Sex Toy Award Is Restored by Trade Show After an Outcry Over Sexism

The country’s largest consumer electronics convention has restored an award that it had promised to give — but then rescinded — to a high-tech sex toy for women and gender-nonconforming people.sex toy manufacturer

The convention, CES, is held each January in Las Vegas to great anticipation. An appearance — and certainly, an award — at the show can give a company a crucial boost and help it attract investors.

That’s why the owners of Lora DiCarlo, a start-up based in Oregon, were gobsmacked in October when they were told that their hands-free personal massager, the Osé, would win an Innovation Award in the robotics and drones category — only to learn weeks later that the decision had been reversed.

In an open letter that spurred an outcry when it was published on the first day of the conference in January, the company’s founder and chief executive, Lora Haddock, accused the show of sexism and stifling innovation.
In initially rescinding the award, the organization that sponsors the show, the Consumer Technology Association, had cited a clause in the awards’ terms and conditions that disqualified products deemed “immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA’s image.” Association representatives said later that the device did not fit into any product category.

In her letter, Ms. Haddock pointed out that the show had featured a sex doll and virtual-reality pornography, and accused the organization of having “an obvious double standard when it comes to sexuality and sexual health.”

The episode unfolded after other accusations of sexism against the male-dominated show. In 2018, it was criticized for not initially booking any female keynote speakers, for the second year in a row. Some companies also hire promotional models (often called “booth babes”) to attract attendees.

In reversing its stance on Wednesday, the Consumer Technology Association said it “recognizes the innovative technology that went into the development of Osé and reiterates its sincere apology to the Lora DiCarlo team.”

Jean Foster, the association’s senior vice president for marketing and communications, said in a phone interview that after the outcry about the Osé during CES, the organization realized it had made a mistake and reached out to Ms. Haddock and her colleagues. Ms. Foster said association officials recognized that they had unevenly applied rules barring sex tech companies.