from www.nevadasagebrush.com – Nevada is a haven for all things sexy and sexualized. With legalized prostitution in outlying counties and a myriad of strip clubs and adult-oriented shops within larger cities, sex culture thrives in Nevada and gains attention from worldwide citizens eager to experience the racy nightlife that is unique to Nevada.

In Reno, sex permeates the culture. On South Virginia Street alone, there are at least four adult-oriented businesses within a few blocks of each other, occasionally right across the street from one another.

Native Nevadans are less likely to take notice of the sex industry’s affect on the culture, but they are more likely to be affected by it, Nancy Downey, a sociology and women’s studies instructor, said.

“They may be jaded to it and overlook it more often,” she said. “You’re more likely to see it as normal if you were raised around it. You can choose not to participate. But, they are more likely to be personally affected or affected by it negatively. You can know someone who was a prostitute or someone who may have been raped because they were a dancer at a club.”

Many Nevada students say that they are used to the sexualized atmosphere in Reno and Las Vegas and are undisturbed by it.

“I’ve been to Romantic Sensations and the Chocolate Walrus,” Katherine Silva-Sampaio, a 20-year-old education major, said. “It’s not really a big thing. Some places may not have these shops, but I don’t think it’s odd that we have them. And they’re obviously successful since they’ve stayed open.”
WEBBAdult-Book-Store_vert3

Photo by Brian Bolton/The Nevada Sagebrush

“If we have a lot of strip clubs, I don’t think that will influence people in good ways,” he said. “I’m not from this country, but I wouldn’t like strip clubs in Saudi Arabia.”

Nevada has a long-standing history of housing sexually progressive ideas. Downey draws the current sexual culture back to its roots as a mining town in the open west.

“Historically, the West had that tendency to be more liberal — ‘the Wild West,’” she said. “Women were not as constrained by the traditional gender expectations. It also goes along with the legalization of gambling. When we have something that is not legal in other places, you’re more likely to have other vices as well.”

Advanced Human Sexuality professor Tory Clark said she believes that tourism heavily factors into the success of so many adult-oriented businesses in Reno.

“Reno is a transient place,” she said. “People come here for all sorts of reasons — people used to come here to get divorced. If it is available, people are going to take advantage of it.”

Many tourists come to Reno to experience the sex culture that is unavailable or uncommon in their hometowns.

“In Reno, in general, we get a lot of tourist action,” Crystal Siegel, the assistant manager of local adult-themed boutique Chocolate Walrus, said. “People take a vacation to have sex in private in a more open town. A lot of places don’t have adult stores, or they’re looked down upon. But the Chocolate Walrus is a hot spot.”

Suzie’s Adult Superstore store manager Lisa Longden said she feels that businesses involving sex survive in Reno because the community and its history steeped in sexual freedom cultivates an accepting atmosphere toward the subject.

“I think they’d thrive anywhere there are open-minded people,” she said. “It’s a tourist town. People come here to have fun. You can come in, spend $200, go to a hotel and have the time of your life with your lover. It gives you a memory that you can hang on to.”

Statistics show that states with laws in place outlawing the sale of pornography or other business involving the sex industry have the highest numbers of downloads for Internet pornography, according to Robert Crooks’s textbook “Our Sexuality.” In Utah, it is illegal to distribute, transmit, transport, broadcast or produce pornographic material with the intent to distribute. However, Salt Lake City has the highest rates in the nation for pornographic downloads, according to the textbook.

“Things aren’t suppressed here,” Clark said. “It’s crazy to suppress something biological. I think it can be detrimental. Whenever things are suppressed to that extent, people find ways to access it. In Reno, you have the freedom to do it and not be charged. It’s what makes Nevada unique.”

While a sexualized economy is significant for Nevada, Las Vegas plays up its sexual notoriety whereas Reno tends to play it down.

“There is a stigma attached to it,” Downey said. “The stigma persists because some of our advertisements are insinuating that you can do here whatever you wouldn’t do at home. When I was younger, we moved to Washington D.C., and my mother told me that people treated her differently and asked how she could raise a child in Las Vegas. They had no idea that there could be family life and thriving communities.”

Longden said she feels that Reno publicly shies away from its sexual aspects, rather than embracing them the way that Las Vegas tends to do.

“Maybe Reno doesn’t want to be a little Vegas,” she said. “It wants to be its own thing. We don’t want to be known as Sin City. ‘Sin’ is shady and derogatory. I think we’re better than Vegas. We own our own thing. Reno is a pretty small town. The community is family-oriented. We’re not a family-oriented business, but we’re couples-oriented, and where do families start? We get a lot of repeat business from couples who say that their relationship was on the rocks, but it’s better now. Couples can connect in different ways, and it’s a good outlet for people to get it out and learn.”

Clark said she believes that many of the customers that frequent adult-oriented businesses are simply seeking company they are unable to get elsewhere.

“It’s more about companionship and fulfillment when times are rough,” she said. “You should never underestimate the power of touch. Imagine going without a hug for years. Where is there room for someone who is not attractive through the eyes of America, or someone who is disabled, homosexual, transgender, from another country or a different race? That’s why it’s available.”

Many of the employees at sex-oriented stores in town say that they serve customers that may be unexpected connoisseurs of such products, such as couples and women. Chocolate Walrus, for example, displays a bookshelf near its front entrance with titles such as “Unleashing Her G-Spot Orgasm” and “Female Ejaculation” among its many racks of lingerie and bottles of massage oil.

“It’s a great outlet for women,” Siegel said. “It’s great for women to explore their body and sexuality. We like it to be a friendly experience. You don’t feel dirty or shameful coming in. People are comfortable asking questions and exploring themselves.”