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A review by itacuz
Oh Joy Sex Toy Vol. 4, Volume 4 by Erika Moen
5.0
I am going to write one review for all four Oh Joy Sex Toy collections. If I tried to write four separate reviews, I’d be saying largely the same thing four different times and it wouldn’t do any of them justice. If you feel at all inclined to read these collections but don’t have access to them, yes you do they’re all online! www.ohjoysextoy.com has every comic from all four volumes of these books; this comic was the first one I found on tumblr way back in 2013. Personally I’m a big fan of reading them in the bound version, but if you want accessibility and searchability you should just head over to their website.
I don’t know enough about the complexities of sex positive culture to explain the scope of the educational reach this comic has had. I can tell you when I first read it in college, I started to see myself, or rather the community I wanted to see myself a part of, in these comics. A community that put personal pleasure above stigma, but never gave up consent for the sake of anyone else’s enjoyment. When I began to read OJST I thought less about what other people would perceive of my pleasure, and more about what I could do to achieve it. Now my personal journey is a lot more fraught and complicated than “read a comic, now you’re gay”, but the comic allowed me to see being bisexual as natural. When I became more okay with my bisexuality, it helped me separate that identity from my personal sexual perversions and come to accept those as well. I say perversions as a self-described pervert because there’s no shame allowed here, unless you’re into it and have laid out safe boundaries with your shame scene partners.
As a white man, I see myself in most things; my bisexuality would isolate me a little but even that has become more mainstream. The best part about OJST is that everyone else has the opportunity to be seen as I am. It doesn’t matter what parts you do or don’t have, what your hair, skin, or body looks like. Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan draw bodies trying out all of these sex toys, positions, and sexual dilemmas with the most diverse cast of characters I have ever seen. The “Masturbateers” were created because as Moen says, “While we love our sex toys, we’re both modest exhibitionists, so we like to depict “the business” through these free-loving characters! Their pronouns as individuals are “They, Them and Their” and they refer to their genitalia by their medical, anatomical names. The Masturbateers’ sexuality is: Horny.” Either Moen and Nolan appear in every comic, talking the reader through the topic and giving the sense of recurring characters to the series while allowing the diverse maturbateers to show you how it’s done. Sometimes it can be very clinical, but sometimes it’s straight up sexy! I won’t lie, I’ve been turned on plenty of times reading these by bodies I’ve never seen in porn.
Oh Joy Sex Toy isn’t just an ad space for toys looking to get good reviews by sending free products. No matter their relationship with the company in question, and a few do sponsor the website itself, Moen and Nolan always give a completely honest review of their experience. I’ve seen them compliment toys they practically threw away, critique toys that they swear by every time they’re mentioned. They always give you a fair assessment of the toy, and will let you know if they think the problem is the toy not gelling with their bodies or sexual inclinations. I never felt their bias get in the way of me understanding the pros and cons of an item.
At its heart, Oh Joy Sex Toy is educational. I have added more sex ed books to my bookshelf through OJST than any other resource. When I wanted to understand more about contraceptives or what it was like for a pornstar in this world, OJST is where I found the most information told in the clearest way. I know it’s not saying much, but I learned more reading this comic than the american education system ever attempted to teach me. There are plenty of non-sexual, sex-related topics covered and if I had to teach my theoretical child about something I have no experience with, say a UTI, Oh Joy Sex Toy is where I would go first. This website (and book[s]) may not be something you are even remotely interested in hearing about, but if someone had passed along the url when I was in middle school, it would have saved me a lot of lost time and made me much more comfortable with the body I have today.
I don’t know enough about the complexities of sex positive culture to explain the scope of the educational reach this comic has had. I can tell you when I first read it in college, I started to see myself, or rather the community I wanted to see myself a part of, in these comics. A community that put personal pleasure above stigma, but never gave up consent for the sake of anyone else’s enjoyment. When I began to read OJST I thought less about what other people would perceive of my pleasure, and more about what I could do to achieve it. Now my personal journey is a lot more fraught and complicated than “read a comic, now you’re gay”, but the comic allowed me to see being bisexual as natural. When I became more okay with my bisexuality, it helped me separate that identity from my personal sexual perversions and come to accept those as well. I say perversions as a self-described pervert because there’s no shame allowed here, unless you’re into it and have laid out safe boundaries with your shame scene partners.
As a white man, I see myself in most things; my bisexuality would isolate me a little but even that has become more mainstream. The best part about OJST is that everyone else has the opportunity to be seen as I am. It doesn’t matter what parts you do or don’t have, what your hair, skin, or body looks like. Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan draw bodies trying out all of these sex toys, positions, and sexual dilemmas with the most diverse cast of characters I have ever seen. The “Masturbateers” were created because as Moen says, “While we love our sex toys, we’re both modest exhibitionists, so we like to depict “the business” through these free-loving characters! Their pronouns as individuals are “They, Them and Their” and they refer to their genitalia by their medical, anatomical names. The Masturbateers’ sexuality is: Horny.” Either Moen and Nolan appear in every comic, talking the reader through the topic and giving the sense of recurring characters to the series while allowing the diverse maturbateers to show you how it’s done. Sometimes it can be very clinical, but sometimes it’s straight up sexy! I won’t lie, I’ve been turned on plenty of times reading these by bodies I’ve never seen in porn.
Oh Joy Sex Toy isn’t just an ad space for toys looking to get good reviews by sending free products. No matter their relationship with the company in question, and a few do sponsor the website itself, Moen and Nolan always give a completely honest review of their experience. I’ve seen them compliment toys they practically threw away, critique toys that they swear by every time they’re mentioned. They always give you a fair assessment of the toy, and will let you know if they think the problem is the toy not gelling with their bodies or sexual inclinations. I never felt their bias get in the way of me understanding the pros and cons of an item.
At its heart, Oh Joy Sex Toy is educational. I have added more sex ed books to my bookshelf through OJST than any other resource. When I wanted to understand more about contraceptives or what it was like for a pornstar in this world, OJST is where I found the most information told in the clearest way. I know it’s not saying much, but I learned more reading this comic than the american education system ever attempted to teach me. There are plenty of non-sexual, sex-related topics covered and if I had to teach my theoretical child about something I have no experience with, say a UTI, Oh Joy Sex Toy is where I would go first. This website (and book[s]) may not be something you are even remotely interested in hearing about, but if someone had passed along the url when I was in middle school, it would have saved me a lot of lost time and made me much more comfortable with the body I have today.