The history of erotic aids is also the history of female emancipation. In order for us to publicly express and celebrate our sexuality today, previous generations had to deal with the stigmatization and taboo of sexual life. What did the prototype of our vibrator look like and who was Betty Dodson? Immerse yourself in the history of orgasm with us!
Ancient Greece: olisbos in every family
The ancient Greeks focused their research on philosophy, mathematics and other theoretical disciplines. However, we cannot deny them one practical invention: as early as 500 years B.C. they widely used the so-called olisbos, a tool in the shape of a male penis used for sexual satisfaction. It was most often made of wood, leather or animal bones and antlers. Olive oil served as a lubricating gel in antiquity.
The physician Hippocrates was the first in history to describe a disease called hysteria. He considered the hyster, or uterus, to be the most important organ of a woman. He believed that with a lack of sex, the uterus can begin to wander throughout the body, which in women leads to clouding of the senses and breathing difficulties. As a treatment, Hippocrates recommended the satisfaction of their sexual drive to patients.
Japan & “geisha balls”
Asia also demonstrated similar playfulness. Around the year 500, the so-called Ben Wa Balls, known today as Venus balls. The original Japanese bullets were metal and had mercury in them. Although the toy was created primarily for male pleasure, geisha quickly noticed the pleasant vibrations and contractions of the vaginal wall. The movement of mercury caused excitement in women, which could escalate up to v orgasm. Therefore, the balls quickly spread to China and Europe.
The prudish Middle Ages
Medieval morals did the innovations in the field of sex toys twice. Salvation of the soul and the afterlife played a greater role. Pleasure was a sin, marriage lasted for life, and remarriage before death (if the first partner was still alive) was tantamount to adultery. Masturbation was considered harmful and was associated with mental defects, insanity, or problems with vision and hearing. Instead of new erotic aids, chastity belts were created.
A more open approach to intimacy was brought by the Renaissance, which turned to antiquity and returned to revealing the human body. Olisbos returned to the limelight again, this time under the name dildo. The origin of the word diletto denoted pleasure.
A prescription for orgasm
In 1653, the Dutch doctor Peter van Foreest wrote a medical manual in which he devoted one chapter to the aforementioned hysteria. In case of symptoms of hysteria, he advised asking a midwife for help, for example, to massage the genitals. Thus, the way hysteria was treated and understood did not change from the time of Hippocrates to the middle of the 19th century.
Hysteria included a wide range of symptoms: nervousness, depression, strong (or, conversely, zero) desire for sex, muscle spasms, loss of appetite, insomnia, lack of energy... Logically, it was an expanded diagnosis.
The treatment process in the form of a "clinical orgasm" occupied doctors a lot of time. With the spread of vibrators, the number of patients served increased and the time of one treatment was shortened, sometimes from an hour to ten minutes. It was a paid activity that was the privilege of the middle and upper classes.
Industrial revolution on all fronts
In 1869, the American doctor George Taylor created the first ever mechanical vibrator powered by steam. However, its expansion was hindered by the fact that you couldn't enjoy a ride without an operating heater.
Eleven years later, the British doctor Josef Mortimer Granaville came up with a more compact solution - with battery power. At the beginning of the 1880s, his invention was patented by the Weiss company, which began to produce it in larger series.
In the 15 years since the introduction of the first industrially produced vibrator, a wide range of pressure, hand crank, foot pedal, water jet or mains powered vibrators have flooded the market. Vibrators still remained available only to doctors.
From hair dryers to phalluses
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, vibrators entered homes legally as domestic appliances. They were sold as a miracle aid against headaches, a means of soothing neurosis or prevention against the formation of wrinkles. Crucially, they were intended for external use only, so they did not resemble a male penis. In appearance, they were closest to hair dryers and kitchen appliances.
The phallic form of vibrators originated in the golden sixties. At that time, it was possible to disprove the claim that masturbation is associated with health and mental illnesses. However, men still had the myth that women can only achieve orgasm through penetration. Often, the female orgasm was considered only a "by-product" of the male orgasm.
Betty Dodson: the woman who saved our orgasms
In 1973, a conference on sexuality took place in the USA. Here American feminist Betty Dodson gave a lecture on masturbation (with the poetic title "The Female Genital in the Light of Aesthetics") in front of more than a thousand women. And she shook the world of most of the listeners, who had no idea what their gender looked like.
As part of this seminar, she also demonstrated a massage machine and publicly defended the benefit of vibrators in sex life. At this time, the Japanese Hitachi Magic Wand massage tool to soothe and relax tired muscles also appeared on the North American market. Thanks to the enlightenment of Betty Dodson, the "magic wand" became famous as one of the most popular vibrators for women ever.
Betty Dodson's seminars and workshops reaped success for the next three decades, but only in the modern Western world. One type of classic battery-powered vibrator was produced in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s from the workshops of the Mechanika production cooperative.
And how did it go? This is for you. we will reveal in the sequel. In addition, for "trendspotting", we went directly to the field in May, to the Erospain erotic fair in Barcelona. That's why you have something to look forward to!