Sex Education for Men Goes Virtual to Fill Gender Gap

SexForEveryBody.com is supported by our readers. We may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more.

For the better part of a decade, Patricia López has sold penis masturbators to customers around the world.

Since founding male sexual health brand MYHIXEL in 2016, she’s done so with the goal of providing therapies for premature ejaculation via app-connected penis sleeves.

Now López wants to help fill the void of sexual health information with MYHIXEL Academy, an online sex education platform that launched last month.

“Men don’t have a proper sexual education,” she says.

According to López, sex education is critical to raising awareness about the importance of male sexual health. But it’s also in short supply among men.

“The first access they have to sexual content most of the time is through porn, which is not the best way to be educated at all.”

Mixing sexual content and sex education

Studies back up that early exposure to pornography is common for adolescents, and that boys are more likely to be exposed to it at a younger age.

But it is not simply seen as entertainment, regardless of gender.

For example, 25% of 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States cited pornography as their most useful resource on how to have sex. The survey findings came from nationally representative data from 2015 published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior last year.

López, on the other hand, calls it “fiction” that does not reflect real life.

Yet virtual sex-ed portal MYHIXEL Academy takes a cue from the appeal of explicit media as a teaching tool. It provides sexual content on how to face various sexual conditions created by experts such as sex therapists, urologists, and nutritionists.

The two current course offerings are for premature ejaculation and delayed ejaculation, with some free lessons available. An upcoming course will be released on erectile dysfunction. Full course prices start at US$5.99.

Related Read: The Best Sex Toys for Hands-free Orgasms

The gender wellness gap

Before founding MYHIXEL, López spent four years as a marketing representative in Europe for Fleshlight. This best-selling brand of male masturbators is well-known for its sex sleeves that recreate the vaginas of famous adult performers.

López began to notice a change in the marketing approach of many female sextech brands in 2016.

Instead of simply focusing on pleasure and sex, they began talking about the health benefits of sex and having an orgasm.

At this time OMGYES, an online sex education platform that focuses on female pleasure, had launched to great praise from Harry Potter actress Emma Watson.

That year “vagina-nomics” also became a market trend recognized by JWT Intelligence as female sexuality took “center stage across multiple industries.”

It struck López as clever marketing to help chip away at the stigmas associated with female sexuality. She expected men would soon demand similar products that focused on their sexual health and well-being.

“It’s very typical that, at least in wellness, usually, women take advantage, and men, there is a gap of two, three years by the time men start consuming,” adds López, pointing to skincare and hair loss treatments as examples.

“Men take a little longer, but at the end of the day, they also consume the wellness products.”

Premature ejaculation and Millenials

According to López, roughly 60% of MYHIXEL’s consumers are 25- to 40-years-olds. The climax control program is next most popular among 40- to 55-year-olds followed by the under-25 demographic.

“It makes sense,” she says. “It’s mainly Millennials.”

It’s not just the masturbator that appeals to MYHIXEL’s main users.

It’s the combination of sex therapy for premature ejaculation combined with “gamified treatment” that likely draws Millenials, adds López.

The MYHIXEL PLAY mobile app delivers established therapies for ejaculation control created by experts, but in a digitized format meant to be fun.

It’s also meant to make ejaculation control therapy more accessible for all age groups. Between 30% to 40% of men will experience premature ejaculation during their lives, reports The Cleveland Clinic.

Despite how common the sexual condition is, many men don’t want to talk to a health practitioner due to shame.

‘We are trying to normalize the conversation around male sexuality, eliminating taboos,” says López.

“Most guys struggle with a sexual issue at some point in their lives, but there are professionals, services, products, and content ready to help you.”