This week, faithful Vulva Blog readers, I will give you a short break from my political rants and offer you something of a travelogue instead. After all, a vulva’s got to get out now and then, don’t you think?

And where else would I venture, than my beloved Manhattan? Not only is it home to two gorgeous Toys in Babeland stores, but it’s where some of the biggest media moguls hang their hats for the day. So I’m packing up a bag full of sex toys and taking the Toys in Babeland message to magazine editors at Glamour, Marie Claire, Jane, Bust, Playboy, and Maxim, to name a few. I hope to give you an insider’s view into these places over the next few days (where else can you get the inside scoop from a vulva?) so sit back and join me as I journey across the streets of New York. Let me just say, one can really get a neck ache (or in my case, a clit-ache) from trying to see NY from the back seat of a cab!

Sex graces the cover of nearly every women’s magazine, usually in the form of some mysterious number of tips (14 Secret Sex Tips for Newlyweds!), but what I learned today is that figuring out how to spin just the right story for their editorial is a lot like looking for your G spot—you just keep trying and trying until bam, you’ve found it. Being both educator, marketing whiz, and giant vulva that I am, I dutifully demonstrated how a lipstick vibe could accessorize with a handbag, how the laptop vibe will rocket cybersex geeks like me into new realms of pleasure, and how the fingertip vibe, when placed gently against a cheek could send ol’ boyfriend’s willy into orbit during your next blow job.

After a day of figuring out how sex toys might fit into an editorial soup that favors fad diets, celebrity makeovers, and anything to do with astrology, I was ready for a drink. Over martinis, my colleague (I’ll call her “Clit Girl”) and I waxed on about how despite all the commercialism around sex, we tend to sell ourselves short when it comes to owning our sexuality and defending our right to good sex information. One freelancer for one prominent women’s magazine told us that the magazine treats its readers as if they have the sexual IQ of thirteen-year-olds. This of course, wouldn’t be so insulting if our thirteen-year-olds were given accurate information about matters regarding their sexual health, but they aren’t.

At most of these women’s magazines, we didn’t even display some of the more explicit sex toys we brought (butt plugs, large dildos, men’s sleeves); you learn after the first few “eews” what pushes the buttons. It should come as no surprise that the condom wallet, a product that’s certainly cute enough, was one of the most popular items in our goodie bag. It’s not explicit (it’s a sex-accessory for heaven’s sake), and promotes safe, coupled sex, in an utterly non-threatening way.

At Toys in Babeland we see sexuality as an inalienable right, which is why we get all tweaked out when people are denied information about their sexuality, and when things threaten our sexual health and well-being. But even beyond that, it’s hard to get the message out through these magazines that pleasure should just be enjoyed for pleasure’s sake. You don’t need to be having sex to a. make a baby, b. get a boyfriend, or c. stay in a marriage, which is how most sex information is packaged. Sex by yourself feels great, it’s rejuvenating, it’s good for your self-esteem, and you deserve it in spades. Let’s read more about that!