I’ve also mentioned that I like a good conversation, even a difference of opinion. No one really responded to the particulars of that post. Someone got a smile out of it, but no one dove in to debate any of my opinions. Quite by happenstance, a question and discussion floated my way that made me rethink my stance. Or more pointedly, refine it.
What is considered a toy? What makes the difference? Could something, instead, be considered a tool? If a tool, when?
I don’t endorse any toys – to do that I would have to have some experience with them and this blog is no place for such discussions, pro or con. However, in researching what could be considered toys, I saw mention of massaging devices, all made of some form of plastic or glass. There are toys that have nothing to do with the alternate lifestyle – they’re for enhancing the pleasure. What these all seem to have in common is the focus of increasing the pleasure of the coupling. They are toys. Freely used on either protagonist in the story without any other purpose than increasing the power of release.
You can have and use toys on a whim, but you can’t practice an alternate lifestyle without its tools. So the gags, the electro shock kit, the ropes, the blind folds, restraints as well as whips, are tools, not toys.
I can only speak to the reviewers of Whipped Cream/LASR – I now believe that when we code our reviews with the unique qualities of a story, any device used inherent to an alternate lifestyle scene does not have to have the additional label of ‘toys’. It’s implied and expected.
In doing this post, I’ve refined my ability to tag my review a bit clearer and with more accuracy. Although, in truth, if I read a book where the Dom actually used a Hannibal Head cage, I’d find a way to mention it in the body of the review. Readers should get a warning for something that could be considered hardcore especially for those who only read lightly naughty themes. I know I wouldn't want to be surprised by some of the things I saw during my research.
