The evolution of sex toys！

The history of modern female sex toys.

The so-called modern sex toys, I understand that they are sex toys with a certain mechanical structure, rather than the stone-age wood or stone-cut ones, because if we start from this kind of “cold weapon”, I am afraid that it will take three days and three days to I can’t finish the story at night, so I want to talk about the history that is relatively recent to us first.

In England in the 18th century, many women were diagnosed with “hysteria”, a word derived from the Greek word meaning “womb”.

As early as 1900 BC, people found that some women violated the rules and were either unwilling to get married and have children, or were sexually frigid or addicted to sex, resulting in eccentric minds and abnormal personalities. St. Augustine believed that these women were possessed by Satan. Plato, Hippocrates and others believed that these women had abnormal uteruses and classified them as “hysteria”. [1]

Hysterical woman

Until the 16th and 17th centuries, “hysteria” was considered religious rather than medical, and women diagnosed with the disease usually underwent exorcisms, interrogations, and executions rather than treatment. [1]

It was not until the 17th century that European doctors tried to bring “hysteria” back onto the medical track.

French doctor Charles insists that it is a brain disease, and some doctors believe that this is due to long-term unrelieved sexual desire, which causes women to become anxious and depressed.

The mainstream treatment options at the time were either sending the person to a mental hospital or surgical removal of the uterus. (Uterine abnormalities were still widely believed to be the culprit)

It was not until the middle of the 19th century that a British doctor who did not want to leave his name discovered that after massaging the patient’s vagina with his hands to reach the vagina during treatment, his “hysterical” symptoms were greatly relieved. [2]

This is much safer than cutting off a person’s uterus.

So by 1854, most hospitals in Europe began to use this method to treat “hysteria.”

Originally, this was definitely a good thing, but it didn’t last long. It didn’t take long for doctors to discover that the number of women diagnosed with “hysteria” in the hospital was increasing exponentially.

Some women even spend money to buy other people’s medical certificates and go to the hospital to experience the treatment process of “hysteria”.

This situation is also easy to understand. In Europe at that time, apart from marriage, there were many brothels for men, but there was no place where women could obtain sexual satisfaction. Therefore, once women were unhappy in marriage, there was almost no way to alleviate the problem. channel of life.

Now a place suddenly pops up – a place where the fees are not high, the techniques are superb, the sanitary conditions are good, and the people are polite. The key is that you can also justly say “I am going to treat a disease.” Compared to going to a male There is no moral burden on going to a brothel. Who wouldn’t love to go there? picture

The large number of patients also made doctors miserable. At that time, a doctor named Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville wrote, “It is very hard work to make patients achieve orgasm, and the fingers are sore at the end of the day.” ”

Generally speaking, when you are so tired from work, you often just want to lie down when you get home from get off work. But our Dr. Granville did not do that. In order to free his fingers as soon as possible, he began to study hard in mechanical manufacturing. Finally, around 1869, he made Out came a, uh, vibrator powered by a steam engine.

Although it looks a bit scary, we have to admit that this is the first mechanically driven adult product in human history. It is powered by a steam engine and transmitted through gears, which greatly freed the hands of doctors at that time.

But it also has its downsides.

Just imagine, you are lying quietly on a hospital bed, and suddenly a small stove-like steam engine is pushed in, not far from your lower body. With the roar of steam, this mechanical monster seems to want to eat you, you Although it was very humble, I thought, forget it and just experience modern technology. During the process, I finally adjusted my mood and was about to indulge in my own little world. The door curtain was suddenly opened again, and the doctor poked his head in and said, “Sorry, the steam engine is out of water. Please add some water.”

In order to solve the above pain points, in 1880, an improved vibrator called “Macaura” was made. It no longer used steam as power, but used “hand-cranked vibration”.

Its manual says that with skilled use, the frequency it can achieve is 5,000 vibrations per minute.

After reading its manual and then looking at it yourself, it’s pretty shocking anyway.

In short, after this product was launched, it has received continuous praise, and even many ladies want to have one at home. But these things were all “medical devices” at the time, and they could not be purchased at will without professional qualifications.

But can this defeat resourceful humans?

In 1928, the first electrically powered vibrator, the “polar cub”, was developed and put on the market. In order to circumvent medical device controls, it advertised itself as a “muscle massager” (similar to ours) fascia gun today).

Then, we saw a strange scene – generally speaking, the male group with more muscles that need massage only accounts for 23.7% of the buyers, while the female group with less muscles accounts for 76.3% of the buyers.

In 1930, another brand Andis also made an electric massager, which it directly promoted as a “beauty device” – massaging the skin and promoting blood circulation through vibration.

Interestingly, there was a market research report on this product at the time, which said: “People believe that women’s cheeks are not the only area where this product can be used.”

It needs to be mentioned here that historian Lisa Fogarty mentioned in her article “Here’s What Sex Toys Have Looked Like Throughout History” that at that time, European men were very concerned about the women in their families going to the hospital to treat hysteria, because such behavior would be punished once If you find out, you will become the laughing stock of others.

Therefore, the reason why sex toys disguised as fascial guns and beauty devices sell so well is not because women spontaneously and freely want to obtain sexual pleasure and actively buy them, as we do today, but more reasons. Men are afraid that they will not be able to satisfy their women, so they secretly prepare such products.

But no matter what, once this kind of cool operation came out and became successful, everyone started to imitate it.

In 1940, a wearable vibrator called Oster Stim-U-Lax became popular in the European and American markets. A high-frequency vibrator tied to the finger made the finger vibrate with it.

Its designer said it was used by hairdressers to massage the scalp.

By 1952, the American Psychiatric Association determined that “hysteria” was no longer a disease. However, this did not relax the restrictions on sex toys. Instead, it banned the sale of “vibrators” that were medical devices.

A survey “Bad Vibrations” by the British Greenpeace bex pointed out that there was a widely held view at the time that women’s sexual pleasure should be given by their husbands. Many women obtained sexual satisfaction from hospitals under the guise of seeing a doctor. This kind of This behavior brings shame to the majority of men. Therefore, since “hysteria” is no longer considered a disease, the medical instruments originally used to treat it should also be strictly controlled, and women’s rights to sexual pleasure should be returned to their husbands.

It turns out that women can temporarily use the hat of “treating diseases” to obtain sexual satisfaction in disguise, but the irony is that once they are deemed healthy, they have no right to do so.

It is for this reason that the camouflage of sex toys will continue.

Around 1970, a product called “Hitachi Magic Wand” appeared on the Japanese market, as shown below.

In Japan at the time, the law clearly stipulated that the production of adult products was not allowed. Therefore, its manufacturer claims that it burns fat through vibration and is therefore defined as a “weight loss aid”.

It was not until the 1980s that countries began to relax their strict control over “sex toys.”

In 1983, Japanese sex toy company Vibratex invented a now-iconic sex toy called The Rabbit.

It quickly became popular all over the world after appearing in the American TV series “Sex and the City”.

In 2003, the State Food and Drug Administration issued a “Notice on the Non-Management of Imitation Sexual Assistive Devices as Medical Devices,” which is almost identical to the 1952 notice from the American Psychiatric Association. But we did not ban the sale of sex toys. On the contrary, this notice means further easing the management of sex toys.

From the time when women had to pretend to be sick in order to take the initiative to “defraud” the opportunity of sexual satisfaction, to the dazzling array of sex toys before their eyes to choose from, it seems that the sun and the moon have changed, and the sky has changed.

Tong Li pointed out in his paper “The Use of Sex Toys from the Perspective of Sexual Health” [4] that the development history of female sex toys actually reflects the development history of concepts such as women’s rights, gender equality, body exploration, and birth control.

From the initial understanding of excessive sexual desire as a disease, to attributing the sovereignty of women’s sexual pleasure to their husbands, and then to returning sexual rights to women themselves, sex toys have also gone through the stages of medical devices, layers of disguise, and generous presentation. .

Today, the sex toy industry is becoming more and more complete. From design, production to safety standards, it is becoming more standardized and refined. Many opinions believe that now is the golden age of sex toys.

Of course, there are also people who resist female sex toys. They think sex toys are like savage beasts and extremely dangerous. They often say, “If women were accustomed to using toys, wouldn’t there be no need for men? How dangerous would this be?”

Speaking of danger, this reminds me of a little hell joke from a forum in the United States that I saw when I was searching for information. Let me use it to make you laugh and end today:

A couple was driving on the highway and was asked by the police to get out of the car for inspection. In the trunk, the police found a rifle before the upper level. They took a comfortable sip of coffee and said, “OK, don’t worry, it’s safe.” .”

Then several colorful vibrators were found on the second floor. The police were shocked. One policeman immediately pointed a gun at them, and the other pushed them to the ground and shouted, “Don’t move! In your car.” Dangerous goods found on board, dangerous goods found! You are under arrest! You are all under arrest!”

(Background: In 1973, Texas passed a “sex toy law”, which resulted in the state allowing citizens over the age of 21 to own numerous guns, but not more than 6 sex toys. This later formed A classic meme – “It is well known that sex toys are more dangerous to adults than guns.”)