CUTE LITTLE FUCKERS
INTERVIEW
1,500 words
TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO SEX TOY HAS GONE BEFORE/
VIBRATING SEX MONSTERS FOR ALL GENDERS!
By Perry Berline
Times Are Changing, and so Should Sex Toys
“Cute Little Fuckers.” If the name can’t put a smile on your face, then meeting one surely will. Introducing: Princette, Zeep, Shimmer, Jix, Trinity, and Starsi, your adorable gender-inclusive sex toys, ready for blast-off. These vibrating pocket pets are the brainchild of Step, a trans artist/designer at the helm of our cultural narrative around sexual play, approachability, and inclusivity. I had to know more about these cosmic creatures, and what they mean for your play and pleasure.
Perry: When I came across Cute Little Fuckers, I was so happy to see such a creative and unusual approach to sex toys. It seems adult play has been locked in old narratives for a long time. How would you like a newcomer to feel or react when first encountering these cosmic sex creatures?
Step: So, when I was creating Cute Little Fuckers, there were many visions in my mind, but there was really one that I kept coming to over and over [...] of someone walking into a sex toy shop looking for their first toy, for the first time, and seeing something that was very realistic and phallic and going...I don’t know about that. [...] And then seeing Cute Little Fuckers with their smiling faces and going…I CAN DO THIS!
I design with a lot of accessibility in mind. Both physical accessibility, because I myself am disabled, but also emotional accessibility.
Perry: The toy designs are very approachable. I’ve seen some pretty scary stuff in sex shops. Where do you think the current sex toy industry has gone wrong?
Step: I don’t want to kink shame [...] or throw shade on any companies. If they're in a shop, y’kno awesome to them for getting that far. That's amazing, but I think that the culture that we live in, in the western world, sex has to be serious. There's so much pressure and trauma around sexuality that people think they have to be serious around that.
Don't get me wrong, I love BDSM. I hosted a lot of BDSM events when I lived in the Bay Area. I get the appeal of the dark and the intense sexy as well. [...] Often times sexual acts can be referred to as “play” [...] the sense of play I do think is at the core of what sexuality is to humans [...] we’re often out of touch with the playfulness and the joy of sexual expression.
Perry: You’ve attached names and narratives to these little sex pets. What's the thinking behind the storytelling?
Step: To me, it's about visibility for other people in my fellow queer community. Sometimes people call the Cute Little Fuckers sex line “gender-neutral sex toys” and I'm like, there’s nothing neutral about it, our toys have pronouns! There’s gender everywhere! We’re not gender-neutral, we’re explicitly gender-inclusive. Because all of our toys have their own pronouns, that increases so much visibility for all sorts of ways people can identify and express themselves, and also makes people feel more connected and seen.
It makes you forget that people say you're not supposed to be the way you are, because you are! And we’re here to show you that, and remind you. Our toys do that by being their authentic selves. And by our toys expressing this air of authentic self, helps people access their authentic selves.
The number of people that have gone out of their way to tell us that playing with our toys was the first non-dysphoric, actively euphoric experience they’ve ever had with a toy. So many people have reached out to say that, and it's just so humbling to me.
Perry: I can’t help thinking of a certain Japanese animated cute monster phenomenon. What influenced your vision?
Step: [Giggles] I’d certainly be lying, especially as a millennial, if I was not influenced by Pokémon in any degree. You know, it's funny, this idea actually came up several years before I started pursuing it in earnest. I had a number of queer and trans friends over, and we were just hanging out in my living room talking about how dissatisfied we were with the world of sex toys, and somehow at one point, someone said something about Pokémon sex toys. Someone said, “I’d get that!” Someone else said, “I’d get that!” And I was like, Oh, I would totally get that!
The conversation just landed somewhere in my brain. Years later, when I had to leave my job because of my disability and was like, what do I do with my life now? this funny little conversation climbed out of that safe spot in my brain and was like uh.. uh… cute monster sex toys!
Perry: There’s an increasing kink growing around cartoon characters (anime) and non-human/humanoid sexual fantasies online. Elves, dragons, furry creatures. How do Cute Little Fuckers fit into that world?
Step: I love that people are exploring more. I love that people are getting creative! And having fun. I think that's super cool. I feel like a lot of the toys I see in that world still lead with this seriousness. But again, I don't think it's bad at all. If someone wants a super serious dragon dick, fuck yeah! You do you. Love that. I feel like it's impossible to say there's zero relationship. But it really does feel to me like a very different world. What we're doing at the core feels very very different. [...] Instead of just exploring a fantasy, I want you to be able to step into a whole new world. And not just as in cute characters, but a world in which we can forget about sexual shame and gender discrimination.
Perry: Was it difficult to get your toys into sex stores? How did they react to such an alien product?
Step: Yeah, the response has been very polarized from the toy shops. Some toy shops saw us and were immediately like, “Yes! Everything, love it! ” [...] I’ve had people say this is just a novelty, only good for a gag. Granted, those are people who saw us when we first launched. If they saw us now, I think they might be changing their minds a little, if they've seen the growth we've had.
I've had people say we just don't get queer people in our stores at all, no queer people live in our town. That kind of vibe. I’m like, well they’re not going to your store because you're not supplying things for them!
I think what we're doing is really progressive, but I find people all over the age range are loving our toys, especially people in the younger age range. I think as more gen z’s become 18, we’re really seeing a lot of growth there.
There's also this divide in the adult toy world between the new progressive clean, sexuality - personal healthcare kind of vibe - and the old guard, who have the shops with the shades drawn and DVD’s in the back and talk about toys as paraphernalia.
I heard people talk about selling sex toys and in the same sentence talking about selling cocaine. Their mind is like, “we sell a vice.” The reality is, Cute Little Fuckers is not selling a vice. Nothing about what we're doing is saying vice. It’s the opposite of that. So because of that, I feel very ok with not being in their stores.
Perry: How do you see / would like to see the future of sex and the sex toy industry?
Step: I would love to see it become more inclusive. The sex toy industry is so intensely divided right now between the so-called for-him, for-her. And the thing is, so many of these toys can work for so many bodies and experiences. The industry could become so much more inclusive just by not being exclusive in the verbiage.
Of course, there is more you can do in the design. In Cute Little Fuckers, we do a lot of design as well. But still just acknowledging outwardly that there is such a variety of experiences and working that into the basics of packaging and marketing verbiage, I think would be a huge, huge step in the right direction. I would love to see that. It feels like such a low-hanging fruit.
Perry: Where’s the best place for someone to find a Cute Little Fucker?
Step: cutelittlefuckers.com is a great place to find them. That's our website which is great. [...] Supporting creators closest to the source. I really do love the companies I work with - there are so many to list! If you find a Cute Little Fucker in your local store, that's super rad too.
Perry: Final words?
[...]Gratitude. I love working with Cute Little Fuckers. It really feels like we're changing the world for the good. And financially, I support myself as a disabled queer trans person. And I can do so at a pace that works for my body and my health issues. I hit some cosmic lottery or something. I am really, really, truly grateful for every single person who engages with Cute Little Fuckers, gets a toy, interviews me, hangs out on our social media or something. Seriously, I'm so, so grateful. Thank you.
The conversation has been condensed for clarity.
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