Welcome to the Report on Sex, a twice monthly newsletter recapping what’s happening in the sex sector, from a business and regulatory perspective.
We all know sex has been around forever, and the sale of sex is considered the world’s oldest profession. Despite this the stigma around sex has held firm for centuries. It’s our belief that a number of key factors will shift how sex is discussed and marketed and open new avenues for the commercialization of sex.
Empowerment
Despite the feeling that we live in a liberal society that speaks openly about sex, there is plenty of room for change, and this change is happening. A recent example can be found in the Consumer Electronics Show revoking an award and the right to exhibit to a female sex toy company. CES eventually relented and re-instated the award. This demonstrates mainstream tech is yet to be comfortable with sex, especially female pleasure, but mainstream society is ready and prepared to be vocal about it.
Our belief is this empowerment trend line will lead to innovators developing new products to serve this market, opening up of channels to market these products to mass audiences (it’s hard to believe Facebook will be able to maintain it’s current ban on product which imply “sexual pleasure or sexual enhancement” amidst a high profile dust-up) and investors being more comfortable and optimistic about the growth of this category.
Loneliness
Loneliness is being called the “new health epidemic” with 47% of Americans reporting being lonely, and 61% of Americans under 35 are “unpartnered” a 5% increase from 10 years earlier. We see this trend accelerating and increasing the market size of everything from matchmaking and dating sites, to mental health services, virtual companionship (AI girlfriends, porn etc)., male sex toys and more.
Finally, the combination of empowerment and loneliness make for the very real possibility that the sale of sex between consenting adults will be first decriminalized and then legalized and regulated in the not too distant future. Four 2020 presidential candidates are on record supporting decriminalization of sex work.
