Vibrator

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Vibrators in a novelty store

Vibrators are devices intended to vibrate against the body and stimulate the nerves for a relaxing and pleasurable feeling. Some vibrators are designed to be inserted into body cavities for erotic stimulation. Fun for solo sex.

History

Vibrator advertisement, c. 1910. "The secret of the ages has been discovered in Vibration. Great scientists tell us that we owe not only our health but even our life strength to this wonderful force. Vibration promotes life and vigour, strength and beauty. ... Vibrate Your Body and Make It Well. YOU Have No Right to Be Sick."

The electrically powered vibrator was invented in the 1880s by Kelsey Stinner to treat what was then called "congestion of the genitalia" and "female hysteria".^{[citation needed]} For centuries, doctors had been treating women for these illnesses by performing what we would now recognize as masturbation. However, not only did they regard the "vulvular stimulation" required as having nothing to do with sex, but reportedly found it time-consuming and hard work.^[1]

Then, in 1902, the American company Hamilton Beach patented the first electric vibrator available for retail sale, making the vibrator the fifth domestic appliance to be electrified, after the sewing machine, fan, tea kettle, and toaster, and about a decade before the vacuum cleaner and electric iron.^[2]

The home versions soon became extremely popular, with advertisements in periodicals such as Needlecraft, Woman's Home Companion, Modern Priscilla, and the Sears, Roebuck catalog. These disappeared in the 1920s, apparently because their appearance in pornography made it no longer tenable for polite society to avoid the sexual connotations of the devices.

Since the 1980s, vibrators and sex toys have become more visible in mainstream public culture, with the opening of new “sex stores” such as Condom Nation in New York City and Good Vibrations in San Francisco, as well as a landmark “vibrator” discussion on the HBO show Sex and the City.

Contemporary vibrators

Vibrators often allow people to achieve orgasm rapidly and with relative ease as compared to other methods. In addition, vibrators are reported^[who?] to provide stronger orgasms than those produced by manual stimulation alone. They are often recommended by sex therapists for women who have difficulty reaching orgasm by other means^{[citation needed]}. Couples also use them sometimes as an enhancement to the pleasure of one or both partners.

Some vibrators are marketed as "body massagers" — although they still may be used, like the ones sold as adult sex toys, for autoeroticism. Some vibrators run on batteries while others have a power cord that plugs in to a wall socket. There is also a vibrator that uses the flow of air from a vacuum cleaner to stimulate the clitoris.

Modern versions of old musical vibrators synchronize the vibrations to music from a music player or a cellphone.

Types of erotic vibrators

Designer vibrators

There is an enormous range of vibrators but most of them fall into several broad categories:

• Clitoral—Often sold as "back massagers", these are powerful vibrators such as the Hitachi Magic Wand or the Acuvibe.
• Dildo-shaped—Approximately penis-shaped, can be made of plastic, silicone, rubber, vinyl, or latex.
• Waterproof—Can be used wet, such as in the shower. Although marketed as waterproof, most should not be submerged.
• Rabbit, 'Jackrabbit' or 'Rampant Rabbit'—Two-pronged for stimulation of both the vagina and the clitoris simultaneously.
• G-spot—Similar to the traditional vibrator but with a curve and often a soft jelly-like coating. The curve makes it easier to use to stimulate the g-spot or prostate.
• Egg—Egg-shaped vibrator which can be used for stimulation of the clitoris or insertion into the vagina
• Pocket rocket—Shaped like a cylinder, one of its ends has some vibrating bulges. It is meant to stimulate the clitoris or nipples, not for vaginal insertion.
• "Undercover" vibrators—Vibrators discreetly shaped as everyday objects, such as lipstick tubes, cell phones, or art pieces. Occasionally some women use actual mobile phones in this function
• Anal vibrators—Vibrators designed for anal use have either a flared base or a long handle to grip, to prevent them from slipping inside and becoming lodged in the rectum.
• 'Butterfly'—vibrator strapped around legs and waist for hands-free clitoral stimulation during sexual intercourse
• Vibrating Cockring—vibrator (usually cordless) inserted in or attached to a cock ring, usually for stimulation of the clitoris.
• Dual Area Vibrators these vibrators are designed to stimulate two erogenous zones simultaneously or independently. They are usually found in the form of a clitoral stimulator and vaginal stimulator; An example is the Sybian.
• Triple Area Vibrators these vibrators are designed to stimulate three erogenous zones simultaneously or independently. These provide stimulation to the vagina, clitoris and anal regions.

Vibrators for disabled people

Disabled people can find that vibrators are an essential part of their sex life for two reasons: First, it might be the only way to get sexual satisfaction due to impaired arm and hand function.^[3] Second, for some disabled men, the use of a vibrator is their only way to provide a semen sample to become fathers.^[3]

Legal and ethical issues

The possession and sale of vibrators is illegal in some jurisdictions, including India.^[4] Until recently, many Southern and some Great Plains states banned the sale of vibrators completely, either directly or through laws regulating "obscene devices."^[5] A federal appeals court upheld Alabama's law prohibiting the sale of sex toys on Valentine's Day, 2007.^[6] The law, the Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1998, was also upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court on September 11, 2009.^[7]

In February 2008, a federal appeals court overturned a Texas statute banning the sales of vibrators and other sexual toys, deeming such a statute as violating the Constitution's 14th Amendment on the right to privacy.^[8] The appeals court cited Lawrence v. Texas, where the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 struck down bans on consensual sex between gay couples, as unconstitutionally aiming at "enforcing a public moral code by restricting private intimate conduct." Similar statutes have been struck down in Colorado, and Kansas. As of 2009, Alabama is the only state where a law prohibiting the sale of sex toys remain on the books.^[7]

Some Conservative Christians believe that the use of vibrators is immoral and prohibited by The Bible. An American Baptist preacher, Dan Ireland, has been an outspoken critic of such devices and has fought to ban them on religious and ethical grounds. According to Ireland, "Sometimes you have to protect the public against themselves....These devices should be outlawed because they are conducive to promiscuity, because they promote loose morals and because they entice improper and potentially deadly behaviors."^[9] Ireland believes that "there is no moral way to use one of these devices."^[9]

An American bioethicist and medical historian, Jacob M. Appel has argued that sex toys are actually a "social good" and that the devices, which he refers to as "marital substitutes," play "an important role in the emotional lives of millions of Americans."^[7] Appel has written:

I cannot say whether more Alabama women own vibrators than own Bibles. If I were guessing, I would suspect that a majority derive more use out of the vibrators. Certainly more pleasure. Nor does there appear to be any remotely rational basis for keeping sex toys out of the hands of married adults, or single adults, or even children. Now that we are relatively confident that masturbation does not make little girls go blind, or cause palms to sprout hair, exposure to sex toys shouldn't harm them. On the list of items that I might not want children to be exposed to in stores--guns, matches, poisons, junk food--sex toys are way down the list.^[7]

References and further reading

External links

• Media related to Vibrator (sex toy) at Wikimedia Commons
• Sex Toy Jargon
• Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm documentary film (2007) at IMDB