Naughty but nice: Sarah Baines with in-demand products at Naughty Gifts.
By Cherie Donnellan
LOCAL sex shops have reported a surge of customers requesting fetish items amid the rising phenomenon of a racy new book series dubbed “mummy porn”.
A Sexyland Geelong representative told the Independent she had noted a “definite buzz” around fetish products since the release of the third 50 Shades of Grey book in January.
“We now stock the books because people haven’t been able to buy them in normal bookstores (due to them selling out),” she said.
“I’m actually having customers asking me ‘Can you show me what these are’ and pointing to things mentioned in the book.
“People are coming in not knowing what they’re looking for but they’re curious. It’s taken away the barriers of trying (fetish and bondage) things.”
The trilogy earned the mummy porn description for its popularity among married women aged over 30. The fictional series explores a sexual relationship between manipulative billionaire Christopher Grey and virgin college graduate Anastasia Steele.
The series features graphic scenes involving fetish and bondage acts.
Author EL James penned the novels after adapting a “fan-fiction” series she wrote based on teenage fantasy fiction books Twilight.
A Sexyland head office spokesperson said Geelong sales of fetish products had risen almost 35 per cent.
“Softer” fetish products like “fluffy cuffs” and silk blindfolds were the biggest sellers, she said.
Sarah Baines, of Geelong’s Naughty Gifts, also reported “high demand for fetish wear and gear” in recent months.
The store had to “increase the amount and variety of whips, gags and heavy-metal kind of stuff”, she said.
“We’ve also had specific requests for leather products…and other special-order items.
“It’s been good for (sales) because there’s not a lot of (local) places that offer that kind of stuff. People now know they don’t have to go all the way to Melbourne.”
Ms Baines said the store was set to open a “display dungeon” because of fetishism’s rising popularity in Geelong.
