fulfilling sexual life after having babies, and better solutions for the menopause period.

I constantly have to explain that we don’t work with a niche public, that all women experience some of the problems we help with at different points of their lives, they just don’t feel invited to discuss them or are told that there aren’t solutions.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned and do you have any advice for others trying to get into sex tech?

Estrella: First, don’t let anyone try to convince you that what you are doing is not solving a pain that people are waiting to get a solution for. I’ve heard this even 200k users in.

Secondly, become comfortable with the fact that your discourse will make others uncomfortable—that is ok.
And last, but not least, fasten your seatbelts!

What keeps you up at night?

Estrella: Currently, too many things. First of all, I’m getting more involved in doing advocacy for better maternal and birth care, because women are still dying during childbirth (especially women of color), when most deaths could be prevented.

Secondly, pushing the conversation of gender equality: There is still too much to do. Women are still judged negatively by society if they are assertive. They are still judged based on their expressing their sexuality. The fact that people don’t say certain things out loud anymore, doesn’t mean that we are being evaluated by the same standard. And also, just offering people better preventive and continued care that is affordable.

What has been the biggest surprise you’ve encountered working in sex tech? Or did any preconceptions you may have held about the space get shattered?

Estrella: Honestly, the biggest surprise was probably to discover my own limiting beliefs. It’s been a journey, and it’s been overwhelming at times but one of the most enriching experiences I’ve had. I didn’t have any pre-existing beliefs about the sex tech community, but I definitely was happy to discover that is full of pretty special people.

Every founder of a sex tech company, from Mia Davis (TalkTabú), Suzanne Sinatra (Private Packs), Alex Fine (Dame Products), Polly Claire (Unbound) …They all are trying to help people, and specifically many women, feel sexually empowered, and ultimately this means feeling included, supported and accepted, independently of how you chose to experience your sexuality.

Image sources: Estrella Jaramillio/B-wom

Jenna Owsianik

Jenna Owsianik is a Canadian journalist and sex tech expert. Since 2014 she has been Editor-in-Chief of FutureofSex.net, the world’s leading publication on how technology is changing human sexuality, today and tomorrow.

Jenna is the primary author of the Future of Sex Report (2016).

Her expertise covers state-of-the-art sex technologies and the major fields driving innovations in intimacy: robotics, virtual reality, remote sex (teledildonics), immersive adult entertainment, human augmentation, virtual sex, and sexual health.

A trained journalist with a Masters of Journalism from The University of British Columbia, Jenna’s reporting has appeared on Futurism.com, Al Jazeera English, CTV British Columbia online, CBS Sunday Morning, CBS 60 Minutes, Global News, and CKNW Radio in Canada and the United States.

As a sex tech industry consultant, she is especially passionate about helping companies deliver accessible services and products to people with disabilities and other underserved communities.

Jenna also runs the sites SexforEveryBody.com, a sex-positive, body-positive online magazine that promotes inclusive sex education; and DisabledSexGuide.com, an adult resource on sex, disability, and erotica.

In 2013, Jenna won two Canadian Online Publishing Awards for her work on The Pain Project, a multimedia site on global access to palliative care.

She won second place at the 2011 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism’s Public Health category for her participation in the documentary Freedom From Pain.

Jenna has an Honors BA in Women’s Studies and Feminist Research as well as a French minor from The University of Western Ontario. She spent a year studying at L’Université Lumière Lyon 2 in Lyon, France.
Previous Article

The Hidden World of Online Kink Communities

Next Article

Money, Sex and Power: Can Sex Tech ...

Related articles More from author

  • AugmentationSex Tech

    The Future of Birth Control: Implants and Reimagining the Condom

    May 20, 2016
    By M. Christian
  • velvet thruster lilac
    Sex Tech

    High-Tech Sex Toys: Origins from Ancient Dildos and Classic Vibrators

    November 18, 2021
    By Future of Sex
  • Sex Tech

    Melbourne University Launches World’s First Sex-Toy Design Course

    July 26, 2016
    By Hugo Gray
  • Womanizer Pro by Wow Tech Group
    Sex Tech

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

    January 16, 2021
    By Marcus K. Dowling
  • Dating & RelationshipsSex Tech

    Your Digital Darling Just Dissed You–Now What?

    November 25, 2024
    By A.R. Marsh, Ed.D.
  • The "people keeper" app virtually manages your relationships.
    RobotsSex Tech

    Would You Let an App Play Matchmaker in Your Love Life?

    January 24, 2017
    By M. Christian

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • Robots

    Love Death + Robots Is a Stylish Take on FutureSex

  • Sex Tech

    How the Sex Tech Industry Can Smash Taboos and Spark Social Change

  • Sex TechVirtual Sex & EntertainmentImmersive Entertainment

    AI-Generated Erotica: Exploring Its Possibilities And Limitations

Virtual Lust is a 3D interactive sex game.
3DXChat
Discover the best virtual sex parties and 3D sex worlds.
  • TOP REVIEWS

  • Screenshot of a sexbot from adult entertainment game

    The Best Adult Games on Steam [UPDATED]

  • Screenshot of FeelConnect app future of interactivity intimacy available on Apple and Google Store

    The Best Sex Game Apps for Couples [UPDATED]

  • Project QT is the most popular RPG sex game at hentai sex game portal Nutaku.

    The Best RPG Sex Games [UPDATED]

  • Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    Review of the Best Massively Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    0
  • Harmony ai sex doll from RealDoll

    State of the Sexbot Market: The World’s Best Sex Robot and AI Sex Doll Companies ...

Fantasy sex game Dream Sex World lets you explore your wildest desires.
Multiplayer sex world Red Light Center continues to impress with its massive userbase and incredible sex graphics.
A blonde and light-skinned love doll face sppears next to the text Go now realdollxthe future is real.

Like Us on Facebook

Newsletter Subscription

Sign up for our monthly newsletter sharing the very best of the future of sex from our publication and others across the web.

DreamSexWorld offers a stunning XXX 3D world filled with incredibly interactive erotic experiences.

Like Us On Facebook

Facebook Pagelike Widget

RLC_ad_v2

Tweets by @FutureofSex
Future of Sex Report

Follow us

  • Home
  • About
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contribute
  • Story Ideas
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© 2011 - 2022 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.
SAVE & ACCEPT