Author: Schrader William

Vibrators for women are popular devices, with about 52 percent of women owning one in the United States alone. But what about this sex toy’s history? How did this device come to be? Was it perhaps a tool that doctors used to cure hysterical paroxysm in women in the 19th century? Well, the short answer is no. That is a misconception that has been passed down through the pages of the web. The truth is not as bizarre as that. 

Vibrators to Cure Hysteria

The misconception that doctors used powerful vibrating devices to cure women of hysteria in the 19th century can be traced back to a book that came out in 1999. This book was by Rachel Maines, and it was called “The Technology of Orgasm: ‘Hysteria,’ the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction.” In the book, she had made a hypothesis that people ended up believing because it sounded …

I got my first vibrator when I was 18, yet I didn’t start using sex toys with a partner until I was 26. Letting someone else in on my solo sex routine felt almost like peeing with them in the bathroom (which I’ve also done, TBH, so I’m not sure why this was a big deal). But I used a finger vibrator with my partner for the first time last winter, and now that I’ve experienced the joys of simultaneous orgasms, I ain’t ever going back. I’m a total sex toy evangelist.

How did I not come around sooner? It seems so obvious that what will make you feel good alone will have the same effect in another’s company. But the truth is, I’d always had a nagging feeling that sex with a toy wasn’t “real” sex— that it would be less connected or romantic. The one time I suggested …