Archive-name Miscellgvibrattxt part3
by Sperm Swap Blogincluded the clinical production of orgasm in women and girls.”
According to medical and midwifery texts of the 1600s, “the treatment generally consisted of the insertion of one or more fingers of one hand into the vagina and the application of friction to the external genitalia with the other. Fragrant oils of various types were employed as lubricants in this procedure.” The objective was to induce “hysterical paroxysm,” manifested by “rapid respiration and pulse, reddening of the skin, vaginal lubrication and abdominal contractions.” Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it, but at the time it was considered an activity more appropriate to the doctor’s office than the boudoir!
Maines writes that not all physicians recognized this “paroxysm” as an orgasm, but some medical authors through the ages do “comment on the morally ambiguous character of the treatment, including [one physician] who observes that genital massage should be reserved ‘to those alone who have clean hands and a pure heart’.” Later therapies included massage with a jet of water, but “hydrotherapists warned that patients were inclined to demand more treatment than was considered good for them.” A seventeenth century doctor complained of the fatigue factor for the physician in massage therapy and the long practice and considerable dexterity required (not to mention the stress of keeping those hands clean and those hearts pure).
Maines credits George Taylor, an American physician, with a primary role in the development of the modern vibrator in this country. In 1869 and 1872 he patented a steam-powered massage and vibratory apparatus for treatment of female disorders, intended for supervised use “to prevent overindulgence.” By 1900, “a wide range of vibratory apparatus was available to physicians….Articles and textbooks on vibratory massage technique at the turn of the century praised the machines’ versatility for treatment of nearly all diseases in both sexes, and its [sic] efficiency of time and labor, especially in gynecological massage….By [1909] convenient portable models were available, permitting use on house calls….” (So that’s what was inside the doctor’s little black bag.)
Until the end of the 1920s, vibrators were advertised in many respectable women’s magazines as home appliances, primarily as an aid to good health and relaxation, but with ambiguous overtones - - “All the pleasures of youth will throb within you,” reads a typical ad. Maines believes that the disappearance of vibrators from doctors’ offices and magazine advertisements “may have been the result either of the adoption of psychotherapeutic treatments [for hysteria] by physicians, or of the appearance of vibrators in stag films in the Twenties, or both.”
Most of the electric vibrators discussed in this book were neither designed nor marketed (until very recently) with sexual uses in mind.
In a 1981 Esquire article, author Mimi Swartz reviewed the emergence of the vibrator as a big business venture, with sales totaling about $13 million in 1980. This is a remarkable story when you consider that the manufacturers are marketing a product without advertising its main benefit. Imagine trying to sell a toaster by saying that it is a metal box that gets very hot when you plug it in — and that’s all. Apparently, this non-existent marketing approach failed, since several mainstream manufacturers no longer make vibrators.
Electric vibrators/massagers have been manufactured in the United States since around the turn of the century (the most elderly in my collection was made by Hamilton Beach and carries a patent date of 1902). However, the first electric vibrator openly advertised for sexual use was an American-made, multi-attachment model, repackaged with a clitoral stimulator tip, and sold at first almost exclusively through the mail in the early 1970s. This particular brand is now sold primarily by discount stores alongside the hair dryers and electric toothbrushes. The package insert is pretty tame; all sexual references have disappeared. In the late 1980s, a well-stocked department or discount store in some parts of the country may carry as many as four or five different brands of electric vibrators, and lest rural readers despair, the Sears catalog has always included a full line of good quality vibrators (manufactured for them by others). Are you surprised?
Interesting, isn’t it, that vibrators which lost their respectability once they were shunned by the medical profession are now seen as an important tool for women taking control of and enhancing their sexuality.
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