“Hysteria” and the History of the Vibrator
What does hysteria have to do with vibrating massagers? It happens to be the historical reason that vibrator use, as we know it, began. Believe it or not in the 1800’s, doctors diagnosed women who were experiencing symptoms including- but not confined to- anxiety, irritability, insomnia, sexual fantasies and desires, bloating, fluid retention, heaviness in the abdomen, shortness of breath, and trouble-rousing, as having a condition called hysteria (Greek for uterus). At the time, the common belief was that women did not have a true sex drive, but were sexually satisfied as mere receptacles for men’s pleasure. Therefore, hysteria was felt to be the result of subconscious sexual frustration.
