Sin Tracker: the vibrator

Monitoring the alleged sins of modern life

The ever miserable Ecologist magazine has done a critique of the “Rabbit” – apparently the world’s bestselling vibrator – in its November issue. Pat Thomas, the magazine’s health editor, finds that the Rabbit is intimately related to consumerism and capitalism. She suggests the following framework for examining the impact of the device:

“(W)hat happens if you subject the rabbit to the kind of simple but reasonable questions that should be asked of any technology: How much and what kind of waste does it generate? How does it affect our perception of our needs? To what extent does it redefine reality? What is its potential to become addictive? What is lost in using it? What aspects of reality does it allow us to ignore? Does it reduce, deaden or enhance the human experience? What aspects of the inner self does it reflect? Does it concentrate or equalise power? Does it foster diversity?” (Strangely, CO2 emissions do not appear on this list).

Not surprisingly the article comes to a negative conclusion: “like fast food, it may fill a hole, but it hardly makes a dent in the void”. Still I suppose it may show that, at least in a literal sense, not all ecologists are wankers.