Excuse my ignorance.. but what exactly makes this sex shop feminist as opposed to.. well.. just a sex shop? Judging from the website it looks pretty run-of-the-mill.. am I missing something?

*giggle* I loved the photo of the Babeland sign next to the Gymboree sign

I don't see any porn on the website (though I didn't visit the DVD section). That seems like a pretty good start for 'feminist sex shop'.

The general problem is that while ostensibly for women, these products are in many cases actually designed to be purchased by and stimulate men. It looks like Babeland doesn't take that angle.

yayyyy i live in park slope!! i am excited!

I consider Babeland a feminist sex shop because it's woman-friendly and woman-owned. You walk in, and instead of feeling sketchy (or like you are in a gag gift store), you are in a comfortable atmosphere with super knowlegable staff.

Most of the toys are marketed for women, with their pleasure in mind. It's also really queer friendly and open to people of all gender identities and expressions.

If you've ever been to a run of the mill sex shop, and then walk into one of these, you'll immediately see the difference.

while dc is sadly devoid of such fine establishments, there's a great place up the road in baltimore called Sugar. check them out :)

The one in Soho is hiring. Saw it on Craig's List.

Pannadol:

A lack of the greasy leering creepy guy at the counter which seem to be the common staff for about half the sex-shops I've been to in my life would be a good start.

as Miriam said, someplace where your average unarmed woman would feel comfortable and unthreatened. Hell, I'm 6'1" and hover around 185/190 and I get the willies because of the creepy folks at a lot of porn boutiques. The first time I ever went into Good Vibes in Berkeley I was outright amazed that it had good lighting and hygienic employees, two concepts almost completely foreign to most toy stores.

Sweet! I can't wait to check it out : )

A friend just bedazzled a whip for me, and I'm sure this store will give me a few things to add to my collection!

:(

The babeland store in LA just closed recently. There's a bunch of other stores to go to, but I'm really going to miss the unique experience and classes they had to offer. Sigh.

I work at Babeland and we're all really excited about the Brooklyn store! I think the amount of moms protesting was pretty small. Overall, we've had an amazing reception with people stopping into say hi as we've been setting up shop.

Technically, we're going to open Thursday - we got a bit delayed. Just to let everyone know.

I heartily second what everyone has said here about what makes Babeland a feminist sex toy shop. I would add that we're about education, pleasure and empowerment - something most sex toy stores don't offer. We employ people of all genders and sexualities and we serve people of all genders and sexualities. To me, a feminist toy store is one that says that all people (no matter who they are) deserve equal opportunities for pleasure and information in environments that make them feel comfortable. That's what Babeland aims to achieve. If you only have access to our website, check out the How-To section to get a better flavor for what we're about. How many mainstream stores have that kind of information?

And, lastly, we do carry porn because we believe that not all porn is inherently sexist and that people can watch porn without being sexist. Many of the videos we carry are made by women and queer people or are educational as well as being far outside the mainstream porn world.

Stop by Brooklyn and let us know what you think! There's more information on the Babeland blog (http://blog.babeland.com)

I also work for Babeland and am so so soooo excited for the Brooklyn store to be opening! It's going to be a great time and the neighborhood is very fortunate.

To the LA folks out there missing the Babeland store, we are working with Pull My Daisy (http://www.pullmydaisystore.com/) now, so you can still find your Babeland products and classes there. Check them out!

And for porn, we do carry it! The porns that we carry have been selected by Babeland staff. You can swing by the store for recommendations, check out the online store, or click on the "Dirty and Flirty Videos on Demand" link on our homepage to get porn on your computer!

And swing by to say hi to all the incredibly Brooklyn Babelanders!! We're having a grand opening party on June 15th!! See you there!

I'm a satisfied Babeland customer -- even among feminist sex shops I think it stands out. I think it shows its politics most clearly in its educational programming, which is definitely aimed at helping people (especially women) own their own sex lives.

Babeland's porn selection reflects that ethos as well -- the store goes out of its way to stock porn by female producers, but it also carries mainstream films. I don't think there's a good way to pidgeonhole porn into 'men like' and 'women like,' and I respect that the store doesn't limit its porn selection to things palatable to any one group. I wouldn't go for 9/10 of the stuff in the porn collection, but grownups pick for themselves, no?

I also really appreciate the store's willingness to meet customers where they are -- to talk to them, whether they be straight or queer, reserved or friendly or even a bit skeevy, knowledgeable or totally doe-eyed -- and help them meet their needs. My first time buying porn in a store (Leicester Square in London at age 18) was sketchy and depressing and I would have rather lit myself on fire than talk to any of the clerks. But I learn a ton from the staff whenever I go to babeland, and they're very much oriented towards encouraging open and respectful and caring attitudes about sex.

Nate

The only sex stores we have here in my southern city are the smutty, darkly lit stores where men leer at me over their selection of hard-core porn videos and bondage magazines. Pictures of silicone enhanced women smile seductively down at me while they spread their legs to advertise their goods. How I wish for a female-friendly sex store down here in the dirty south.

Hehe ok I get the picture now :-) I'm in Australia so unfortunately won't get a chance to drop into a store, but it sounds like a very positive change, and as a woman who likes (some) pornography, I definitely appreciate that it's still stocked.