Hysterical Tension in the 19th Century
In the 1800s, if a woman displayed signs of sexual excitement her husband would take her to a doctor to treat what was then diagnosed as “hysterical tension” or “female hysteria” -from the Greek for “suffering uterus” Symptoms included anxiety, a temperature, a swollen pudenda and vaginal lubrication- basically sexual arousal. However, during the Victorian era women were not considered to be sexual beings so it was viewed as an illness. The prescribed treatment was masturbation- not to be performed by the woman herself, as this was “unhealthy and would rot the brain”, but rather administered by a midwife or doctor. Today we would regard genital massage from your doctor as “indecent assault” but at that time a couple would simply return to “marital bliss”. Hysteria, however, was a recurrent condition and multiple treatments were often necessary.
In 1869 the American physician, George Taylor, developed a cumbersome steam driven vibrator that he touted as a device “speeding treatment and reducing physician fatigue”. The doctor with the help of this modern invention would massage the patient’s vulva until she experienced dramatic relief through "paroxysm"(orgasm). This was known as “relief of tension in the female” because the female orgasm was simply not recognised and in fact many scientists well into the 20th century claimed that women were incapable of orgasm.
When electricity became readily available United States during the early part of the 20th century, plug-in vibrators were one of the first electrified home appliances. They were marketed in consumer magazines including Needlecraft, Home Needlework Journal and Woman’s Home Companion as “health and relaxation aids”. The Sears and Roebuck catalogue advertised an “aid every woman appreciates”. However by the 1930’s it became impossible for manufactures to defend the “polite fiction” that they were simply massagers and the vibrators virtually disappeared.
In 1952 the American Medical Association declared “hysteria” to not be a genuine ailment, so the vibrator could no longer be used as a legitimate medical device and it had to be acknowledged for its real purpose.