Bash Compactor: Good Vibes

Ricki Lake can’t bring herself to throw away a vibrator. “I’m a packrat,” the actress told me on Tuesday at a fundraiser for the New Space for Women’s Health, a not-for-profit birthing center, held at sex emporium Babeland.

 “Since turning 40 I’ve really come into my own sexually,” she said. “I’m really getting comfortable with who I am.” And that means lots of sex toys. After some thought, she revealed that she favors the Jimmyjane solid gold vibrator. “It’s expensive, but it’s the gift that keeps on giving.” She eyed my note taking and squealed, “Ooh, you’re a lefty, like me!”

Lake, who recently made a documentary called The Business of Being Born and has a book and another film forthcoming, was keynote speaker and the focus of many gazes. Exclamations of “Ricki looks hot” and “she’s so skinny now” flew as the Hairspray star chatted with guests and posed for pictures in a form-fitting Herve Leger number.

Rebecca Hankin Benghiat, executive director of the New Space for Women’s Health, interrupted the vag chatter to talk to the crowd about her new project. “If you replace the word sex with birth, it’s really the same conversation,” she said. “We’re going to provide a luxurious, safe, private space where women can check their preconceptions at the door.”

Feeling all “Yes We Can!” I continued around the store, downing the pink cocktails and watching guests examine the toys around them. One middle-aged couple tried out “The Tickler,” while another eyed “The Penetration Station.” Former model Jennifer Lisimachio inspected the pornos, selecting one succinctly titled Fuck. The guest of honor had moved on from talking about sex to talking about its repurcussions, broaching the topic of natural childbirth. “There’s value in feeling it,” she emphasized. I may have looked skeptical, because she added, “it gives you a real sense of accomplishment. I had my baby at home, in my bathtub. I’m amazing. I feel like a warrior!”