Obviously the idea to open a ‘blowjob cafe’ in London is ridiculous

Sex sells, literally


Sex sells and in this proposed Paddington café, sex (oral sex to be precise) literally sells. This so-called ‘fellatio café’ (a working title, we assume) is expected to open in London sometime soon, although no concrete plans have been revealed as of yet. Originally based on a Thai business model, the announcement of a similarly themed café has already provoked scandal in Geneva, Switzerland, even though it isn’t scheduled to open until December 6th this year. Hot on the heels of the plans for Geneva, the Swiss-based owner Bradley Charvet – presumably of the school of thought that there’s no such thing as bad publicity – has his sights set on Paddington for the UK branch of this misogynistic masterpiece.

A sex shop (not the proposed London cafe)

While in this café, which will charge a minimum of £50, plus £10 for each extra 15 minutes, men simply browse the photos of women available to provide them with their blowjob. Objectively, this could be seen as a step in the right direction, making sexual acts a little less taboo, but why only for men? (According to Charvet, the proposed Paddington branch would have enough space for up to 100 men to have an extra relaxing coffee break at once.) You could also suggest that it reduces the taboo of oral sex and sex work in one fell swoop, but again only for men. Why can’t women have the same scenario? Why are we inferior once again?

Although it could easily be swept aside as only a mere publicity stunt, a novelty that will have no lasting effect on the blowjob café industry of the UK, to dismiss it so easily is to miss the underlying point which even the proposed existence of this fellatio café purveys. The message, once again reinforced in our society, is that male orgasm and male sexual pleasure are objectives which deserve to be achieved, and at the cost of reducing women to sexual objects to be bought with as much thought as goes into ordering your non-fat skinny latte of an afternoon. The pleasure of man is seen as a necessity, just like coffee. The owner even told The Independent: ‘Everyone drinks coffee, it’s social’.  But should blowjobs be considered a social activity, something you just pop out on your lunchbreak for? Should there be a woman under your table getting you off, while you wolf down a sandwich and a pastry?

Bradley Charvet (R), the PR manager of BumPix who is now promoting the coffee shop in London where punters can get a blow job

Sex is the oldest business in the book – and if women want to work willingly in the sex trade they should be free to do so – safely, securely and with a stable income. After all, the sale of sex is legal in the UK (but brothels aren’t, so the legalities of this project are still up in the air). The issue here isn’t selling sex, it’s the constant reaffirmation that women are lesser to men, existing merely to satisfy their needs and bring their orange-mocha-frappuccino at the same time (although Charvet claims that the barista and sex worker positions will be held by different women). Literally reduced down to a thumbnail are the women they will expect to please them more than a caffeine high ever could.

Ultimately, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a sex café, it’s just a shame that it’s only available for men.