<![CDATA["Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm").]]>"Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). Initially invented as a way to provide relief to doctors and their overworked wrists, by the 1900s, vibrators had become common household items, a wellness device deemed so innocuous they were even advertised in the Sears catalog."

Overworked *wrists*? Uh...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/1aa7fdc6-50b5-4c6d-b997-173c0e7212f8/vibrators-were-introduced-to-the-american-public-as-medical-devices-a-treatment-for-the-vaguely-defined-female-trouble-known-as-hysteria-whose-symptoms-only-seemed-to-subside-after-the-inducement-of-orgasm-then-known-as-a-paroxysm-.RSS for NodeThu, 09 Apr 2026 09:40:02 GMTMon, 30 Mar 2026 05:11:12 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to "Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:23:56 GMT]]>@kims Oh it's Lux, ok. She might have had to compress that bit to make word count. I'm a queer enby working in sexual and reproductive health and I've done an unhealthy amount of reading on hysteria and how it was treated, due to the incredible rage I feel about the neglect of endo and PCOS. Yeah, paroxysm via internal massage was a thing, but bed rest, quack treatments like bromide salts, and even surgery were common. People read Maines and think vibrators were primarily clinical tools but right from the get-go that was marketing intended to provide socially respectable cover for their actual uses.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/onekind/statuses/116316925906126160https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/onekind/statuses/116316925906126160Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:23:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to "Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:11:37 GMT]]>@onekind
Old article from The Verge but it's been written about in lots of places

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Jimmyjane took vibrators from sleazy to chic — now, can it please the masses?

Jimmyjane took vibrators from sleazy to chic — now, can it take them mainstream?

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The Verge (www.theverge.com)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/kims/statuses/116316877436660495https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/kims/statuses/116316877436660495Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:11:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to "Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 06:54:22 GMT]]>@kims Where did you find this? It's wrong in about three ways I can spot.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/onekind/statuses/116316809645040980https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://beige.party/users/onekind/statuses/116316809645040980Mon, 30 Mar 2026 06:54:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to "Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 06:47:54 GMT]]>@kims @JankaWessman That would be [Rachel Maines](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_P._Maines). Maybe it’s a “different strokes for different folks” kind of thing.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Fnordinger/statuses/116316784181841861https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/Fnordinger/statuses/116316784181841861Mon, 30 Mar 2026 06:47:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to "Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:47:01 GMT]]>@JankaWessman
I mean, even if it's a myth, I'm stuck on the mechanics. If the doctors' wrists are overworked, I'd guess it's from what they do *after* they provide women with an orgasm

Whoever created this urban legend needs an anatomy lesson

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/kims/statuses/116316544786538293https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/kims/statuses/116316544786538293Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:47:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to "Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:47:00 GMT]]>@kims 😂

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/ap/users/116092650648397225/statuses/116316544742254788https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.gamedev.place/ap/users/116092650648397225/statuses/116316544742254788Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:47:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to "Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:41:03 GMT]]>@kims Sorry to be a spoilsport: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/09/victorian-vibrators-orgasms-doctors/569446/

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://kamu.social/users/JankaWessman/statuses/116316521312523252https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://kamu.social/users/JankaWessman/statuses/116316521312523252Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:41:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to "Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:28:03 GMT]]>@kims 🙃

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://blacktwitter.io/users/thiswomanswerk/statuses/116316470191253100https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://blacktwitter.io/users/thiswomanswerk/statuses/116316470191253100Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:28:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to "Vibrators were introduced to the American public as medical devices, a "treatment" for the vaguely defined female trouble known as hysteria, whose symptoms only seemed to subside after the inducement of orgasm (then known as a "paroxysm"). on Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:26:38 GMT]]>@kims

When you do all your research by watching the movie. In this case, "Hysteria" (2011)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fed.qaz.red/users/elithebearded/statuses/116316464662309701https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fed.qaz.red/users/elithebearded/statuses/116316464662309701Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:26:38 GMT