Revamping the house call

One Journal staffer reviews her not-so-hot Passion Party experience

Passionate Pam Rochna shows off the Ultimate Indulgence.
Image by: Harrison Smith
Passionate Pam Rochna shows off the Ultimate Indulgence.

Back in the day, women held Tupperware parties. A hired consultant would demonstrate and sell plastic containers to a group of women gathered at a home. These days, you can participate in a more passionate kind of household party.

Passion Parties, a Las Vegas-based company, gives people who may feel a bit sheepish about buying intimate products, such as edible lotion or racy sex toys, the chance to do so in the comfort of their—or their friends’—homes.

On one cold night in January, it was a group of Journal staffers’ turn to experience some passionate fun.

“Welcome, everybody,” said Pam Rochna, the passion party leader for the night. She was in her mid-30s, sporting bleached-blonde hair, a hot pink shirt reading “Passion Party” and a bubbly smile.

“Has anybody ever been to a passion party before?” Collective shaking heads.

“No? OK. I like to call you guys virgins,” she said.

To start, she handed us an order form with more than 175 items and two different catalogues—an orange “mild” one, and a purple “wild” one—so we could mark down what we liked or wanted to purchase during her demonstrations. The mild copy featured items such as the purple, heart-shaped, self-warming massage pack; shower gels; edible body paints and candle massage oils. The wild catalogue contained everything from vibrators to dildos and fetish wear, such as full-body stockings and costumes. The first activity of the evening began with “Pure Instincts”—a clear, perfume-like fluid made with synthetic pheromones, designed to bring out the wearer’s natural pheromones, the hormone that attracts one person to another. “All you need is a little dab,” she said.

Rochna went around the room with popsicle sticks, spreading pheromones to everyone.

Pheromones have no scent, Rochna said, but with the fluid’s help our natural pheromones can become subject to human detection. After applying the Pure Instincts, some of us smelled a little fruitier, others muskier—but generally, everyone’s “pheromones” had a hint of tropical fruit.

Other mists and sprays came out of Rochna’s suitcase. One such product was “Silky Sheets,” a spray with a thin layer of talcum powder infused in an aerosol can.

“You know those wet spots you may find … you don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Rochna said.

With that, the party moved into more 14A territories—actually talking about what goes on in bed.

“We’re going to talk about some edible fun. Having fun in the bedroom makes sex more enjoyable,” she said.

She brought out the Edible Pens—non-sticky, chocolate body ink in squeezable pen form. Rochna went around the circle writing our initials on the back of our hands with either a chocolate- or a strawberry-flavoured Edible Pen. The icing itself was less pleasant than real chocolate—too much of it tasted like Kool-Aid and food colouring. Silence filled the room as we collectively licked the back of our hands in an awkward, cat-like fashion.

Sticking with the edible theme, Rochna concluded the “mild” session with a dab of Tasty Tease, a paste coming in strawberry and piña colada flavours.

“It’s a tasty tease on your tongue, or on the penis,” Rochna said.

You could also use it in the morning, Rochna said, to prevent morning-breath from detracting from some early fun, or on the clitoris to help with post-orgasm sensitivity.

The talk of orgasms is the trigger that transitions the evening from mild to wild.

“Let’s talk about vibration,” Rochna said.

The rest of the night was filled with vibrators of all kinds, sizes and speeds. With names such as “Pearl Dolphin,” “Turtle Frenzy” and “Escalating Elephant,” the wild catalogue resembled an R-rated safari.

Rochna had samples of a few items from the catalogue, and passed various vibrators around the room. With an escalating scale of features and price tag, the most expensive and high-tech vibrator in the catalogue was the “Ultimate Indulgence.” At a whopping $168, it featured flashing lights and beads, with a hummingbird-shaped clitoral stimulator that flutters at lightning speed.

Our photographer—the only male in the room—looked in awe at its 360 degree rotation and thrusting mechanism.

“You’ve been replaced,” Rochna said with a twinkle in her eye.

After the Ultimate Indulgence, the night winds down with Rochna in the other room, taking confidential orders from those interested in purchasing her wares.

Rochna said she began hosting passion parties in July 2004 when she was looking for a fun bachelorette party activity.

Since then, Rochna said she has hosted more than 200 parties, making an average of $40 an hour.

Rochna said the aim of Passion Parties is to create a confidential and safe environment for women to explore their sexuality.

“We’re just trying to spread the passion towards women—young, middle aged, married, or older.”

That said, in an environment where on-campus resources such as the Sexual Health Resource Centre (SHRC) are available with its variety of teach-ins—including the ones about a variety of sex toys they sell at cost—the Passion Party experience is a disappointing one. Rochna replaced information on how to have fun with my partner or myself with an aggressive sales pitch that came with some very expensive price tags.

Perhaps if I were a woman in my mid-30s or was never educated on the subject of sexual exploration, I would have related to Rochna—a mother and a wife herself—a little more. But at an age where resources and friends are widely available for some open advice about spicing up one’s sex life, a passion party is no substitute for getting out and exploring the other more relatable resources available to you.

All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.

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