The Vibrator Family Tree

We love them, the girls of Sex and the City worship them and sales for these amazing little sex toys are booming, but how much do we really know about them? Shapes, colors, sizes and actions are limitless today, but what inspired the creation of the vibrator—the woman's best friend? In their new book, the women from Good Vibrations explain that "the illustrious history of the electric vibrator began in 1869 with the invention of a steam-powered massager, patented by an American doctor. This device was designed as a labor-saving medical tool for use in the treatment of "female disorders." Within twenty years, a British doctor followed up with a more portable battery-operated model, and by 1900 dozens of styles of electric vibrators were available to the discriminating medical professional" (134).

Female Disorders?
First, what are female disorders, and secondly, aren't vibrators a sextoy so what does a vibrator have to do with treating female disorders? Esteemed physicians treated hysteria—the most common health complaint among women of the day—with vibrators, thus solving female orgasm dysfunctions. The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex explains that "while the existence of hysteria as a disease was debunked in the 1950s, medical experts from the time of Hippocrates up to the twentieth century believed that hysteria expressed the womb's revolt against sexual deprivation. A woman's display of mental or emotional distress, the theory went, was a clear indication of her need for sexual release" (134). According to historical records, genital massage was the forerunner of the vibrator and a standard treatment for hysteria, with the objective being to induce "hysterical paroxysm" (better known today as orgasm) in the patient. As you may imagine, inducing "hysterical paroxysm" in female patients was a complicated and time consuming task without the aid of the vibrator. Turn-of-the-century physicians were delighted with the efficiency, convenience, and reliability of portable vibrators which enabled them to help more women and create a certain clientele.

The Vibrator Cure-All
America is a consumer society, so it is not surprising that the vibrator soon started appearing as a home appliance in women's magazines and mail-order catalogs. Ads proffering "health, vigor, and beauty" promoted the vibrator from the doctor's office to homes across America. Psychotherapeutic methods replaced the hands-on or vibrator approach to treating hysteria, but the vibrator continued to gain popularity mostly due to creative advertising campaigns posting the vibrator as a cure-all for illnesses ranging from headaches and asthma to "fading beauty" and even tuberculosis! Despite coy ad copy tempting readers with captions reading "be a glow getter," or experience "that delicious, thrilling health-restoring sensation called vibration," the vibrator's usefulness for masturbation was never acknowledged. Unfortunately, the vibrator's advertising heyday came to a close when vibrators began appearing in stag films of the 1920s, where it became difficult to ignore their sexual function.

A Superior Sex Toy
According to the Good Vibrations staff, to this day, electric vibrators are marketed solely as massagers, and the sexual benefits of vibrators are steadfastly ignored by vibrator manufacturers. Vibrators are a big business; vibrators are sold through drugstores, department stores, general catalogs, and the Internet, yet the vibrator's true talents remain unsung. We [at Exalte.com] dream of the day when electric vibrators are proudly promoted as the superior vibrator sex toys they are. After all, as an early advertisement points out, "almost like a miracle is the healing force of massage when rightly applied."