A lot of escapist entertainment is aspirational in nature. Oprah‘s Favorite Things list always includes some $600 pillow sham or $150 candle, magazines like Vogue and Marie Claire routinely showcase items whose price is “upon request” (Translation: If you have to ask, you can’t afford it), and there are entire channels devoted to shows about people buying houses most Americans will never be able to own. So, upon first glance, Gwyneth Paltrow including a $15,000 dildo on her list of “Not So Basic Sex Toys” in Goop’s Sex Issue isn’t all that unusual.
There’s just one complicating factor: Nobody aspires to be like Gwyneth Paltrow.
Anyway, if you’re in the market for a sex toy that could also serve as the down payment for a modestly sized home in many suburban markets, the Lelo Inez looks pretty nice. It also comes in a $7,900 stainless steel version, if you’re one of those hopelessly gauche new-money types. The metaphor for the systematic screwing of the middle class, however—that one’s free.