Joani Blank

Born in 1937, Joani Blank studied public health at the University of North Carolina [4]. After earning her degree, she moved to San Francisco, where she worked for Planned Parenthood as well as San Francisco Sex Information, before becoming a sex therapist [4]. In 1975, she founded Down There Press, an independent feminist publishing company [4]. Through her publishing company, Joani Blank released several sex-positive books. These books, including Playbook for Women about Sex and Playbook for Kids about Sex, focused on eliminating inhibition, ignorance, and taboo regarding sex [4].

In 1977, she would create an innovation that aligned with her previous efforts - a women-friendly vibrator shop [3]. The store, called Good Vibrations, was based on sex education, feminism, and sexual exploration [3]. While Eve's Garden in Manhattan was the first feminist vibrator store, it did not let men enter unless they were with a woman [1]. Journalist and former employee of Good Vibrations Laura Miller states that "[Eve's Garden] was about the idea that women needed to be protected from men when they were exploring their sexuality. Our market was women, but we welcomed men into the store" [1]. The pain point that Blank addressed was that both men and women felt that traditional sex stores were seedy, sleazy, and not very informational [2]. Good vibrations offered an alternative to male-dominated sex stores [2]. Summarizing this, Blank stated that "The places to get [vibrators] were pretty icky" [1]. In terms of sales approach, "The model was always to treat every question or concern that customers had, and everything they were interested in, as perfectly normal and wholesome, and to give them plenty of information," says Miller [1]. No hokey gimmicks, air quotes, or euphemisms about "massage" [1]. Joani Blank sought to promote quality, education, and awareness regarding sexual education.

Joani Blank sold Good Vibrations to her employees in 1992 [4]. Then, in 2007, GVA-TWN executive Joel Kaminsky bought the company and since then is now operating eight stores across the U.S [2]. Blank's contribution to sex education, however, does not begin and end with Good Vibrations. Her entire life, whether it be through her sex therapy, mentorship with other sex-positive entrepreneurs, or authoring educational books, has been dedicated to addressing the same pain point as Good Vibrations [4]. Regarding Blank's impact, sex educator and writer Tristan Taormino writes "everything we know and love about vibrators, the new sex toy technologies, the proliferation of feminist- and queer-run sex-positive stores around the country—all of them have a piece of Joani’s vision, attitude, and spirit in them...Her legacy in the sex-positive world—and beyond—is huge and undeniable" [3].

Even today, the original and many other Good Vibrations stores still stand today [2]. The stores, paired with Joani's efforts, have helped advance sexual education and feminism greatly since 1977. Undoubtedly, Blank's impact is not only felt in the continuation of the franchise but through the advancement of women's rights. The goal of an entrepreneur is not self-centered; one must innovate not for financial gain, but to make the world a better place. In every sense of the word, Joani Blank is a successful entrepreneur and innovator.

Anderson, L. (2016, August 15). Good vibrations founder Joani Blank, feminist pioneer and ... San Francisco Magazine. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://sanfran.com/good-vibrations-founder-joani-blank-feminist-pioneer-and-vibrator-designer-has-d.

Barros, J. R. (2016, August 10). Founder of Good Vibrations Sex Store Dies. Mission Local. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://missionlocal.org/2016/08/founder-of-good-vibrations-sex-store-dies/.

Comella, L. (2016, August 12). Remembering good vibrations founder Joani Blank, 1937 - 2016. Bitch Media. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/remembering-good-vibrations-founder-joani-blank-1937-2016.

JWA Staff. (2016, August 6). Joani Blank. Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/blank-joani.