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The Shocking History Of The Humble Vibrator

Shocking History Of The Humble Vibrator_1

May 14th, 2019   |   Updated on June 25th, 2022

How the origins of feminine sexuality rested solely in the hands- and machines- of the male.

While women all over the world rejoice the existence of their battery powered best friends, vibrators have definitely undergone one of the most impressive glowups of our time.

Even in conservative India, it´s becoming ore and more common to buy vibrators online, on indian online sex shops like Adult Products India, as well as easier to get ahold of, thanks to Western influences and thoughtful retailers.

Despite their hard-won acceptance and being a symbol of feminine empowerment, the humble vibrator has a more than checkered past- derived from male lead misconceptions about the human body.

 

Take A Trip Through Time

Shocking History Of The Humble Vibrator

Going back to the Greeks, women’s bodies, and how they worked, seemed to confuse just about everybody. But that didn’t stop male physicians from trying. Bless them, *exaggerated eye rolls and exhausted sigh*.

Hippocrates, one of the oldest and well-known historical physicians, decided that women’s bodies were not only cold (and must be heated up by regular boning, so as to not die), but that our dear sweet uteri had a nasty little habit of taking a leisurely coddiwomple.

Coining the term “hysteria” Hippocrates and his cronies were convinced that, if deprived of regular intercourse, us ladies would go crazy.

In the centuries that followed the “great” physician Hippocrates, it seemed less and less likely that this bonafide (pun, definitely intended) “condition” that women suffered would ever be sorted out by, *gasp* a woman. Flowing into the 16th-19th centuries, the concept of hysteria would become a plague on women everywhere.

Leaving physicians of the time to diagnose just about any medical maliday a lady could incur, as hysteria. Before proper diagnostics were invented, even epilepsy was medically diagnosed as hysteria.

Which lead doctors of the time to treat serious illness with “manual clitoral stimulation”. Yes indeed, women everywhere would be seen, and stimulated, by doctors to help warm up their uterus and keep it firmly in place.

In the 1880’s, after centuries long stimulation employed by the hands of doctors, midwives, and husbands, the medical community finally came out with a novel treatment for the hysterical woman.

Following the immense popularity of the electromechanical device, women everywhere where desperately trying to figure out how they could get this device into their homes, in order to “prevent their uterus from wandering” whenever they felt the need. Sure ladies, I get it, I love my bullet too.

In fact, the only way to cure the dreaded hysteria was to induce “hysterical paroxysm” or achieve the big O. While this sounds about right for the century that brought us anal fumigation of tobacco as the most effective treatment for heart attack- what’s perhaps the most shocking is that “hysteria” wasn’t taken off the list of diagnosable disorders until the 1960’s. Yes. Those 1960’s. The ones your parents probably lived through.

 

From Rags To Riches

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While the vibrator did receive a massive amount of praise following its conception, it wasn’t until the early 20th century until the “hand-held” version came into existence. Looking more like an eggbeater with a horror movie complex than the friendly little devices we’re used to today, during this time, vibrators weren’t only marketed to women, but also to men.

Because of their popularity amongst the ladies, vibrators were heavily marketed for home use, and even had celebrity endorsement. Promising to cure anyone of “neuralgia, headaches, and wrinkles”, vibrators were the bee’s knees of major household appliances.

However, by the end of the 1920’s, vibrators had pretty much gone underground. Some suggest this was because the growing understanding of feminine sexuality made it pretty much impossible to avoid the buzzing reason to why these devices were oh-so-popular.

In the early 20’s, sexual exploration was finally underway, and just about everyone was talking about “the deed”.

Pornography and sex novels began budding up in Western culture at a rate never before seen. Teenagers and collegiate class man in the US held “petting parties”. D.H. Lawrence brought the femme fatale indoors and into the imaginations of the public.

Sigmund Freud was granted professor ordinaries status. The word of sex was out. And the word was none too good.

The 1960’s however brought back the toy of sexual revolution and dropped the erroneously associated malady. By 1968, the cordless vibrator was patented, and women just about everywhere were happy to use them- this time, purely for their own enjoyment.

Onward through the decades and into modern time, the humble vibrator has undergone many innovations, but one thing remains the same, while the health benefits aren’t necessarily undeniable, women love their vibrators for many, many reasons. And none of them have to do with a wandering uterus.