Jacqueline Gold famously brought the sales of vibrators and sex toys onto the main high streets of the UK. Tributes have poured in after her death, at the age of 62, noting her contribution to overhauling attitudes to sexuality, inspiring a generation
of women entrepreneurs and bringing sex onto the High Street. Her insight was one shared by half of the population already - that women had sexual appetites too - and that that represented a huge untapped market. She arrived at Ann Summers, the
family business, crashing through social taboos, and refashioned it after her own purpose. Lucy Litwack, chief executive of Coco de Mer, another British sex toy and lingerie retailer, that followed in Ann Summers' wake said:
She absolutely paved the way for women to feel empowered in the bedroom and the boardroom and really brought female sexuality into the mainstream, Jacqueline Gold often spoke about the initial scepticism she faced at
Ann Summers, then a small chain oriented towards male customers. She suggested they reach out to women, inviting them to host Tupperware-style parties to sell lingerie and sex toys in their homes. The board took some convincing. But she had other stories
to tell too, that illustrated the hurdles she faced, as she took charge at the family firm. For example, when the government said Ann Summers couldn't advertise for staff in Jobcentres, she took them to court and won. | 
