While tech bros race to code the perfect female sex robot, flesh-and-blood women walk around housing sensory networks so complex, it’s a shame AI is getting more of the focus and not us humans. We’ve been so busy building pleasure in labs that we’ve forgotten (or never knew) how to access the biological machines we already have by communicating with our bodies. And what better time to cover the exploration of our vessel than during Masturbation May? Yes, it is an internationally recognized label for such a worthwhile cause!
Now that you’ve been educated about this month’s reminder, we unfortunately weren’t educated about a more relevant topic, like self-pleasure or self-exploration. But, thanks to the female wellness company, Smile Makers, we’re seeing biohacking expand into sexual pleasure.
Launched in 2012, the mission (accomplished) was to move sex toys from discreet shops to mainstream retailers like Sephora, Ulta Beauty, and Urban Outfitters. Smile Makers’ products have become increasingly popular, sparking conversations about sex education focused on wellness and pleasure through learning and instruction, rather than fear, shame, and guilt.
Not Just an Education to Learn, An Exploration to Feel
Most of us were introduced to sex through a class called “health” or “physical education,” which often framed the topic through sterile words that produced negative or limiting views on such natural behaviors. Or the way they made something beautiful sound like a medical condition. No wonder so many of us grew up thinking sex was either dangerous, dirty, or just another bodily function to manage. Instead of curiosity, we got caution. Instead of pleasure, we got sanitization.
Smile Makers seeks to change that by offering a free sex ed course, Vulva Talks. For anyone looking to connect more intimately with female sexuality, this is the course for you, backed by various experts in the scientific community. It’s also been used at UK and US university workshops!
(And yes, it’s vulva, not vagina! Take the course and you’ll learn more information, like this widespread misconception.)
But let’s be honest, your brain wiring needs the most understanding. It’s the real star in the bedroom, initiated from your control panel. It’s a wildly underexplored sex organ that orchestrates the whole show. When you climax, your brain doesn’t just light up; it unleashes a neurochemical cocktail that would make any pharmaceutical company jealous.
The Mind-Body Connection: Where Pleasure Begins
Although our brains and bodies are fully connected, the neural pathways may not always communicate effectively. Despite our bodies’ constant inhabitation, many individuals report feeling disconnected from their most intimate parts. But it’s not surprising. We’re trapped in a consumption vortex. External stimuli have hypnotized us into doomscrolling, impulse buying, and nonstop streaming, all while fear-mongering media hijacks our nervous system, the very wiring we need to feel pleasure.
Seriously, how are we supposed to get off when we’re wound so tight we can barely breathe? This is especially true for women.
Dr. Louann Brizendine, neuropsychiatrist and author of The Female Brain, indicates that female sexual arousal begins when the brain’s anxiety and fear centers are deactivated, allowing impulses to reach the pleasure centers and trigger orgasm.
Despite these documented benefits, research shows that female pleasure remains one of our culture’s least understood topics, with many women reporting they rarely or never orgasm during partnered encounters. It is essential to understand the brain’s operating system that facilitates experiencing pleasure, known as the mind-body connection.
But here’s the truth: most women’s minds and bodies operate on different frequencies. The infamous ‘orgasm gap‘ isn’t just a buzz term; it’s an unfortunate reality that while guys are climaxing 95% of the time during sex, women hit that high note only 65% of the time in heterosexual relationships, which boils down to millions of women are faking it or just giving up! Like cut telephone wires, their neural pathways and physical sensations are disconnected.
Play, and Reconnect the Wires with Vibrators from Smile Makers
When was the last time you trusted a matchmaker instead of swiping right? Smile Makers offers exactly that, but for your pleasure and not your dating life. Their quiz doesn’t just pair you with a vibrator; it creates a roadmap of self-discovery. It prompts questions you might never have asked yourself about what sensations make your skin tingle, what fantasies lurk in your mind’s corners, and which pleasure pathways remain unexplored. The algorithm doesn’t just analyze your answers; it translates them into physical experiences tailored to you and your body.
With names like The Artist (below on the left) and The Billionaire (below on the right), Smile Makers plants seeds of imagination that allow for fantasies far more compelling than standard porn tropes. The Artist invites you to explore sensations as deliberate as brushstrokes, while The Billionaire promises the indulgence of someone for whom pleasure is luxuriously delectable.
Take The Poet (below on left), their clitoral suction vibrator with three interchangeable mouths. It doesn’t just promise physical stimulation; it allows for experimentation with position, pressure, and intensity that mimics the precision of carefully chosen words. What better way to arouse 8,000 nerve endings?
One of their most unique toys is The Ballerina (below, on the right). This ergonomic mouse-looking device brings a fresh approach to external stimulation, embracing the entire vulva with its innovative design. It’s created specifically for those prefer broad-surface contact rather than targeted sensations. Its appealing, elegant aesthetic runs at various speeds and simultaneously hits all erogenous zones below the belt.
Each vibrator arrives with a thoughtfully crafted “how to” video that provides clear, reassuring guidance, which removes the awkward fumbling of your virgin encounter with the toy. It’s too bad a Smile Makers’ instructional guide wasn’t around for Charlotte York. This disconnect reminds me of that memorable scene from Sex and the City where Charlotte confesses she’s uncomfortable looking at her own body. Samantha, ever the sexual revolutionary, is amazed: “Oh my god! Honey, I insist you go home right now and take a look—or better yet, take my compact and make a quick trip to the ladies’ room.”
This playful yet profound moment captures something essential about the journey Smile Makers now facilitates. Where Charlotte once stood alone in her uncertainty, today’s women find thoughtfully designed educational spaces prioritizing learning before experiencing. That scene acknowledged a discomfort many women (and men, for that matter) silently shared. We may live in one body, but our relationship with ourselves may hide all of its capabilities.
Now, Smile Makers has created what was missing then: detailed yet approachable content that transforms self-knowledge from an embarrassed confession into an empowered first step. Their educational approach acknowledges that understanding precedes pleasure, making the unfamiliar accessible and less intimidating.
Taking this a playful step further, their interactive quiz questions become intimate conversation starters, turning date night from mundane recaps of workdays into explorations of desire. A simple “What made you choose that answer?” becomes a doorway to understanding what turns you (or your partner) on and why. This erotic approach reminds us that education about our bodies should feel less like a clinical lesson and more like an adventure worth having.
Not only will these toys trigger toe-curling pleasure, but they’re also geared to improve your mental health. Research from the field of sexual health indicates that female masturbation correlates with improved body image, sexual confidence, and communication skills with partners. It’s also a way to find autonomy and agency over your desires, an empowering feeling for anyone seeking to understand themselves more intimately. For a lot of women, this is a challenging pursuit.
Reclaiming Pleasure as Power
Lauren Unger, kundalini yoga practitioner and author of the courageous new book Glow Up Your Chakras: From Medicated to Meditated, cuts through the noise: “Sex and sexuality have been weaponized, but when a woman learns to self-pleasure with intention, she can reclaim her body as a source of power and creation. Masturbation isn’t just about release; it’s about presence. It’s about feeling sensation, allowing energy to build, and becoming deeply attuned to your body’s natural rhythm.”
Unger doesn’t just theorize. She speaks from a place of embodied wisdom, backed by research from Dr. Megan Klabunde and her team at the University of Essex1, who indicate that women with enhanced “interoceptive awareness”, or the ability to perceive internal bodily sensations, tend to experience more frequent and satisfying orgasms.
Practices like kundalini yoga offer this connectivity, teaching us to circulate and harness our sexual energy rather than simply releasing it. Unlike traditional yoga’s focus on physical postures, kundalini works holistically on all bodily systems, helping us transcend mental limitations through breathwork, meditation, and specific poses that activate the sacral chakra between the hips, quite literally, awakening our capacity for pleasure from the inside out.
The rising popularity of neuroscience and consciousness has shed light on these more intricate observations, which reveal a profound shift that happens when we move from mindless physical behavior to conscious connection with our bodies.
What if we approached masturbation not as a guilty secret but as a practice as legitimate and transformative as meditation or yoga? Just as we’ve normalized mindfulness for mental health, we must recognize intentional self-pleasure as an essential form of self-connection.
While those tech bros continue their quest for the perfect robotic partner, the irony is that our human bodies are the original sensory machines, designed to offer more pleasure than we know. With deeper physiological and neurological understanding, we become our own best biohackers.
When we’re fully connected to our internal sensations, external tools like a vibrator become not substitutes but an amplifier, or even a compass. They help us understand our own pleasure centers and create a personal map that we can share with partners while continuing to explore new erotic territories. No need for the whole damn sex robot, they can wait their turn. We’re still beautifully, perfectly human…for now.
1 Dixon, E., Poerio, G.L., Rieger, G., & Klabunde, M. (2024). Interoceptive Awareness and Female Orgasm Frequency and Satisfaction. Brain Sciences, 14(12), 1236. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/14/12/1236
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