by Natalie key |
It’s Friday night, and I’ve had a challenging week at work. The old me would have reached for a bottle of wine to take the edge off. But times have changed, and my new favourite stress reliever is time spent with my magic wand from Lovehoney.
Early Vibrator Courtesy Science Museum, republished under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence
The older I get, the more I have learnt to give myself licence when it comes to masturbation. The stigma of female pleasure is finally becoming a thing of the past, and women everywhere are embracing the treasure trove of battery-powered devices that are now readily available to them. Ann Summers, Lovehoney and Honey Birdette are amongst the most popular retailers when it comes to female stimulation. And the range is vast! From pocket-sized vibrators that could easily be mistaken for a lipstick and fit perfectly into a small handbag to high-powered rampant rabbits that provide both G-spot and clitoral stimulation.
We are, in short, overwhelmed with buzzing devices that help us to get our rocks off, whether in solitude or with a partner. But where did the idea for the female vibrator even come from, and when did it all begin?
As with many origin stories, the facts of how the vibrator came to be are a little unclear. In 1880, British physician Joseph Mortimer Granville is said to have invented the first electric vibrator-like device. He did this for the benefit of patient’s health rather than sexual kicks, and more surprising, he intended the device for men. Granville believed that vibration stimulated the nervous system and he used the device to treat muscle pain, spinal disease and deafness in men.
So how did the vibrator come to be used by women? One theory goes that the vibrator was picked up by doctors to help treat women for ‘hysteria’. Though hysteria is now discredited as a medical condition, in the 19th century it was a label used to describe a wide range of symptoms experienced by women including anxiety, irritability, and sexual frustration. The go-to treatment for this so-called condition had been pelvic finger massages, which induced ‘hysterical paroxysms’ – in other words, orgasms – but, so the story goes, medics found this method too tiring and time-consuming and so adapted Granville’s device to do the job for them.
Granville didn’t seem very happy with the use of his invention for gynaecological purposes, stating, “I do not wish it to be supposed that I invented the instrument to be used in the treatment of ‘hysteria.’”
But in any case, Granville’s status as the ‘Father of the Vibrator’, however much he may have hated the term, might not be accurate as American physician George Taylor is said to have patented a steam-powered ‘manipulator’ to treat hysteria in women over a decade earlier, in 1869. Taylor’s device was, though, quite different to what we have today, being rather large and requiring women to lie on a table while the device applied its good vibrations to the pelvic area.
Whatever the truth, it’s clear that the vibrator was not originally intended solely for female pleasure. This was the Victorian era, after all; the suppression of women was undeniable, and any kind of sex for pleasure was deemed a sin – let alone female masturbation. But by the early 20th century, vibrators had become readily available household sex appliances. In the 1920s and 1930s, they began to appear in erotic materials and films, and were no longer seen as something to be used just for medical purposes.
The vibrator was eventually marketed for personal pleasure in the 1960s and 1970s. Thankfully, the sexual revolution of the 1960s changed everything for women. The invention of the pill meant that women could separate sex from pregnancy for the first time ever. This shift was also influenced by the increase in conversations regarding female sexuality, a change in social attitudes and feminism. Literature published in the 1970s, such as Sex for One: The Joy of Self-Loving by the American artist and author Betty Dodson, and the opening of Good Vibrations in San Francisco in 1977, also helped to normalise female pleasure, vibrators and personal devices. Good Vibrations was founded by sex therapist Joani Blank and is a sex-positive, women-friendly sex toy store.
Today, online retailers make choosing our devices super easy, ordered with the touch of a button and delivered directly to our doorsteps. Yet who knows where we’d be without the likes of Joseph Mortimer Granville and George Taylor?
I think, though, that even if the vibrator hadn’t been invented – heaven forbid – we’d have been OK. The important thing was that self-love became acceptable in society, with a lot less shame around the subject. How it happens is more of an afterthought, and if we look back then we see lots of clever ways that women have pleasured themselves over the centuries, from candles, vegetables, and smooth stones, to waterfalls and bathtubs. Where there is a will, there’s a way, as they say,.
Thankfully, though, we do have ample choice and easier access than at any point in history, and no doctor’s appointment is required. For that, I feel we owe a lot to the feminists of the 1960s and 1970s, so thank you, ladies, for rightfully bringing female pleasure to the mainstream.
Elizabeth G.is a British author and podcaster who campaigns for, and is a vocal advocate of, equality for sex workers. She is currently trying to expand the scope of The Equality Act 2010 to include the sex industry in order to protect those working within it from discrimination. Her candid memoir, ‘Unashamed: Why Do People Pay for Sex?’ is out now.
by Natalie key for www.femalefirst.co.uk
