Misogyny, Hysteria, and Vibrators, Oh My!

A couple semesters ago, I took a 19^th Century Literature class and was given the assignment of writing about a topic that pertained to the era and the texts that we were reading.  Pretty standard stuff, right?  Well, not quite.  Our class was comprised of all girls and one boy and it’s pretty safe to say that we talked about things in front of him that if he had been a lesser man he would have been in a perpetual state of blush.  So we kicked around topics as a class – music, fashion, etiquette, etc. – and I chose to do a small presentation on the idea of female hysteria and the invention of the vibrator.  On the same day I was to give my presentation, a classmate was giving her presentation on the fashion of the 1800’s.  Suffice to say, the topics went perfectly together.

Unfortunately, I failed in trying to locate the notes I had made for that presentation, but I think I retained enough knowledge on such an intriguing and important topic to relay it here to you and also add some afterthought on the theme.

First let’s discuss the concept of female hysteria.  Which is not to be confused with regular old hysteria.  Regular hysteria would be what happens after a flu epidemic is announced, and is in no way related to the concept of female hysteria.  Female hysteria is a condition attributed to women before the understanding of the chemistry and physiology of the female body and psyche.  It was a blanket term used to describe the phenomena of a woman who didn’t, couldn’t, or blatantly wouldn’t, follow the strict social guidelines that had been previously and irrevocably laid out before her.  The actual underlying cause of this hysteria can presently be attributed to many different illnesses and problems, which I will lay out as I go along. 

The first recorded mention of female hysteria dates all the way back to ancient Egypt, where a papyrus details a condition quite similar to the process of menopause.  You see the Egyptians and countless Greek and Roman scholars believed that when a woman’s vagina dried up that her uterus did so as well.  Once the uterus was dry it was able to break away and float around the body.  This is what they believed caused hot flashes and fainting spells in older women.  So it wasn’t much of a stretch when physicians in the 1700-1800s attributed these same causes to women who were nothing more than victims of the fashion trends of their day.  Many instances of female hysteria reported during the heyday of corsets were actually due in part to the restrictiveness of said accessory.  The corset would cause a woman to hyperventilate and pass out.  In addition to the corset, the many layers of thick fabric that a woman was to wear on a daily basis to be deemed respectable and trendy can be attributed to these symptoms as well.  Having to wear so much clothing inevitably led to dizziness and fainting probably due in part to dehydration and constriction.   

Other medical problems misdiagnosed as female hysteria were simple viral infection, PMS, PMDD, depression, anxiety, post-partum depression, dementia, alcoholism, and learning disabilities, just to name a select few.  Women would be locked up in insane asylums if a doctor believed that their symptoms were irreversible, and women who were technically not insane would eventually become so because of the squalid conditions of the asylums (think Sweeney Todd, if you saw it).  Husband’s would divorce their wives on these diagnoses, and have them committed for life.

Now, I’m sure many of you reading this are wondering what vibrators have to do with hysteria.  Well, women who were given a more positive prognosis were subjected to a very special treatment.  Care to venture a guess?  If you said hand-to-genital manipulation administered by a trained physician, you were correct.  Yes, that’s right.  A doctor would have the liberty to finger you until you had an orgasm.  You see, treatable hysteria was thought to be caused by a lack of sexual stimulation in a woman’s life.  Now, I’m no expert on the morals and values of the 1800s but my guess is that these people weren’t too keen on talking about sex or having it frequently.  Not even with their partners. 

There is one thing that has always perplexed me though.  Why didn’t these doctors but prescribe more sex between the couple? I mean, genital manipulation is genital manipulation, right?  Well, anyway, here’s the best part.  Male physicians were so irritated by the process – apparently they found it quite taxing and exhausting to keep whacking off all these ladies, especially since almost three quarters of the female population was diagnosed with hysteria at some point or other – that they started sending these women off to midwives for treatment.  But midwives are busy women, too, but they did their best to help out a fellow lady.  I think this would be a good time to point out that, as a woman, it’s awkward enough to have a male ob/gyn, now could you imagine having to go to him for an orgasm treatment?  How humiliating it had to have been for women to be subjugated to that kind of treatment by a stranger.  And going to woman couldn’t have been any easier.  I should also point out that most of these procedures were performed in England and Europe, which during this time were not known for their hygiene and sanitation.   Alright, moving on.

Eventually, a businessman had a great idea to establish facilities, kind of like modern-day spas, where women could come and have these orgasmic treatments.  This is where we begin to see the advent of the vibrator.  A lot of these retreats were established near natural or hot springs and the setting was much more serene and calming.  Not like dirty London doctor offices, with all those gross sick people dying from typhoid.  Anyway,  they decided to rig up a device, probably using a type of bellows to suck up and shoot water onto the vaginal area.  Yes, ladies and gents, the very first pulsating shower head.  Wonder of wonders.  This occurred, if I remember correctly, around 1880-90.  Well, these contraptions quickly caught fire and women were coming from far and wide to, well…you know. 

Then came the invention of electricity and vibrators found their way into the home.  In a circa 1910 Sears Roebuck catalog, you too could be the proud owner of your very own personal at home massager.  Just plug it into the wall and all your stresses will melt away.  (Not kidding, really was sold by Sears.)  Of course, these first at home models were not marketed for sexual purposes but rather for alleviating the pains of everyday housework, or menstrual aches and pains.  You know, lady things that corporations don’t like talking about.  That doesn’t deflect from the fact that the at home vibrator was as popular as the electric iron and vacuum cleaner.  It was one of Sears top sellers.

And it was introduced just in time, because then came the 1920s and liberation of women…well, at least for a little while, then everybody got into World War II and Leave-It-To-Beaver-mode.  Actually, there wasn’t much in the way of sexual liberation for women between the 1930s to the end of the ‘50s.  Mostly due in part to the Great Depression, the aforementioned war, and (fake) wholesome family values.  But then the ‘60s happened and all was right with the world again.  Women began burning bras and experimenting with drugs and sexual extravagances.  It was a wonderful time for exploration and liberation.  Well, most of you know the history from there so I’ll give some of my insight to why I think the vibrator is one of the greatest liberators of the female sex.

The vibrator was originally born out of misogyny and misunderstanding.  Bull-headed men who didn’t understand that women thought differently, or were chemically comprised differently, just wrote women with problems off as lunatics.  If someone had actually stopped to think outside of the parameters set up by society, a lot of women would have had much better lives and wouldn’t have wasted away in institutions or on the streets.  But, majestically, in spite of the ignorance of men and stagnancy of an era, the vibrator became the single most sexually liberating tool for women.  Think you need a man for a fun time? Think again!  For centuries, men always had the luxury of prostitutes and mistresses, and even though some women took lovers, many of them stayed obedient and submissive, because, after all, it’s easier to tell if a woman has had an affair, when she gets knocked up without having touched her husband.  So here it was!  A way for women to have their cake and their orgasm too!  Don’t want to get knocked up, but you’re horny? Vibrator!  Husband out of town and you’re lonely? Vibrator!  Want to be a wild and carefree single in the city, but don’t want an STD? Vibrator!  It’s the quick fix for every problem.  Or at least it was until they invented the Pill.  Mazal Tov!

Well, I hope this has been an informative piece for all of you ladies (and men).  Thank you.