The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual SatisfactionWinner of the Herbert Feis Prize from the American Historical Association Winner of the AFGAGMAS Biennial Book AwardWinner of the Science Award from the American Foundation for Gender and Genital Medicine From the time of Hippocrates until the 1920s, massaging female patients to orgasm was a staple of medical practice among Western physicians in the treatment of "hysteria," an ailment once considered both common and chronic in women. Doctors loathed this time-consuming procedure and for centuries relied on midwives. Later, they substituted the efficiency of mechanical devices, including the electric vibrator, invented in the 1880s. In The Technology of Orgasm, Rachel Maines offers readers a stimulating, surprising, and often humorous account of hysteria and its treatment throughout the ages, focusing on the development, use, and fall into disrepute of the vibrator as a legitimate medical device. |
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User Review - damsorrow - LibraryThingWERE YOU AWARE: That hysteria means "womb disease?" That"Susan B Anthony is said to have regarded male behavior at sports events as evidence that men were too emotional to be allowed to vote?" Or ... Read full review
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User Review - SimonW11 - LibraryThingThis well researched little gem soon makes it apparent with its discussion of such things as devices for treating sexual frustration in medeaval nuns, the development of steam powered and clockwork ... Read full review
Contents
| 65 | |
| 67 | |
| 72 | |
Electrotherapeutics | 82 |
Mechanical Massagers and Vibrators | 89 |
Instrumental Prestige in the Vibratory Operating Room | 93 |
Consumer Purchase of Vibrators after 1900 | 100 |
REVISING THE ANDROCENTRIC MODEL | 111 |
The Androcentric Model in Heterosexual Relationships | 114 |
The Vibrator as Technology and Totem | 121 |
Notes | 125 |
Note on Sources | 171 |
Index | 175 |
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| Title | The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction Volume 24 of Johns Hopkins Introductory Studies in the History Series Issue 24 of Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology, ISSN 2470-2773 |
| Author | Rachel P. Maines |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint, revised |
| Publisher | JHU Press, 2001 |
| ISBN | 0801866464, 9780801866463 |
| Length | 181 pages |
| Subjects | › Health & Fitness / General Health & Fitness / Women's Health History / Women Medical / History Psychology / Human Sexuality Social Science / Women's Studies Technology & Engineering / History |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |