2023-07-10 11:30:00
It is a proven fact that throughout the history of medicine, women have not been on an equal footing in relation to men; indeed, there was a time when, by the mere fact of being a woman, it was assumed that they could suffer a mental disorder. This is what happened with hysteria.
Among the first to use the term hysteria we find Hippocrates, the father of medicine, and the philosopher Plato. Both associated the symptoms of this disease with the displacement of the uterus, not in vain “hysteria” means uterus in Greek, since it was assumed that it was an exclusive disease of the female gender.
Did you know that the vibrator was used as a therapeutic tool? Photo: Istock
In antiquity it was thought that hysteria was caused by disorders in menstruation, by sexual deprivation or by “heaviness of mind”. Later, during the Middle Ages, the devil was implicated in his appearance, which is why some women with hysteria were labeled witches and ended their days at the stake. Others suffered a different fate and suffered the removal of their uterus.
Masturbation for the hysterical
In the 17th century, a Flemish physician -Pieter van Foreest- published a medical treatise in which he dedicated an entire chapter to women’s diseases, in which he described hysteria as “mother’s suffocation”. He recommended that when the woman suffered from this pathology, it was necessary to assist her by a midwife so that she could massage her genitals and could reach “paroxysm”.
In any case, Foreest suggested that this treatment was reserved exclusively for widows, for those women who led chaste lives or for religious women, since in the case of married women it was preferable to “perform coitus with the spouses.”
For us to understand the vulnerability of women in the sexual sphere, one piece of information is enough: it was not until the 18th century that the vocabulary of female anatomy began to appear. And it is that until that moment it was not clearly defined, for example, the difference between the uterus and the vagina, or between it and the vulva.
This was because professionals writing on female anatomy did not see the need to develop a precise and specific vocabulary for genital anatomy.
And the mechanization arrived
It is estimated that during the Victorian era one in four women was diagnosed with hysteria. Among the characteristic symptoms of this disease were some as general and non-specific as abdominal heaviness, insomnia, headache, tiredness, dizziness, muscle spasms, paralysis and, in the worst case, blindness.
It is estimated that during the Victorian era one in four women was diagnosed with hysteria.
In order to treat the disease, the doctors, with the help of a midwife, applied oil to the fingers to stimulate the genital area until it reached “hysterical paroxysm”, in Román Paladino, orgasm. Going back to the Greek, orgasms means a feeling of fullness or satisfaction.
In any case, female pleasure was not part of the equation, it was not an exercise in enjoyment, it was a treatment whose objective was simply to eradicate a disease. Apparently it was an effective treatment, which improved the quality of life and well-being of women.
The sessions were long, sometimes they could last for an hour, so it is easy to understand that with such a frequent disease, the doctors could not cope with their consultations and end up exhausted. For this reason, in the late 1880s, Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville (1833-1900), in an attempt to help doctors in their therapeutic pelvic massage work, designed the first electric vibrator in history.
From consultation to the private sphere
The contraption was really simple, it was a phallic-shaped electrical machine that could be inserted into the vaginal cavity without causing anatomical lesions. The name of the gadget was “Granville’s hammer”. Thanks to mechanization, the number of patients that a doctor could treat in a working day with these symptoms increased significantly.
The use of the vibrator as a therapeutic tool by doctors was common in some cases. Photo: Istock
Later, the next step would be taken: marketing the dildo for private use, without the need for the patient to go to the doctor. Little by little, at the beginning of the 20th century, advertisements for massagers began to appear in magazines and newspapers, which were sold as a solution to reduce wrinkles, cure migraines or, simply, to help achieve happiness.
It is easy to imagine that from there to the sexual connotations it was all a matter of time. However, society called the device immoral, to the point that Mortimer tried to get rid of his patent.
Around the twenties of the last century, and because of the veil of modesty and sin, the vibrator fell out of favor and ended up in the corner of oblivion. It would not be until 1968 when the Japanese brand relaunched the Magic Wand, being the beginning of a new era. But that’s another story.
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