Religion

San Francisco’s Hottest Cult is like Scientology but with Sex

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Transcript:

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area we really are blessed with everything — great weather, the Golden Gate Bridge, burritos, and a sex cult. That’s right, I just recently learned that we have our very own sex cult. LA likes to act like they’re so much cooler than us but do they have a sex cult? Okay yes they do but let’s move on.

I can’t believe I somehow missed this, but “OneTaste” is a business/sex cult that launched here in 2001. One of the founders was Nicole Daedone, who in spite of founding a sex cult (or perhaps because of it), has been a featured speaker at TEDx and wrote a New York Times Best Seller.

The stated purpose of One Taste is to get more women to experience orgasmic pleasure, which hey, that’s a great start that I’m totally down for. They started out by having events in which men would put on gloves with lube on them and make women orgasm, in front of a crowd. So yeah it got weird pretty fast I guess. They call it Orgasmic Meditation, or “OM,” in which they tell the women to just lie back and think of their own pleasure, and not worry about any reciprocation. Yeah, I’m getting back on board.

Unfortunately, women who got into it have a less than rosy story to tell. This week, reporter Ellen Huet wrote about One Taste for Bloomberg, exposing the even seedier underbelly of the cult. That’s right, it gets seedier than strange men in gloves fingering women on stage until they orgasm. One ex-”employee” said that they were encouraged to solve all problems with sex. Have an annoying coworker you hate? Fuck them! Literally. Literally, fuck them. I legit can’t think of a worse fate. Like, think of all the coworkers you’ve had who you hated. Now think of you going to your boss and being told that you have to have sex with them. Gross.

But people went along with it, because cults like that thrive on appealing to sad, broken people who need help. In this case, they attracted people who had been victims of sexual abuse, or people with no understanding of what makes a healthy relationship. Then they taught those people to use sex as a way to magically fix everything, no matter what was wrong.

All of that would be bad enough, but then you find out that they clearly took some lessons from Scientology. Like I said, they’re not just a sex cult — they’re also a business, and that business is based on selling “classes” that cost thousands of dollars and are needed for “employees” to move up in the organization. That means that the people “working” for the company are actually losing money, some racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Sound familiar? Yep, it’s basically Scientology with more sex. One former “employee” revealed that they even have priests and priestesses dressed in white, and that the company started to adapt the thought process of “‘We all know that this stuff is actually good, but the world isn’t going to see it that way, so we’re going to adapt and comply, but all the while keep the core of what we really want to do sacred and hidden.’ ”

Yep, just like the Scientologists don’t talk about Xenu and the Mormons don’t talk about, like, half the insane shit they’re secretly into like bigamy and shit. In the same vein, One Taste now makes you stick around and take a few extra “classes” before you get to finger a lady in front of a crowd. Or be fingered. Your call.

They’ve heard the cult label before and one spokesperson, the head of their London office (yep, they’re spreading like a bad case of herpes), told Daily Beast, “Whenever people come together in a way that some people find confronting, especially centered around women, the ‘cult’ accusation will come up. If you add orgasm and sexuality into the mix, that lights the whole thing on fire.” Sure buddy, it’s because it’s centered on women. On bankrupting them, after giving them a truly fucked up idea of what sex and relationships are all about.

So if you want to explore your sexuality, you’d be better off just downloading Tinder and getting to work. Find someone to rub your clit for 15 minutes. I bet if you’re in a major metropolitan area, you can even find one whose fetish involves gloves, and an audience. Just stay away from scammy cults like One Taste.

Rebecca Watson

Rebecca is a writer, speaker, YouTube personality, and unrepentant science nerd. In addition to founding and continuing to run Skepchick, she hosts Quiz-o-Tron, a monthly science-themed quiz show and podcast that pits comedians against nerds. There is an asteroid named in her honor. Twitter @rebeccawatson Mastodon mstdn.social/@rebeccawatson Instagram @actuallyrebeccawatson TikTok @actuallyrebeccawatson YouTube @rebeccawatson BlueSky @rebeccawatson.bsky.social

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3 Comments

  1. They’re even weirder than this post suggests. Their own material is just ridiculous.
    They gush about ‘orgasm’ but actually move the goalposts, so actual, real-life orgasms are set aside for some ill-defined ‘orgasmic’ whatever.

    The fingering is to be done on a timer, 15 minutes only thank you.
    The LEFT index finger is the only one allowed.
    The fingering sessions must be done while clothed, and without any other sexual activity following or preceding.
    They actually sell their own brand of lube.
    Daedone’s background includes a long involvement with Victor Baranco and the Morehouse sex cult of the 1970s-80s.
    I guess the gloves are an ‘improvement,’ or at least a nod towards a hygienic approach to sex with near-strangers.

  2. I was directed to your site by STAND the Scientology site that attacks anyone who disparages the organization.
    As a knowledgeable ex member I would say you used the exact right comparison. Scientology is not a religion. It hides behind that mantle. I read the letter sent to you. Complete hypocrisy and ignorance.
    Keep up the good work.

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