In 1653 Pieter van Foreest published a medical compendium for an affliction called Hysteria (literally, “womb disease”), which was used to describe a woman’s display of mental or emotional distress. The medical treatment for hysteria was to bring the female to orgasm. [The world is always a little brighter after an "O"]. This treatment was named the “hysterical paroxysm.”
No surprise, hysterical women made up approximately 3/4 of the doctor’s practice.
Bringing a woman to orgasm was a chore no one wanted to do. It involved time and dexterity. Doctors would use the hands of midwives, the strokes of a husband, or anything else that could substitute his own finger.
After several attempts at various mechanical substitutions, a British Physician develops the first electromechanical vibrator in the 1880s. In 1869 an American doctor invented the steam-powered massager. Within 20 years, a British doctor introduced a more portable battery-operated model.
Finally, in 1952, the American Psychiatric Association officially removed hysteroneurasthenic disorders from the disease paradigm. Up until then, hysteria was the most frequently diagnosed disease in history. [I'm feeling a little hysterical. How about you?]
Now, thankfully, you can buy "personal massagers" at Walmart. But how much our fears, attitudes and beliefs regarding sexuality are still rooted in history?
