This week, Vice’s Samantha Cole took a penetrating plunge, if you will, into the history, current utility, and future of the Fleshlight—”the ubiquitous masturbation device.” From its analog beginnings in the late nineties to its high-tech teledildonics-and-VR-enabled newer iterations, Cole called the Fleshlight “a portal to the future of sex.”

“No matter your opinion of the ubiquitous brand, it’s made an undeniable mark on human sexuality and the world,” wrote Cole. She went on to deconstruct the impact the toy has had on the world of sex toys—and how porn has played a huge role in its evolution. 

The Fleshlight company partnered with adult performers back in the 2000s to create replicas of adult stars’ mouths, vulvas, and anuses, and has made a killing ever since with its three porn-performer-replica lines: Fleshlight Girls, Boys, and Guys. And, though some have made a fuss over the literal objectification that being turned into a disembodied sex toy implies, the Fleshlight Girls Cole spoke with felt differently. 

The piece focused on Fleshlight’s current roster of “45 models of Fleshlight Girls, including Stoya, Riley Reid, Jessica Drake, and Kissa Sins,” and, Cole said, the line of toys has changed some of those performers’ lives for the better. 

Performer, writer, director, and producer Stoya, for instance, told Cole that her Fleshlight is “‘What’s enabled me to start independent porn companies like Zero Spaces,’ she said. ‘It’s sold well enough that it gives me the extra resources to do creative things.’” 

Stoya continued, “‘People like don’t give a fuck largely about who’s doing the fucking [in mainstream porn], who’s coming up with the fucking, but with a Fleshlight—someone has looked [for me].’” But knowing that someone has chosen to spend nearly $80 on a mold of her body, particularly? “‘That feels really humanizing,’ Stoya said. ‘Whereas seeing one of my videos pirated on Pornhub with a sentence in the description that says,’’Don’t mention the performers name so she can’t find this and get this removed’? That’s really dehumanizing, and really separates you from your work. With the Fleshlight, it’s the opposite.’”

And Fleshlight Girl model Elsa Jean said, “‘Having my vagina and butthole on sale for people is actually pretty amazing…Believe it or not, it was one of my goals when I first started in the industry. It’s as close as [consumers] can get to having the real thing.’”

Consumers weighed in with their approval of the masturbation sleeves, as well. One Fleshlight user, who has cerebral palsy, said, “‘As a disabled user, it allowed me the freedom and knowledge that sex toys were definitely for me! It helped me deal with some of the loneliness that I was experiencing.’”