Gross Double Standard! Men Using Sextech Elicit Stronger Disgust Ratings Than Do Women

Use of vibrators and more advanced forms of sextech is increasingly common, yet remains stigmatized. Disgust, an emotion linked to social attitudes and sexual norm violations, may contribute to this stigma. However, research has yet to examine perceptions of sextech use as disgusting, or how these perceptions vary by gender. To address this, we tested whether: H1) men's sextech use is rated as more disgusting than women's; H2) disgust increases with the humanlikeness of the device; and H3) women report greater disgust than men across scenarios. Results from a survey (n = 371) revealed that men were viewed as more disgusting than were women when depicted as using sextech. Additionally, disgust levels varied depending on the device depicted, with sex toy use eliciting the least disgust and sex robot use the most. Across all items, women participants reported higher disgust than did men. These findings provide the first evidence of a sexual double standard penalizing men for sextech use, and that sextech use is viewed as more disgusting as it becomes more humanlike. These findings advance work promoting integration of technology and acceptance and normalization of varied sexual behaviors as they become increasingly incorporated into people's sex lives.