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Mayor Bloomberg to ban sex toys over 12 inches
In an attempt by the administration to fight obesity, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to implement a ban on the sale of large dildos and other sex toys at retailers, emporiums and street carts.
By Julie Gunlock
The New York City Board of Health rubber stamped Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s much maligned sex toy regulation, banning the sale of toys larger than 12 inches in retailers, emporiums, and street carts. Despite growing disdain among New Yorkers and a groundswell of opposition from the city’s already-struggling small business owners, the city will proceed to regulate New Yorkers’ sex choices beginning in March 2013.
Bloomberg insists that his sex toy ban will help reduce obesity in the city. He also argues it’s really no ban at all, just a tool to help people better understand how much they consume.
Such carefully crafted talking points make the Mayor almost sound reasonable and simply concerned about those New Yorkers who are unable to control their urges . Casting his proposal as an informational campaign instead of an outright ban, the Mayor explained last month on MSNBC that “We’re not taking away anybody’s right to do things, we’re simply forcing you to understand that you have to make the conscious decision to go from one to another.”
The word “forcing” is generally a no-no word for politicians. Yet, instead of condemnation, the Mayor was praised for his leadership. Noted sex writer (and sex regulation cheerleader) Marion Nestle endorses the strategy of tricking people into better health on her popular blog Sex Politics, writing “regulations make it easier for people to have sex healthfully without having to think about it.”
New Yorkers should ask themselves: Is it the role of government to force citizens to do or “understand” anything? Where does this new anti-obesity tactic leave free thought, free will, and free choice? Are these freedoms only available to married Americans, non-sex toy users, and athletes? What’s the next item the government will decide to force us to understand? The potential list is hardly limited to one’s sex choices.
Despite Bloomberg’s clever word-smithing, support for his sex toy ban is shrinking. When the Mayor first proposed the ban, 52 percent of New Yorkers approved. Today, only 40 percent approve. This confirms a 2010 Rasmussen poll which found that 86 percent of Americans opposed the government telling them how they should have sex and a majority opposed taxing sex toys.
Lingering support for the Mayor’s sex toy proposal likely stems from the false hope that it will lower the city’s obesity rate. Yet, the reality is that these sin taxes rarely do anything to sway human behavior. There are various studies on both sides of the sin tax issue, but most reasonable people understand that the Mayor’s idea is doomed if only because his ban fails to address the real drivers of obesity: eating too much and exercising too little.
The ban is unlikely to change New Yorkers’ bodies, but it will be a major headache for consumers and businesses alike. Consumers may find it annoying to juggle the multiple toys they’ll be forced to purchase if they demands more than the 12 inches the Mayor allows them. Yet businesses will have a more challenging juggling act to do in order to comply with the new regulations and to simply stay afloat.
First, the ban applies only to certain businesses—retailers, emporiums and street carts. That puts them at a disadvantage since you can still get your sex toys from an unlicensed seller. While sex toys are banned, one is still permitted to get their fix from movies —which often contain even more sex than toys. Beer and other alcoholic drinks—another big source of sex—are also exempt. Party on!
That’s generally what happens with these sorts of government interventions. A proposal designed to help solve one problem results in a number of other problems. The Mayor’s sex toy ban will be no different. He may want New Yorkers to think he’s taking a brave stand against obesity, but really Mayor Bloomberg is doing little more than abusing his powerful office, bloating government, causing higher food costs and taking choices away from consumers.
That’s no fix for New York.
In an attempt by the administration to fight obesity, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to implement a ban on the sale of large dildos and other sex toys at retailers, emporiums and street carts.
By Julie Gunlock
The New York City Board of Health rubber stamped Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s much maligned sex toy regulation, banning the sale of toys larger than 12 inches in retailers, emporiums, and street carts. Despite growing disdain among New Yorkers and a groundswell of opposition from the city’s already-struggling small business owners, the city will proceed to regulate New Yorkers’ sex choices beginning in March 2013.
Bloomberg insists that his sex toy ban will help reduce obesity in the city. He also argues it’s really no ban at all, just a tool to help people better understand how much they consume.
Such carefully crafted talking points make the Mayor almost sound reasonable and simply concerned about those New Yorkers who are unable to control their urges . Casting his proposal as an informational campaign instead of an outright ban, the Mayor explained last month on MSNBC that “We’re not taking away anybody’s right to do things, we’re simply forcing you to understand that you have to make the conscious decision to go from one to another.”
The word “forcing” is generally a no-no word for politicians. Yet, instead of condemnation, the Mayor was praised for his leadership. Noted sex writer (and sex regulation cheerleader) Marion Nestle endorses the strategy of tricking people into better health on her popular blog Sex Politics, writing “regulations make it easier for people to have sex healthfully without having to think about it.”
New Yorkers should ask themselves: Is it the role of government to force citizens to do or “understand” anything? Where does this new anti-obesity tactic leave free thought, free will, and free choice? Are these freedoms only available to married Americans, non-sex toy users, and athletes? What’s the next item the government will decide to force us to understand? The potential list is hardly limited to one’s sex choices.
Despite Bloomberg’s clever word-smithing, support for his sex toy ban is shrinking. When the Mayor first proposed the ban, 52 percent of New Yorkers approved. Today, only 40 percent approve. This confirms a 2010 Rasmussen poll which found that 86 percent of Americans opposed the government telling them how they should have sex and a majority opposed taxing sex toys.
Lingering support for the Mayor’s sex toy proposal likely stems from the false hope that it will lower the city’s obesity rate. Yet, the reality is that these sin taxes rarely do anything to sway human behavior. There are various studies on both sides of the sin tax issue, but most reasonable people understand that the Mayor’s idea is doomed if only because his ban fails to address the real drivers of obesity: eating too much and exercising too little.
The ban is unlikely to change New Yorkers’ bodies, but it will be a major headache for consumers and businesses alike. Consumers may find it annoying to juggle the multiple toys they’ll be forced to purchase if they demands more than the 12 inches the Mayor allows them. Yet businesses will have a more challenging juggling act to do in order to comply with the new regulations and to simply stay afloat.
First, the ban applies only to certain businesses—retailers, emporiums and street carts. That puts them at a disadvantage since you can still get your sex toys from an unlicensed seller. While sex toys are banned, one is still permitted to get their fix from movies —which often contain even more sex than toys. Beer and other alcoholic drinks—another big source of sex—are also exempt. Party on!
That’s generally what happens with these sorts of government interventions. A proposal designed to help solve one problem results in a number of other problems. The Mayor’s sex toy ban will be no different. He may want New Yorkers to think he’s taking a brave stand against obesity, but really Mayor Bloomberg is doing little more than abusing his powerful office, bloating government, causing higher food costs and taking choices away from consumers.
That’s no fix for New York.
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