XBIZ Town Hall Addresses Race in Adult Retail: 'Do Better' (XBIZ)
XBIZ provides an in-depth summary of their Retailers Town Hall on Race. The overall takeaway from both Town Halls is the entire adult industry must "do better".
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LOS ANGELES — Last Thursday, XBIZ hosted a 11-person panel to address issues of racism, tokenization and white supremacy spanning the entire pleasure products space. Titled “Race in Adult: An Open Conversation,” the panel spoke to major elephant-in-the-room topics that have long been swept under the rug, like a lack of black voices and staffing in sex toy manufacturing and sales representation and the gross tokenization of black, Latin and other people of color in product copy writing and marketing.
Moderated by Sunny Megatron, sexuality educator and host of the “American Sex” podcast, the panel included prominent people of color who encompassed a variety of careers in the sexual wellness space.
XBIZ called upon a diverse lineup to share their opinions and experiences, including: Lidia Bonilla, pleasure strategist at House of Plume; Dirty Lola, producer and host at SexEdAGoGo.com; Tamara Payton Bell, CEO and founder of the Home Pleasure Party Planning Association (HPPPA); Taylor Sparks, sex educator and founder of e-tailer Organic Loven; Nenna Joiner, founder and CEO of retailer Feelmore; Lotus Lain, an adult performer and industry relations advocate; Scott Watkins, VP of marketing and sales at Doc Johnson Enterprises; Josh Ortiz, brand ambassador and sex educator at XR Brands; Tracy Felder, brand ambassador and product trainer at COTR; and Shani Hart, founder and CEO of retailer Hart's Desire.
Many pleasure industry spokespeople — both white and people of color — have participated in public demonstrations, donations to black-focused charities and organizations, and myriad forms of public stances against racism since this year's #BlackLivesMatter and #JusticeForGeorge protests began.
Read the full article by Colleen Godin and Ariana Rodriguez at XBIZ.com