How the Weather channel chose to support men’s sexual wellness and fostered the inequity

In all fairness, it wasn’t the weather channel itself; it was an ad on its website (6:15am, 2/17). The ad was for a treatment for erectile dysfunction, a device called the Eddie. The tagline is catchy, “Thrills without pills”, and the design is simple – a slightly oval-shaped ring worn on a penis to contain blood flow and help maintain an erection. Essentially, this is a tweak on the penis ring (also known as a c**k ring). How wonderful that men have another option to ensure their sexual wellness.

My issue is that while the Eddie and other ED treatment is advertised without restrictions, devices for women’s sexual wellness are taboo. Consider how often you see advertisements for ED treatment on TV commercials, in print media, and on websites. Thanks to the social media algorithms, 5 minutes after seeing the Eddie ad on Weather.com and looking up the company, the post below appeared on my Facebook feed:

I am not begrudging men from having sexual wellness options, but I am appalled of yet another example of how men’s needs and wants are publicly discussed, promoted, and supported while women’s needs and wants are not. Take for example my experience last month when one of my social media posts was blocked on LinkedIn and muted on Tik Tok. The posts talked about the inequity when it comes to discussing Viagra versus vibrators. Once “vibrators” was removed from the post, LinkedIn let it go through. Tik Tok still has my post muted.

So tell me – what is the difference between a “buzzing” penis ring and a vibrator? Both stimulate blood flow to erogenous zones. Both can be or are (depending on the company; see BlushVibe) labeled as sexual wellness devices. The ONLY difference is that one is designed for male use and the other is designed for female use. Is it any wonder that women are still embarrassed to ask questions, say what they want, and fully embrace their wellness in all areas of their lives when society, companies, and politicians are telling us to stay quiet, that we are secondary, and just do what we’re told?

So Weather.com, are you catching my vibe? How about creating some equity when it comes to promoting humans’ sexual wellness?