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28 Berkeley J. Gender L. & Just. 161 (2013)
Getting the Government in Bed: How to Regulate the Sex-Toy Industry

handle is hein.journals/berkwolj28 and id is 191 raw text is: Commentary Getting the Government in Bed: How to Regulate the Sex-Toy Industry Emily Stabilet I. THE PROBLEM S W ITH SEX TOYS .................................................................... 161 A. Consumer Injuries and Flawed Toy Designs .................................... 163 B. Chem icals Found in Sex Toys .......................................................... 165 II. REGULATORY DOUBLE STANDARDS FOR SEX TOYS ..................................... 167 III. POSSIBILITIES FOR REGULATING SEX TOYS ................................................ 169 A. Classifying Sex Toys as a Consumer Good Under the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Jurisdiction .................................... 169 B. Initiating Regulation by the CPSC .................................................... 172 1. Regulation Initiated Internally by the CPSC .............................. 173 2. Regulations Initiated by Petition ................................................ 176 C. Voluntary Versus M andatory Rules .................................................. 181 IV . C O N CLU SIO N ............................................................................................... 183 I. THE PROBLEMS WITH SEX ToYs Simply by walking into almost any sex shop in the United States, one can browse an astounding selection of sex toys, from dildos that range from realistic to rainbow colored to cock rings with vibrating tongue-like attachments. Although few people speak about them, sex toys are incredibly common in the United States. Recent studies show that in the United States nearly half of all men and over half of heterosexual women have previously used a vibrator.2 Sex-toy use is especially prevalent in the LGB community, with 78.5 percent of t J.D. Candidate, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, 2013; B.A., Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2009. 1 owe many thanks to Professor Anne Joseph O'Connell, Olga Tomchin, Erin Dummer, and the members of the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice. Finally, I would like to thank my family, without whom this would not have been possible. All errors are mine. I. Michael Reece et al., Prevalence and Characteristics of Vibrator Use by Men in the United States, 6 J. SEXUAL MED. 1867, 1869 (2009). 2. Debra Herbenick et al., Women's Vibrator Use in Sexual Partnerships: Results from a Nationally Representative Survey in the United States, 36 J. SEX & MARITAL THERAPY 49, 55(2010). BERKELEY JOURNAL OF GENDER, LAW & JUSTICE

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