History Of Dildo

In an article for The Village Voice, Tristan Taormino writes: something "had me thinking about another phallic wonder that simply doesn't get its fair share of press: the dildo. Dildos have been around since the third century B.C. and are represented in erotic art throughout the world. According to dildo history and lore, the Greeks were the first to fashion phallic tools, called olisboi, out of stone, leather, and wood. Merchants sold them throughout the Mediterranean, and they may have been used in deflowering rituals. In Renaissance Italy, these same tools were called dilettos, from the Italian word for "to delight," and olive oil was the K-Y of the day. Fast-forward to Victorian England, where the first rubber dildo was introduced, along with vibrators, which were prescribed by doctors to treat female hysteria. [In] Google [enter] "dildo history" [into the search option] and you'll find Web sites that begin with phrases like "situated in a deep, narrow cove at the entrance point," describing the province of Dildo in Newfoundland, where, legend has it, resourceful housewives carved dildos from leftover whale parts."

Obviously this got us thinking about the world of the amazing dildo sex toy. Today, a splendid variety of dildos available—from porn star replica dildos cast in rubber to the $400 Pyrex-quality glass dildos. As many dildos as there on the market, there are design concepts from all the dildo designers: some try to create the most lifelike sex toy representation possible, whereas others do a complete 180 and surprise you with dildos that look nothing like the male penis. In the last decade, sex toy manufacturers have discovered a new material sold under the name of cyberskin, ultraskin, eroskin or softskin that is essentially thermal plastic, a silicone-and-PVC combo reportedly developed by NASA, that feels very much like skin.

Now let's take a peak at the other side of the dildo concept fence: sex toy dongs that stray as far away from the realistic phallus model as possible: pink shimmering goddesses, blue smiling dolphins, lavender kittens with paws and whiskers, even astrological signs like the red-scaled Scorpio. Tristan Taormino explains that in America, this school of dildo design was born out of a particular sect of lesbian feminism that rejected all things male, but has maintained its popularity among folks who want a cigar to be just a cigar. In places like Japan, where it is illegal to manufacture toys that resemble genitalia, most phallic vibrators are made to look like people, totem poles, or animals.