Carnal Embrace

Vibrators actually have quite an interesting history and society has changed its views of vibrators various times throughout the years.

Hysteria
Once upon a time, there were a lot of hysteric women. Doctors diagnosed women as “hysteric” for pretty much any symptom: depression, irritability, loss of appetite (food or sex), insomnia, anxiety, nervousness, faintness or abdomen/pelvic problems. Basically, any sort of nervous disorder. These symptoms, the Greeks once believed, were caused by the floating of the uterus, just wandering around in the body. The word “hysteria” comes from the root “hystera”–the uterus.

Doctors in the 19th century called for a “pelvic massage.” Quite literally, they would masturbate their patients to orgasm (the vagina, mind you, not the clit). All this massaging was getting tiring for the good ol’ docs, and then the way of the machine relieved their poor arms.

Vibration!
Vibration machines were brought in, though they weren’t used for just lady bits. It became a health craze, and those turn-of-the-century folks were vibrating left and right–no sexual connotation, heavens no.

Soon, smaller vibrators were sold in housewives’ catalogs among sewing supplies and other wifely odds and ends. It didn’t take too long, though, for vibrators to get a bad rap. Wikipedia claims they fell in popularity due to pornography reaching a head in the 1920s, but I don’t know if that was the only reason. Either way, they disappeared from mainstream view and polite discussion until the resurgence of a sex-positive view in the more contemporary waves of feminism.

For more old-timey knowledge, check out Museum of Menstruation’s pages about vibrators.