Released in theaters this Wednesday, May 6, For pleasuredirected by Reem Kherici with Alexandra Lamy and François Cluzet, tells the story of a couple confronted with an intimate reality: the absence of orgasm after twenty years of marriage. Behind this romantic comedy lies a true revolution in female sexual well-being: that of the Womanizer, a sex toy that has become a global phenomenon.
A true story behind the fiction
In For pleasureFanny discovers that she has never experienced an orgasm despite two decades of married life. Her husband Tom, an engineer, then decides to create an object capable of transforming their intimacy. A fictionalized plot, but directly inspired by the story of Michael and Brigitte Lenke, the German couple behind the Womanizer.
It all started in 2012, when Michael Lenke discovered a statistic on the “orgasm gap”: significantly fewer women than men regularly reach orgasm during sexual intercourse. Intrigued, the Bavarian engineer embarked on in-depth research, consulted specialists and imagined a new approach to female pleasure, far from traditional sex toys.
With the help of his wife Brigitte, who tested the first prototypes, he developed a new device centered on the clitoris, an organ exclusively dedicated to female pleasure. Two years later, the Womanizer was born, officially launched in 2014.
The Womanizer, a sex toy that changed the codes
The success of the Womanizer is based on a technological innovation that has become emblematic: “Pleasure Air Technology”. Unlike traditional vibrators, the device uses gentle pulsations of air to stimulate the clitoris without direct contact.
The concept contrasts radically with the phallic-shaped sex toys that have long been dominant on the market. Here, female pleasure is thought of differently, with an approach focused on clitoral stimulation and its approximately 8,000 nerve endings.
Over the years, the brand has multiplied models and innovations. The Womanizer Premium, launched in 2018, notably introduced Smart Silence technology, which activates the device only on contact with the skin, as well as the Autopilot function, capable of automatically varying the stimulation rhythms. An improved version, the Premium 2, also appears in the film.
Sold today in more than 90 countries, the Womanizer has established itself as a global benchmark for intimate well-being, driven in particular by word of mouth between users.
When cinema supports the evolution of mentalities
Beyond the product, For pleasure above all tells the evolution of the view of female sexuality. The film takes place in a context where discussions around pleasure, desire and intimate well-being are gradually becoming freer.
The figures cited by the brand also bear witness to this reality: 60% of French women say they have already simulated an orgasm, while a large majority of men say they reach orgasm regularly during intercourse. Gaps that still fuel the debate around female pleasure and its representation today.
By bringing this story to the screen in the form of a mainstream romantic comedy, Reem Kherici’s film transforms a long-taboo subject into a popular story. A way of showing how an invention born in the privacy of a German couple became, in a decade, a true cultural phenomenon.