“I have tendonitis in both arms, a chronic condition that causes me quite a bit of pain if I’m not careful… I never masturbate by hand anymore. I can’t. It only takes about 30 seconds for the pain to shoot from my fingers to my elbow and sometimes to my shoulder. And while sex with my boyfriend is wonderful, sometimes a girl just wants to be alone, you know? It makes me wonder what I would do if I lived in Alabama, one of the few remaining states whose obscenity law makes it illegal to ‘produce, distribute or otherwise sell sexual devices that are marketed primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs…’ However, even this law recognizes that sex toys are not inherently criminal. It exempts sexual devices used ‘for a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, legislative, judicial or law enforcement purpose.’ It just isn’t clear on what qualifies as ‘bona fide’ — or who makes that decision… Very few sexual aids have been recognized by the FDA as medical devices. One is the Eros Therapy, a suction cup that is placed on the clitoris. Another is the Ferticare, a sleeve-style vibrator designed for men with spinal cord injuries…” —Wired (US)

(Thanks to hludens for the link.)

This story provides a fine introduction to the sexual quandaries of people with disabilities. Yes, there are some good juicy details too, though really these involve less the sex toys for disabled people than the difficulties of putting them on. One expert mentions that “It is illegal for a caregiver to refuse to cook a meal. Yet (an attendant) can refuse to put a condom on someone who wants to have sex with his partner.” Well, it does seem rather extreme to ask a home attendant to suit up your erection for you. Then again, ask yourself this: Why does it seem icky but acceptable for an attendant to wipe your ass, and yet it seems to go beyond the call of duty to ask that same attendant to put on a condom or hook up a vibrator for you? And if you could ask an attendant to put a condom on you, then why would it be wrong to ask that same attendant to give you a handjob? Welcome to one of the jobs of the future: the homecare attendant who specializes in “manual release.”

That being said, one other thing has to be made clear about this article. In part, it uses the sexual frustrations of people with disabilities to impugn the Alabama law against the sale of sex toys. That’s basically a tactic that involves using a principle you can’t argue against (the right of disabled people to pursue happines) to knock down a silly one (the ban on sex toys). Really, you don’t need to invoke disabled people to know or to convince that the Alabama sex toy law is just plain stupid — because that’s what it is. Let’s call a spade a spade. To ban the sale of sex toys is so absurd that it makes you want to see Alabamans make a public sexual use of cucumbers, in the hopes that their lawmakers will soon ban the sale of vegetables too.

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