The Technology of Orgasm

January 4, 1999
It will surprise most readers to learn that the vibrator was invented in the late 1880s as a time-saving device for physicians, who had been treating women's "hysteria" for years with clitoral massage. Denying the sexual nature of the treatments, doctors instead saw the technique as a burdensome chore and welcomed electric devices that would shorten patients' visits. Maines, an independent scholar in the history of technology, presents a straightforward account of the mechanism from its beginning through the 1920s, when it came into disrepute as a medical instrument. Going far beyond a mere summary of therapeutic advances, however, she wryly chronicles the attitude toward women's sexuality in the medical and psychological professions and shows, with searing insight, how some ancient biases are still prevalent in our society. Maines's writing is lively and entertaining, and her research is exhaustive, drawing on texts from Hippocrates to the present day. Proving her point about how women's sexuality is still perceived as an unapproachable subject in some quarters, Maines describes her travails in vibrator historiography, including the loss of her teaching position at Clarkson University. A pioneering and important book, this window into social and technological history also provides a marvelously clear view of contemporary ideas about women's sexuality.

February 1, 1999
A researcher and archivist with a doctorate in the history of technology, Maines has produced an exhaustive and deliciously savage history of the vibrator-as-sex-aid. Massage of women's genitalia by physicians for relief of "hysteria" dates to Hippocrates. Yet procuring women's orgasms--whether identified as sex or as merely "paroxysm"--was "the job that nobody wanted," and physicians were happy to delegate the chore to mechanical devices in the 1880s. This fascinating and exquisitely referenced true story reads like twisted science fiction and will intrigue historians of technology and/or medicine, culture-watchers, feminists, and lay readers. Maines's work is noted briefly in Joani Blank's Good Vibrations (Down There, 1989), a concise and helpful popular introduction to vibrators and how to use them. Hoag Levins's journalistic American Sex Machines (Adams Media, 1996) bypasses vibrator evolution and history completely. Maines's dry wit and writing skill lend appeal and readability. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries.--Martha Cornog, Philadelphia

December 15, 1998
Maines' book may seem too technical or academic for the public library, but it does a first-rate job of combining readability and good scientific documentation. Orgasm has been a subject of many books that often treat it sensationally, and it is high time for Maines' level-headed, understandable, and solidly based approach to it. Approaching orgasm and vibrators from undergraduate classical studies and research in the history of needlework--women's magazines on sewing often contained ads for mechanical sex devices, it seems--Maines investigates the related attitudes of physicians and laymen. She examines the disorder long known as hysteria, considers female sexuality through the ages, discusses the role of masturbation for orgasm, and even takes up the use of water and electrical and mechanical methods for stimulating sexual feelings. Besides writing clearly, she shows a great sense of humor and deep understanding of the related sexual problems of women and men. So her book has much to offer to lay as well as scientific readers. ((Reviewed December 15, 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)