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Move over Tupperware, make way for the Latex Friends, fun, a glass or two of champas and … sex toys. Or that’s supposed to be the recipe for a successful PASH Party. Jennifer Lush finds that timing is everything as a grumpy hostess and a weeknight come together to make ’the comfortable environment’ decidedly uncomfortable. December 2006
It’s like a Tupperware party…but with sex toys, a comfortable and safe environment for women to explore their sexuality. That’s how a PASH Party was explained to me. To be fair, there’s probably just as much plastic. But then there’s lace, leather and lube as well. Not quite Betty Crocker. I round up a few girlfriends and book a party to do my ‘research’. We crack open some wine, pull out the guacamole and await the arrival of the PASH girls. They show up a bit before 10 pm, having battled the Kirribilli streets for a parking space. Lugging two hot pink suitcases behind them they’re a little disappointed to find only four of us. Usually they have groups of six or more they say. Nicola introduces herself and her fellow PASH Consultant, Em. Deeming the breakfast table decent enough to set up on, they start to unpack their products. Their sexy haul seems endless. Feathers and sequins, boas and vibrators, massage oils and cock rings, lubricants and body chocolate. Everything you ever needed to satisfy your every orifice. Topping up our glasses, we take a seat on the couch. This looks like it could be fun. A bit of a giggle at least. We start with a quiz- multiple choice. “What type of PASH girl are you?” We jot down our A, B, or C answers. Nicola tells us it’s a bit different when there are more people… more drunken people. People shout out their answers and it’s funnier. She seems to need to reinforce this. Like we’re not having enough fun. PASH catalogues are distributed and one by one each product is passed down the ranks, for closer inspection. We taste-test the quality of the chocolate fudge body paint while pondering the varying degrees of vibration in different brands of love toys. As the ‘Zen Pearl Cowboy’- a complex looking, twin control ‘shaft’ that will ‘send you wild’- goes past, I wonder how many people something like this would actually appeal to. I’m surprised to find that the ages vary, from teens to pensioners, as do the comfort levels. Latex isn’t for everybody. At some point it comes up that it was my birthday over the weekend. Em finds out I’m only 20, and from there on it’s a slippery slope of snidety. She turns the supposedly ‘non-threatening environment’ into a patronizing sex-ed talk. “The penis has a big vein down the back…” she starts, looking frustrated.
“This is ‘Sizzling Body Candy’. It’s like pop rox. You’re probably not old enough to know what that is,” she says. Nicola tries to make up for her colleague’s snark but now we just feel awkward. Em keeps pointing out the time. Normally they would spend longer showing us the products. They would play more games, be more cheery. But its eleven o’clock. And it’s a weeknight. And she’s tired. Apparently, her full-time job at Strandbags requires a 6 am start. While Nicola’s showing us some moisturizers, Em sees her chance to escape, and repacks everything into the suitcases. In less than five minutes it’s all in. She’s ready and rearing to go, we clearly weren’t worth the effort. We mumble some thank-yous and see them out into the hall. Waiting till their clicking heels are out of earshot, we start to chat. Aside from the drama- which we have a good whinge about- everyone agrees that the concept behind PASH Parties is a good idea. God knows none of us would ever have bought anything outside of this type of an environment. “I would never walk into a sex shop,” says my friend Carolina. There’s a consensus of head nods. I am reminded of the time I went shopping on George Street with a friend - searching for a naughty gift for her boyfriend’s birthday. We managed about three steps up toward a Club X, before the door bell sounded, and we ran back out onto the street- horribly horribly embarrassed. There exists a certain stigma about the sorts of people that enter these types of shops, and most women don’t want to be associated with it. The PASH philosophy encourages the empowerment of women “to better understand, explore and indulge all of their senses.” Just don’t go seeking 'empowerment' too late on a weeknight. |
