I'd say that if it's a regular review it's fair, because those tend to be more personal opinion-oriented. People are naturally going to list things that they were disappointed about in the Cons. But if it's a Description review then that's far too biased unless, like you said, it's *supposed* to be compatible and failed.

No, it should not be a con. If it's obvious that it's not intended to be harness compatible, this shouldn't be something listed.

Yes, I enjoy both harness compatible dildos and "plain." I definitely don't see that as a con, especially when you generally have to invest more money in toys with more features (waterproof, for example).

I agreed with Alan and Michele's initial sentiment, in that, if it's a regular review, people can put what they want in the pros/cons, but for description reviews, they should be more objective and pick pros/cons about the toy itself and not so much about personal use desires.

I feel like there are a lot of things I've listed as cons and seen listed as cons that we "know before we buy" and yet (sometimes) list them in the cons section anyway, to highlight them for someone scanning through. Examples:
-porous material
-no dedicated on/off button on a vibe
-not rechargeable
-contains phthalates / parabens / sugar / glycerin / etc.

Maybe other people see a difference between these things and harness compatibility, but I don't really. It's just a property of the toy that people might like to be aware of. I list things in the "cons" section that I think customers need to consider when buying a toy, even if it might seem obvious to me.

I think there should always be a pro and a con for each product. Call me cynical, but there things that aren't 100% good.

-BUT-

You can have cons and still give 5 stars.

Take Red's example of the Tentacle (I really want one btw). Sure, it's not harness compatible; but you can still use it and give it 5 stars.

One thing I love about EF is that the reps for the companies are on here too. They could read your review and go "Yeah, that could be bigger/smaller/taste more like chicken. I'll talk to my people about it."

It is still dumbful to list something as a con when it's not supposed to be there. "I would like this cherry lube, but it doesn't taste like chicken enough."

ok...it's late

I see pros and cons as highlights and warnings. "You'll like this because of ____, but be aware that ____". As long as you don't lower a product's rating for not doing something it didn't promise to do, I say feel free to list cons as long as they make sense and aren't too out there. After all, I've seen plenty of reviews (mine included) which list waterproofness, harness compatibility, and can be sterilized as pros. Why shouldn't reviewers list the lack of these features as cons? If it doesn't affect the overall quality of the toy, or if it's not failing to deliver on what it promised, then it shouldn't affect the star rating. But, hey, a drawback is still a drawback.

Is a watch better if it's waterproof? I think so. Is lack of waterproofness a drawback in a watch, even if the watch didn't claim to be waterproof? Heck yes.

What does bother me, though, is when contributors vote down a review a LOT (somewhat useful and below) simply because they did not agree with a pro or a con.

My three cents

I actually haven't seen anyone vote down a review because they didn't agree with the Pros/Cons (except for one person, but that's minor). People should not do that by any means, just for disagreeing.


Something not being waterproof is completely different than saying that it "isn't harness-compatible" when it's clear that the dildo does not have testicles or a base. My example was, it's like buying a teddy bear or stuffed animal and saying "It's not a shirt," or, "It isn't edible." Well, it's obviously not edible and cannot be worn as a shirt, it's a stuffed animal!

I understand what you mean by saying that things being listed as Pros also should be able to be listed as cons, but listing such a thing that's evident as a lack of feature is something that implies negative feelings, which shouldn't be done because the person knew before receiving the product that it isn't harness-compatible. Listing it as a pro means that it's "an extra plus." Listing it as a con means that the product is lacking, which it by no means is if the person was able to see that it was not harness compatible.

Being waterproof is not something that we can see with our eyes; we need to test it. Harness-compatibility is not something that needs to be tested, it's a given (unless of course, like some people wrote, it has a base that's too floppy/small and doesn't stand up well to harness use).

Sometimes, we list things as cons to draw attention to them, I agree. Like Rockin' with a Cock In said, how porous the material is, whether it's rechargeable, if batteries are included, some properties of the material. These are things that we cannot always see by the pictures, and we write them to draw attention to them (especially the porosity of the material, that's something great to add for people reading reviews who have no idea about sterilization and safer practices). As I already listed, you can see quite clearly whether a dildo is harness-compatible or not (unless someone really inexperienced knows nothing about harnesses and thinks that any dildo can stay in one).

Throughout the review, adding this as a negative is alright, though. Saying something along the lines of "since there isn't a base, I do not recommend it for anal play and it cannot be used in a harness, even though it's lovely and those would be great extra features!" But adding it as a Con draws too much attention. I would only ever add something like that as a Con if the case with the floppy/too small base happened, or if the pictures were angled and I could not tell by the pictures alone.

I talk too much! This is just my personal opinion of the whole thing. I am trying to understand why people would think otherwise, but I'm still not. If someone could explain to me better why adding that as a Con is alright, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

I agree, it shouldn't be a con. It'd be more a con if it was harness compatible, but didn't fit certain kinds of harnesses the reviewer had, then yeah, that'd be a con.

Just my two cents, and I don't mean to come off as rude or dismissive, but there's been a lot of nitpicking going on in the forums lately. It's sort of annoying, to be honest.

If someone prefers their dildos to be harness compatible then this is a con. Similarly, if I reviewed a product and it wasn't powerful enough for me then I'd say "not powerful enough for me". Regular reviews don't have to be 100% objective; they're allowed to take your preferences into account. I'm not sure that this is an issue.

I think there should always be something listed in the Cons section. It doesn't necessarily have to be considered a flaw.

Often I will put things in the Cons section that I think would make the toy better. In the case of this dildo, certainly it might be more useful to more people if it were harness compatible. So one way to improve it would be to make it so.

It doesn't have to mean the toy is not great the way it is, but I am of the mind that all things can be improved in one way or another.

This is what I like to see: A question generating a lot of thoughtful responses. Thank you, everyone, for taking the time out to post.

I must admit that my mind was unchanged until I read Laurel's post. Now I view cons differently, and I'll bear what she said in mind for future reviews.