Kickstarter OKs Campaign for Gender-Inclusive Monster Sex Toy

The crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has rarely given the green light to campaigns to raise cash for sex toy products, but a new “gender inclusive” toy from the aptly named sex toy firm Cute Little Fuckers this week became the latest to break the taboo.  As of Tuesday, with 37 days remaining in the Kickstarter campaign, the company had already raised more than $9,900 of a $13,500 goal toward a new line of “cute, gender inclusive, vibrating sex toys shaped like adorable monsters.” The company has already released several such toys, led off by “Princette Puppypus,” the toy pictured above on this page, described as “a playful vibrator that fits into all sorts of spaces.” The toy, similar to the company’s other monster-shaped sex toys, is also designed not to appear to be obviously a sex toy. “Leave it on display and no one will know it was in you!” the company says. As sex toy aficionados already know, there are a number of companies that have created whimsically shaped fantasy toys, such as Bad Dragon, Mr. Hankey's and Big Teaze Toys. But perhaps the most unique feature of the company’s line of “monster” toys is their “gender inclusive” function. While most sex toys complement the anatomy of one of the two traditional genders, CLF toys are designed for individuals of any gender identification. “I am gender fluid and do a lot of sex-positive and queer activism,” Step Tranovich, the company’s founder and creator of the Kickstarter campaign, told the tech news site TechCrunch. “I felt like there weren’t a lot of toys that felt gender-inclusive. As someone who spends a lot of time helping people feel more sexually expressive, a lot of toys felt very stiff or foreboding.” Far from stiff and foreboding, each of the toys in the CLF line has its own personality, and the characters live out their various adventures in an ongoing webcomic series that has run on the company’s site since February. "The toys are designed to be used in a lot of ways, which cover multiple anatomies, so no one toy is made for one body part," Tranovich said.  As for Kickstarter, a spokesperson said that the platform was “happy to welcome” the Cute Little Fuckers campaign. "Kickstarter’s mission is to help bring creative projects to life. Step’s project uses fun and innovative design to meet a need in their community and beyond,” said Communications Director David Gallagher. Photo from the Cute Little Fuckers website