Made in China Redux

A brief ten days ago I wrote up a little essay expressing my dismay to have discovered that a major high end vibrator and toy maker is producing their products in country known for human rights violations, and also has a history of producing and exporting goods tainted with toxins - Made In China.

Although at the time I didn't name names, the manufacturer I was talking about was Lelo, a Swedish company known for it's high end (and high cost) vibrators.  To make a long story short, because of a warranty return, we discovered that Lelo vibrators originated in Suzhou, a suburb of Shanghai in the People's Republic of China.

It's been a sharp learning curve for Serafina and I ever since, an eye opening experience for sure, as we've quickly discovered that most of the world's vibrators are made in the People's Republic of China.

Then a comment I made on another blog elicited a response from somebody very much in the know about Lelo.  I'll will copy that comment here for our readers:

Oden says...
October 19th, 2011
Michael:
You are absolutely correct about Lelo products being produced in China, the company have large production facilities not too far away from Shanghai in Suzhou. The company produce and design their vibrators in-house making them rather unique in the industry. There are very few, maybe 2 more companies manufacturing themselves, all other companies outsource to Chinese factories with varying quality. The ability to control the whole chain from design (Swedish) and manufacturing gives Lelo several advantages, one is of course power to fully control material and quality, and another important thing is to secure good employment standards for their workers.In-house means that products are designed and produced completely by the company themselves. All this suggests Lelo have all the means to provide the market with superior and innovative products and I certainly believe they do.

Outside of a couple of grammatical errors that indicate to a trained eye that English may be a second language for the individual who provided that response, it's darn near worthy of MadMen wizard Don Draper. Oden speaks with confidence and authority, adopting a pleasantly assured and seemingly informative tone.

It's all sweetness, rose petals and sunshine, I suppose.

Well, except for the fact that the People's Republic of China (PRC) has a pretty poor record when it comes to human rights.  There's China's occupation of Tibet, for instance, and the messy little detail about the spiritual leader of the world's Buddhists being exiled because the PRC's invasion of his homeland. There are censorship issues too, as the PRC has some of the most repressive internet restrictions in the world.

The PRC is also infamous for it's system of reform and reeducation camps.  China employs it's political and religious prisoners in a series of camps called Laogai (meaning reform through labor) and Laojiao (meaning re-education through labor) where they become forced labor for China's industry.  Human Right's groups use a slightly stronger word for this practice, they call it "slave labor" rather than forced labor, and their best estimate is six to eight million individuals are imprisoned by this system at any one time.

None of this is sexy, to belabor the obvious.

Please do not misunderstand, I'm not trying to imply that Lelo is directly associated with any of the most heinous activities committed by the PRC.  I'm not trying to imply that at all!  But, the Chinese Laogai and Laojiao systems have their closest modern equivalent in the Soviet Gulag, and they make a significant contribution to the Chinese economy.

So, what does the informed consumer do?

I'm not sure.  A company like Lelo, who has their own dedicated production facility in the PRC, would seem to be significantly preferable to a company who doesn't have that much control.

But, beyond that I'm still a little fuzzy.

made in China?

When purchasing adult toys there are few guarantees.  

For public health reasons, returns are almost always forbidden by local law.  I believe that even the most staunch of my libertarian friends would nod at this as an acceptable role for government regulation.  I mean who wants a used dildo? (btw - don't answer that . . . you don't want to go there . . . there are people who pay for used panties after all!)

There aren't many adult toy makers who offer any kind of meaningful warranty for their goods either, although there are a few higher end manufacturers these days offering a year or two worth of limited protection against failure.  

This also makes good sense to me, as I'd be ashamed to try and return some cheap "Johnson" made by Doc Johnson.  I'd like to think toys like that are like a really bad one night stand where it's best to cringe, walk away, and try to pretend the whole thing never happened.  Some things aren't worth returning . . . 

My wife Serafina and I recently had an experience with a warranty return on one of those higher end products.  It's a really nice piece from an established and respected European company in the $100+ price range.  The toy's name sounds a lot like a role once played by Keanu Reeves.

Please note that this particular company proudly advertises manufacturing all of it's products "in house."   That leads me to believe, for instance, that if this particular company is headquartered in Sweden, then it's gear would also be manufactured in Sweden.

Imagine my surprise then when the FedEx tracking for my warranty replacement originates in Suzhou, China.  That's not a typographical error either, as my package then transited through Shanghai to Ancorage before making it to the mainland USA and towards the humble abode we call Samadhi House.

Ooops!  In a day and age when good numbers of Chinese exports are discovered to be tainted with toxic chemicals, heavy metals, or poisons like diethylene glycol, I really do my best to avoid purchasing most products that wear the "Made in China" label.  

I'm also concerned about the common use of forced labor (i.e. political and religious prisoners) in Chinese manufacturing.  Estimates of the total number of Chinese political and religious prisoners run as high as six or eight million.  Some of those folks are imprisoned simply for their faith, a disturbing thought for a blog author who believes that BDSM can be a spiritual activity.

I knew a girl who wouldn't accept a $10,000 engagement ring without certification.  She had to know it was not a "blood diamond" used to fund some evil insurgent or warlord before ever wearing it.  Her poor naive fiance had to return the first ring he bought her!

Do you really think  folks like her are going to take kindly to the possibility that the "Sweedish" toy humming in their vagina was "Made in China", let alone that it might be some kind of "prisoner dildo" fostering Communist repression?

Somebody's got some 'splainin to do!