UPDATE: It all happens at Bored Dead.com!
Instruments used for intimate pleasure have been around for centuries. In Ancient Greece, single women used olisbos – wooden or stone dildos that were lubricated with olive oil for comfort. (Dildos made of a more natural feeling and comfortable rubber were not introduced until the 1900s). Sexual stimulants such as love beads have been used in Asia for over a 1000 years, but it was not until the late 19th Century that vibrators were to make an appearance – and even then in disguise.
The original appearance of the vibrator was as a 'respectable' medical instrument. It was used widely to treat an illness in women called 'hysteria” which had reached epidemic proportions in the 1890s.
Dildos
Symptoms of this 'disease' - from irritability and anxiety to shortness of breath and vaginal lubrication - were so wide-ranging, many women were considered to be affected. In an era of prudery and repression, we can understand now that these women were simply sexually frustrated.
Symptoms would be relieved by massaging the clitoris until a "hysterical paroxysm" was achieved, which was what we'd today know as an orgasm. Back then, female sexuality was so repressed and little understood, it was seen as a peculiar convulsion that went unrecognised by most. Needless to say, this 'treatment' used by doctors did little to stem the 'ailment', and patients came back to receive treatment regularly.
Clitoral Massage
This clitoral massage was originally done by hand but was both tiring and time consuming for doctors. A British physician therefore invented the vibrator to make achievement of climax quicker and more efficient. The vibrator understandably became incredibly popular amongst patients and doctors alike.
The first vibrators were powered by steam and resembled heavy industrial equipment. They gradually became smaller and cheaper and in the 1900s adverts for models that could be used in the home and 'promoting health, vitality and relaxation' began appearing in women's magazines.
However, by the late 1920's more enlightened doctors were becoming increasing uncomfortable about the reality behind the need to use these devices, and they ceased being used. When vibrators began appearing in blue movies of the day, the death knell for the respectability of these instruments was sound and they were frowned upon by polite society.
The 1960's arrived and vibrators began again to come to the public's attention, discreetly advertised as massagers and available mail order. In the 1970's calls for the empowerment of women by feminists furthered the cause of the vibrator. The very first sex shops just for women were set up and women were encouraged to believe that they had a right to enjoy their body just as much as men had been doing for thousands of years.
Joy of the Dildo
Today, the message is spreading and women of the 21st century are taking control for themselves.