The New York Times engendered some backlash this week when it published an article that dedicated a massive amount of time to reviewing vibrators while simultaneously referring to women as “people with vulvas.”
Published in the paper of record’s Wirecutter section over the weekend, the article claims it spent “150 hours of research and testing” the top five clitoral vibrators:
After 150 cumulative hours of research and testing—interviewing sex researchers, crowdsourcing opinions from enthusiasts, and analyzing data from 11 volunteers who have tried more than 30 different models since 2014—we’ve concluded that the cordless Magic Wand Rechargeable is the best vibrator for clitoral stimulation.
At no point in this article about sex toys designed for women did the article actually use the word “woman” unless the product itself had the name. Instead, the article mentioned “people with vulvas” as many as six times.
“Across nine years of testing, we’ve relied on 11 people with vulvas to compare clitoral toys. Those individuals, a mix of people who identify as cisgender, nonbinary, queer, heterosexual, and bisexual, range in age from early 20s to early 50s,” it said.
People immediately trashed the New York Times for the article, especially for its erasure of women with the phrase “people with vulvas.”
“Before you know it, women will be extinct. At least the word will be,” one commenter said.
“Hey, NYT. This is a better-suited domain for you than serious news. Keep it up,” said one social media user.
“Great journalistic legacy being created by the news desk of the New York Times,” another said.
“I’m sorry, but for the NYT to be reviewing vibrators is just beyond the pale for me. I can just imagine, after I’m gone, my kids finding a vibrator next to my bed,” said another commenter. “Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I do know I’m just old. Personally, at my age (80), a vibrator is not on my list of things I want or need. TMI for me,” she continued.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.