Novelty adult wellness products are increasingly becoming mainstream commodities in this day and age, partly because of the limited mobility and social distancing mandate resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the mounting demand for sex toys has been on a steady increase long before the imposed social interaction restriction.
More women have now realized that experimenting with sexual pleasure using toys is no longer taboo, leading to colossal market growth of such products.
In 2020, the global sex toys market was valued at US$ 33.64 billion and was expected to expand shortly. Products made for female users account for around 60% of the market share.
Few realized that sex toys might have been in existence since ancient times. The world’s first dildo was quite possibly invented 28,000 years ago, discovered in a cave in Germany.
The object, which resembles a phallus, was assembled from siltstone measuring 20cm long and 3cm wide.
Unlike its modern counterpart, however, it is neither battery-powered nor hypoallergenic. Whether or not it was used exclusively for sexual pleasure remains an unanswered question.
10 /10 Fractured Parts Of Phallus
A team of researchers from the University of Tübingen recovered a peculiar artifact, now considered the world’s oldest dildo, during an excavation duty at the Hohle Fels Cave in the Swabian Alps, Germany 2005.
The discovery was revealed after the team put together all 14 fractured parts of the object.
Once assembled, they noticed that its shape bore a striking resemblance to that of an erect male sexual organ. Radiocarbon dating suggested a surprisingly old age of anywhere between 26,000 and 30,000.
9 /10 Polished Toy
Until today the artifact stands among the earliest representations of male sexuality.
The prehistoric “tool” was made of stone and measures 20cm long and 3cm wide. Some would say if the life-size is a strong indication that its ancient makers used the object as a sex toy.
Other researchers argued it must have had a much less sex-related purpose, such as an item presented in a ritual.
Regardless of the actual meaning or shape, whether the ancient users were men, women, or both is not immediately clear.