Good Vibrations & the Sexual Revolution!
Good Vibrations, Founder Joani Blank, the pioneer of the Sexual Revolution!
HI Lovers, Happy HUMP day! ( BTW... I like to address my people as lovers when I write. It's more of an emotional expression rather than literal, although both do tend to go hand-in-hand, right?! )
So yeah .... lez talk about one of our retailers, Good Vibrations. Good Vibrations based out of San Francisco was our very first retailer who started to sell Cherry Bombin' wear about 10 years ago. Can you believe that after a dream, I cold called the buyer, sent her samples & this journey began? I didn't... for awhile actually. It wasn't until this year that I decided to build a website for the brand & take it back to where my dreams began.
Good Vibrations, founded by Joani Blank in 1977 was the second ever woman owned sex shop. In fact it was a worker owned co-operative from 1992 to 2006 modeling the current sex-positive sex shop, 'Come As You Are' in Toronto.
When I was living in San Francisco after graduating Arizona State University in 2002, I fell in love with this boutique because of everything that it represented: Sexual freedom, education, empowerment, LGBTQ visibility & just a safe place in the community to explore sex & sexuality. I recall walking through like a kid in a candy store & was in awe... not at the toys per se, but that it was like this utopian concept of love which held a tremendous amount of power & space for our evolution as a species. ( We'll for sure talk about the species part in another, at another! )
Just prior to writing this though, I discovered Blank passed in 2016 & want to pay homage to all of the work she did, changing the world of sex education & sexuality as we know it. Connecting my business & brand directly to her legacy & now building on it, is so incredibly humbling; I couldn't be more honored! I mean this woman was the pioneer of the feminist sex-positive movement, which I am now calling four decades later, the [new new wave] 'Sexual Revolution.'
Beyond working with womxn for the betterment of their sexual health & education, Blank's vision was to have a store in every city. Is this not the world we are living in today going into 2020 "vision"... or is it!?"Her original vision was to have a store in every city,” she said, not a Good Vibrations per se, but a local outlet for sex education. (Rivano Barros, 2016, p20)
As I take a step back & look back in time, I am beyond myself by how much we have evolved over the years. In retrospect, it hasn't even been that long...40 years, a generation. I'm old but not that old, ok... heh!
Despite the current government disposition, I think we are moving full speed ahead! It is important to note that we must keep moving by embodying the strength & perseverance of our ancestors, including Joani Blank. We must stay focused & together, strategizing by all means necessary!
...On a closing note, I want to point out the date Blank passed August 6. This is 1 day past the birth date of Dell Williams August 5th. Just in front of Blank, Williams founded the very first woman owned & operated feminist sex shop in 1974 
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