The Birth of the Vibrator!

I decided to look at the history of masturbation as regards women. In the lecture we looked a lot at the 'treatment' of self-abuse in men, with all the horrible surgeries and restraints involved. Whilst researching for an interesting point to focus on, I found this website which gives a timeline of masturbatory history, which is an interesting read.

It seems the history of treating women is a lot stranger than the treatment of men, but definitely not as gross. The one part I found particularly interesting, and so researched further, was the treatment for something known as 'Female Hysteria'

The concept of Female Hysteria has been around since ancient times. In ancient Greece there was a myth that says the uterus used to wander around a woman's body strangling her, and causing major health issues. Weird.

In Victorian times it was more widely known as a medical condition related to an excess of sexual tension, one which could cause a huge number of symptoms including: nervousness, insomnia, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food, amongst other things. One doctor noted 75 pages worth of symptoms, while another estimated that 1/4 of all women suffered from Female Hysteria - this is probably on target, considering the amount of symptoms could cover practically anything that was wrong with you.

The treatment for this condition is even stranger. In order to cure a woman of all these terrible afflictions, she would have to undergo 'pelvic massage' to release the sexual tension. Pelvic massage was basically stimulation of the clitoris. Unfortunately for many physicians, it could take an extremely long time for them to do this manually, and so they often had to refer patients to midwives for the task - this lost them a lot of business, until...

The electromechanical vibrator was born! It was introduced in around the late 1800s, and was used to release a patient's sexual tension until she experienced a 'release'. This release was known as 'hysterical paroxysm', or as we know it today, 'an orgasm'.

By the turn of the century, these devices, along with 'hydrotherapy devices' were available at many bathing resorts across Europe, and with the introduction of home electricity vibrators became a consumer market.

And now, of course, we have Anne Summers and the Rampant Rabbits.




Further reading:
Is Hysteria Real? Brain Images Say Yes - New York Times