Sh! Women's Erotic Emporium is a British sex shop, founded and run by women for women. Its premises in the East End of London and its website sell sex toys, strap-on harnesses, dildos, bondage gear, lingerie, books, DVDs and accessories. Founded in 1992 by Kathryn Hoyle and Sophie Walters, the company also manufactures dildos and harnesses, and commissions BDSM equipment, lubricant, massage oil, toy cleaner and vibrating toys. The Sh! shop is located in Hoxton Square, London. A second shop, on Portobello Road, ceased trading in May 2012. The company also runs a mail order business with headquarters in Forest Gate. Sh! is a small company, employing nine women.
Founders' biographies
Kathryn Hoyle was born in Ilkley, West Yorkshire and grew up with a feminist mother, a free-thinking father and one brother. She attended her local school, Ilkley Grammar, before going on to complete a foundation art course in Bradford and graduating with a degree in Fine Art from The Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Brighton University. Sophie Walters was born in Bracknell, Berkshire and went to Marist Convent Catholic School in Sunninghill, Berkshire. At 17, she started a business and commerce course at Windsor College. Upon completion of the course Walters worked for Securicor Heathrow, Air Courier Division and later on for Roy Bowles Transport & Cargo. In 1989, she took up the position of Logistics Manager at Sony CorporationAir Cargo and then, after meeting Hoyle in 1991, joined Sh!
Cultural impact
Sh! was the first sex shop in the UK focusing solely on women. Sex shops were created to cater mainly to men's needs. One of the effects of the sexual revolution was that women took charge of their own sexuality, and with that have pushed into the sex business. However, in late 2014, the company changed its door policy regarding male customers; previously men had to be accompanied by a female to enter the store and browse. Since October 2014 the lower floor of the premises is open to all customers, including unaccompanied men, while the upper floor remains women-only. Vibrators were first developed in the 19th century as medical equipment to help cure women of hysteria by inducing hysterical paroxysm, also known as orgasm. Many medical practitioners working with sexual dysfunctions have limited or no knowledge of vibrators or dildos, so Sh! has been working to educate practitioners from NHS Trusts. The Sh! website provides advice and guidance, and the shop offers customers to opportunity to handle various toys or to speak to highly trained staff. The company is the only sex shop which offers a 30-day warranty. Hoyle discovered the Rabbit vibrator in a sex toy warehouse in 1992. It was named "Roger Rabbit", but her renamed version, the "Jessica Rabbit", has since gone on to fame, starring in television shows including Sex and the City. However, it was in 1999, when Cosmopolitan ran an article on female masturbation, that the "Jessica" really started to enter women's homes.
Pornography and sex shop licensing
Sh! stocks women-friendly pornographic material, such as films by Anna Span. Women-friendly means depicting female desire convincingly and realistically, as opposed to mainstream pornography which embodies the male gaze and objectifies women by making them into a tool for both the male pornographic actor's sexual gratification and the viewer's purposes. The pornography which Sh! stocks is softcore - that is, having any explicit money shots and genitalia blurred or pixelated. This is due to the premises not having the appropriate licensing to stock hardcore pornography.
Projects
Sh! runs educational workshops and collaborates with National Health Service Trusts in providing sex toys for women with sexual difficulties. This includes a dilator set, composed of vibrators of varying diameters. The Sh! dilator set is also part of a PhD project, at The Royal United Hospital Bath Gynae Oncology department, to research the possibilities and implications of using vibrators in the post-surgery dilating process for women. 2003 International Sexology Conference In 2003, Adeola Agbebiyi from the Barts and the London NHS Trust, and Kathryn Hoyle and Angel Zatorski both from Sh! Women's Emporium, presented two papers exploring the relationship between women and sex toys. Sh! Sex Toy Workshops Sh! wrote the introduction to sex toys and safer sex for the Oxford University Student Guide. Books Sh! is one of three remaining women's bookstores in London and has a comprehensive selection of women's erotica and books dealing with women's sexuality and related issues.
Awards
Sh! has been awarded Ethical Consumer status by ethicalconsumer.org for their informed and information-giving standpoint on sex toys. Sh! has also won the 2005 Erotic Awards Special Judges Award for being 'the best sex shop in town ~ possibly the world!' In 2007, Sh! was named in the g3 magazine Readers' Poll as 'Best adult store online' and 'Best LBGT friendly business'. In 2008 the business was awarded the Readers' Poll 'Best online retailer' award. In March 2012 Sh! was awarded the UK & Ireland Shopping Venue of the Year, and the UK & Ireland Best Business of the Year, at the first annual Qype Business awards.
