SexTech TO: Future of Porn Literacy, Dating Apps, and Canadian Sextech

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Nearly two dozen people gathered for the second SexTech TO networking event on October 2 held at Glad Day Bookshop in Toronto.

The theme for the evening’s panel was The Future of Porn and Adult Content, which was moderated by organizer Alexandra Friedman.

The Canadian sextech industry professionals and enthusiasts in attendance heard well-balanced perspectives from the event’s speakers, sex educator Sabrina Baldini and Toronto porn performer Malcolm Lovejoy.

Together they shared a breadth of complementary insights on the future of adult content, porn literacy, online dating trends, and the growing desire for authenticity in intimate connections and adult entertainment.

Read to the end of the article for details on the Canadian sextech giveaway and Montreal-based custom sex toy company Freely.

The Speakers

Host of the After Sex Ed podcast and a self-described “sex nerd,” Sabrina Baldini’s expertise stems from many years of academic study and one-on-one sex coaching.

Baldini holds an advanced degree in Sexual Health and more than a decade of experience in the field of sex education.

Malcolm Lovejoy is a Toronto-born adult performer, as well as a multi-talented artist, musician, and photographer. For the past ten years, he’s also been a writer for PolyamoryToday.com.

As Lovejoy approaches his 10th year in the world of adult entertainment, his expertise spans beyond the camera lens. With more than 100 scenes under his belt, his accomplishments include two wins at the Toronto International Porn Festival in 2017 and 2018 and more than a dozen other nominations.

Porn literacy

Porn literacy was discussed throughout the evening, a topic well-tackled between the sex educator and veteran adult performer.

According to Baldini, many of her sex coaching clients are trying to wean themselves off pornography or improve their relationship with it.

“Porn literacy just comes up so much in my sessions where I’m really explaining to adults what porn is and what porn is not,” said Baldini, who added that the majority of her clients are cis-gendered straight men under 40.

What people often see in pornography can’t be assessed as real life. Instead, she says that comparing porn to sex is as unfit a judgment as comparing the athletic performance of parkour to walking.

For consumers of adult content, Lovejoy gave advice on what to pay attention to in terms of what’s included and what’s edited out.

“If you’re watching on most typical porn websites,” he says, “just become more aware of the ‘edit’ moments.”

“One thing that is always cut out is usually the rolling on of the condom or even the negotiation or the conversation before asking for consent.”

When Baldini teaches sex ed to children, in particular, she often faces hostility on the topic of porn literacy. “I find it so frustrating that comprehensive sexual health education is so constantly attacked or there’s so much hostility towards it.”

“Nobody wants porn to be sex education. Nobody wants that. People that participate in porn don’t want that, you’re not sex educators, you’re entertainers. Sex educators should be sex educators.”

On the future of the adult industry

AI porn, VR porn, and the rise of the creator economy were also discussed regarding porn literacy and the future of adult content.

Lovejoy highlighted how the ability for adults to easily create pornography, thanks to the high-quality cameras in smartphones, has put more power into the hands of adult performers.

“The same way the major labels have been destabilized, and the way that Hollywood doesn’t have the stranglehold on movies the way they used to, porn companies don’t have the same domination,” Lovejoy said.

Rather than being under the control of big-name porn companies, and needing to do what they say in order to get hired and paid, creators can go online and sell directly to their own fans.

Lovejoy acknowledges that PornHub still holds “a technical mafia monopoly on the creation of porn, but it’s not really global.”

“We don’t really need PornHub, we can make our own porn.”

As for VR porn, the crowd and the panelists held differing views on the appeal of the new and costly field to access. Yet concerns about AI-generated porn and how it can be used to harm people seemed shared by the room.

Lovejoy, in particular, voiced his worry about the rise of AI porn fakes, which can create irrevocable damage to a person’s reputation. He specifically talked about how the technology is being used for unethical purposes to create non-consensual pornography, often also referred to as AI revenge porn.

Related Read: SexTech TO’s 1st Toronto Networking Event Sparks Connections

On dating apps and online matchmaking

Discussion on the decline in popularity of dating apps shed light on how people are seeking more authentic and in-person interactions.

“Back in the day, people used to make fun of looking for relationships online. They used to be like, ‘If you’re going online and you’re even talking about sexuality, you’re a creep,'” said Lovejoy.

Today, it’s commonplace to use dating apps, which saw a surge in new signups during the pandemic.

Even still, Lovejoy says he prefers meeting people face-to-face during random encounters and hasn’t had much luck finding intimate connections online. He added that he hadn’t used them in a year and a half.

While Lovejoy has given up on dating apps, he’s not alone.

According to Baldini, women are leaving dating apps in droves.

“Women are deleting dating apps basically en masse. Tinder is like three-to-one men to women, Hinge is like four-to-one. I don’t think it was ever 50/50, but it’s really getting imbalanced.”

Baldini doesn’t have concrete data to back up why women are leaving, but she has her own opinion.

“We are so overdue for a third wave of the sexual revolution.”

“If women delete the apps, I can’t see men sticking around very long. It’s another swing into romance, another swing into, ‘I would like to see you in real life.'”

Sextech in Canada

After the speakers wrapped up, organizer Alexandra Friedman blindly picked the winners of the Bellesa Boutique vibrator giveaway. All attendees who bought their tickets in advance from Eventbrite were eligible for the raffle.

Based in Montreal, Bellesa prides itself on being run by women and making pornography targeted at women. In addition, it sells its own line of sex toys, three of which the company kindly donated to the event

They included the Bellesa Pebble clitoral stimulator with suction and vibration, the Bellesa AirVibe that provides both external clitoral suction and internal G-spot stimulation, and lastly, The Demi Wand. Singer Demi Lovato supposedly designed the latter mini wand vibrator that can work for all bodies, regardless of genitals or gender.

I didn’t win, but if I did and had the option, I would have picked The Demi Wand vibrator, but I digress. I have too many sex toys already that I’ve been fortunate enough to have won or been gifted by brands in the past.

Freely custom sex toys

I was delighted to meet Ben Lusterio-Adler, the founder of the Montreal-based custom sex toy brand Freely. Holding no inventory Freely creates and ships its silicone products as ordered and designed by customers with its online toy builder. Customers can make their ideal sex toy by choosing its shape, size, base, and hardness. Freely also offers business-to-business (B2B) opportunities with private white label and wholesale opportunities.

What stands out to me on the B2B side is how Freely has been working with sex educators and adult content creators to help build their own product lines. It’s a more affordable and accessible option for them to develop their own private labels within Canada, without the need to make costly and potentially risky bulk orders that might not sell out.

For example, Freely previously teamed up with the well-known Toronto sex educator Luna Matatas. The company has also collaborated with model Dark Onyxx to make an Anime and tentacle-themed stroker.

Freely uses 3D printing in its manufacturing process and the toys themselves are 100% hand-poured platinum cure silicone.

Currently, the Candian sextech company has a partnership underway with an intersex creator to make a dildo that looks like her penis.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again and meeting new faces at the next Toronto networking event!