This banana is no ordinary fruit.
The Magic Banana, created by Kingston artist and yoga instructor, Janeson Rayne, BFA ’97, has
steadily gained in popularity among women since it first hit the market in 2000.
The Magic Banana is available online, at select specialty shops in North America and at the Sexual
Health Resource Centre (SHRC) at Queen’s, which is located in room 223 in clubs space in the JDUC.
G Boutique, a female-friendly shop in Chicago, has recently sold its 700th Magic Banana, according to Rayne. The store has carried her product for three years. The SHRC declined to comment on how many Magic Bananas have been sold. The device is sold under two different names—although still the same product—reflecting its two different uses. The Magic Banana is d as a female exploration tool, whereas its sister, the KLoop, is d as an aid in curing incontinence, which occurs when the vaginal muscles lose their elasticity.
Rayne said because the use of her product is not immediately apparent, it has added appeal.
“It is non-phallic and it is discrete,” Rayne said.
It’s called the Magic Banana because the curve of the loop is such that it creates the silhouette of that curvaceous fruit. Although at first glance it seems rather large, the flexibility of the Magic Banana allows for it to be bent and contorted for insertion into the vagina.
“You can move it manually in and out, which stimulates the G-spot,” Rayne said. “You can use it in conjunction with a vibrator or any kind of clitoral stimulation. … The loop actually reaches the walls of the vagina and stimulates them in a way that even a penis or other apparatus can’t.” If you visit the product’s website, magicbanana.com, there are nearly 30 testimonials from women who have used the product.
“It’s like a Thigh Master for your vagina!” wrote Hannah Varto, a Public Health Nurse from B.C. The K-Loop is d in a more medically-oriented context. It’s used in conjunction with Kegel exercises, named after the gynecologist who invented them. The exercises are a series of vaginal exercises used to help with incontinence.
According to Rayne, the only other solution for incontinence is surgery. “Incontinence is when vaginal muscles lose their elasticity caused by childbirth or substantial weight gain or even as a result of ‘use it or lose it,’” Rayne said. “If you don’t work those muscles, they atrophy.”
The K-Loop or Magic Banana, when inserted into the vagina, presses against the vaginal walls, Rayne said. When this happens, the muscles press back in response, which is what helps strengthen these muscles.
Last year, Rayne appeared on Dragon’s Den, a CBC television show where entrepreneurs pitched
their inventions to five “Dragons”—executives in the Canadian business community—in order to acquire a financial investment into their products. Rayne was unsuccessful in convincing the Dragons but her appearance on the show was great publicity for the Magic Banana.
A company has expressed interest in introducing Rayne’s product into drugstores, which will enable it to reach a more mainstream market. Rayne said the Magic Banana is empowering for women because it allows them to pleasure themselves without needing a man. She said it also helps women figure out
where their G-spot is, which many women never fully experience. As a yoga instructor, Rayne sees
the Magic Banana as an extension of the principles of yoga.
“I realized that if yoga was working the external muscles, what about the vaginal muscles and the deeper muscles that are holding certain organs in place,” she said. When you know how your body works, you are more empowered. Yoga does this on many levels and the only thing that was missing was sexually. “You could go to an island somewhere with a yoga mat and a magic banana and you’re set.”
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