No, it’s not just sex robots and long-distance kisses and virtual sexual experiences (though we might not be too far away from those), Sextech is pretty much present all around you, and you may already have used it. In this article, sextech platform StandWeSpeak founder Priyal Agrawal tells you all you’ll ever need to know about sextech, so you aren’t left pretending like you know what it means when all your friends talk about it, just like you did with crypto.
What Sextech Is And Why You Should Care
Sextech, defined in simple terms, is just a combination of sexuality and technology. If visuals of futuristic sex toys and the like are going through your mind right now, you’re not really wrong, but there’s a lot more to sextech than just that. It’s about enhancing and improving the overall experience when it comes to sexuality, and everything to do with it, not just the act of sex itself. Sexual health, sexual education, the massive product industry around it can all fall under sex tech when technology is used to make them better and more accessible. At StandWeSpeak, we’ve developed an information and teleconsultation platform. It’s a space for people to come and have a conversation about sex and everything to do with it. We make information on sexual health, abuse, and experience of sex more accessible via technology, which is why the whole experience can be termed as sextech. Sextech deals with the entire spectrum of sexuality, not just sex. Things like pleasure, relationships, education, health, crimes, assault reporting, medicine, and gender identity to name a few, all fall under the spectrum of sexuality. Throw technology into the mix and voila, you have yourself a manifestation of sextech. Yes, VR porn is technically sex tech, but so are the sexuality-based apps on your phone.
Why Sextech Matters
Terms like edtech or healthtech are very commonly used. But there’s often a huge taboo around talking about sextech, just like sex in general. So much so that sextech is sometimes mislabeled as “wellness” or “health”. Since we are human, and therefore sexual beings, being open about our sexual experiences and expectations can be immensely helpful since the quality of your sexual journey depends on owning your body and sexuality. As long as there is shame and guilt attached to the word, people will be hesitant to talk about it. As a result, people may not truly accept their sexual orientations or their likes and dislikes, and in the more extreme cases, crimes can be left unreported. With the help of sextech, we can make conversation around sex more accessible. Having conversations about it will chip away the stigma, as you see happening with the newer generations. Let’s take a look at a few other benefits of sextech.
1. More information about the sexual spectrum
Have you ever experienced a slight discomfort down there, and immediately began assuming the worst? Perhaps you Googled it, and the result that was staring back at you only made you want to book your funeral. As conversations about the spectrum of sextech become commonplace, so will common knowledge around sex and sexual health. People will have a more fulfilling sexual life with the help of open and honest conversations with their sexual partners. In fact, studies claim that sextech has proven beneficial to fight symptoms of anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Plus, with the help of sextech, the reporting of sexual crimes/harassment can also be facilitated.
2. Experimentation with sexual products
Yes, those wacky sex toys and futuristic ideas of sex that came into your mind when you heard of this term do fall under sex tech (did anybody ask for a remote-controlled vibrator?). Since it’s only a matter of time before practical and technology-fueled sex products become a reality, get ready for your sex life to become a lot more fulfilling. If you let it, of course. People would be willing to experiment with new products. It’s a bit like wine. Until you’ve tasted it, you don’t really know how good it is. The rotten grapes will turn out to be finer than you expect them to. It’s the same with sex toys. Until you use it, you don’t know what the experience will be like. When products are made more accessible with the help of technology, more people will be willing to learn about and try new things that may just end up changing the way they approach sexuality and the act of having sex.
3. Constant innovation leads to new ways to find pleasure
According to Statista, the sextech industry will have a global valuation of $37.2 billion by 2023. As is the case with most things that take the world by storm, lucrative business prospects fuel advanced innovation. Be it applications like Coral that aim to increase sexual wellness and satisfaction or new ways to experience porn, the singular idea of pleasure you may have in your mind is going to become obsolete pretty soon.
Tackling the misconceptions
There aren’t really any cons to sextech, just misconceptions. As soon people hear about the word, all they think about is VR porn, hard-core sex toys, or sex robots and the lot. Another source of the stigma is obviously the culture that a person comes from. The conversations around sex they may have seen while growing up will define how willing they are to talk about it. The truth is, any technology that enhances sexuality and any particular aspect of it is known as sextech. Sexual health covers a lot of aspects in terms of relationships, abuse, intimacy coaching, gender identity, sexuality, and sex education. The only aim of sextech is to educate people, provide them with better opportunities to help them figure out and accept who they are. Just being able to talk about sex openly with friends, peers, partners and not hide your likes or dislikes, concerns or questions, will help monumentally. You shouldn’t have to hide away what makes your personality unique. Be open, accept yourself and help others accept themselves, it will make all the difference.
