Now at Your Local Drugstore: Vibrators

Vibrators used to be confined to seedy stores or websites, but nowadays you can find them right next to the tampons at your local Walgreens, and women are increasingly open about purchasing the sex toys—and sharing them with partners. Consumers "kept telling us vibrators, vibrators. And we just laughed. And then we realized they were serious," says a VP for Trojan, which actually managed to get its vibrator commercial aired on TV.

A Durex brand manager agrees: Sales of that company's vibrators are up 60% over the past six months, and "consumers are definitely not shy about this kind of purchase in the retail environment,” he tells the New York Times. Sex and the City is partially to thank for this increased level of "women's sexual comfort," notes Dr. Laura Berman, and she is just one of many who is happy about it: "Women are getting less and less caught up on an unrealistic and puritanical vision of what a good girl is. When they can embrace their self-stimulation, they can take ownership of their sexuality.” (More vibrator stories.)