History of the Sex Toy.

A History Lesson

Finding a detailed history of human sexuality is a difficult task. Foucault's History of Sexuality makes a valiant attempt, but it goes no further than the Victorian era. Finding a detailed history of sex toys, meanwhile, is next to impossible. One thing is clear: sex toys have been around for thousands of years.

Ancient Greece

The first documented use of a dildo comes from Ancient Greece, where merchants sold something called an olisbos. Fashioned from stone, leather, or in some cases wood, the olisbos became a tool bought primarily by single women - or so the cultural evidence would have us believe. To call into question such a conclusion is only natural, as the same general impression (that dildo ownership is the domain of single women) persists today. But we now know that dildos are enjoyed by people of both sexes, from all walks of life.

"Diletto": The Delight of the Dildo

We next turn to Renaissance Italy, where olisbos became diletto, from the Italian for delight. Even with a liberal amount of olive oil as lubricant (no joke!), the diletto was not as comfortable as today's models. But as evidenced by today's booming adult toy industry, the dildo continued to evolve and grow in popularity.

Victorian Era

It was around the mid-nineteenth century when the world was first introduced to the rubber dildo. Rubber dildos of the day were much more comfortable and 'life-like' than anything introduced previously.

It was also during the Victorian Era when the world was first introduced to the vibrator. At the time, vibrators were prescribed to treat a condition known as "hysteria". This term is derived from the Greek hystera, meaning "uterus," and reflects the ancient and patently false notion that psychiatric disorders in women spring from disturbances in the uterus. At the time, women were not regarded as sexual beings, and the use of a vibrator for sexual pleasure would have been regarded as scandalous. In turn, vibrators grew in popularity by being marketed as massagers.

By the early twentieth century vibrators began to appear in early erotic cinema. Their popularity was stunted in the 1940s, when the advertisement of such products experienced a steady decline.

Today

In the last 30 years sex toys have experienced a renaissance, of sorts. Unfortunately, the seventies saw the proliferation of substandard products with a generally sexist tone to their marketing. During the eighties things began to improve thanks to a new attitude pioneered by organizations and companies like San Francisco's Good Vibrations.

The nineties saw a continuation of this trend with numerous sex-positive boutiques providing a comfortable place to shop for sex toys.

References:

Sexy Origins and Intimate Things : The Rites and Rituals of Straights, Gays, Bi'S, Drags, Trans, Virgins, and Others by Charles Panati
The Dictionary of Sexual Slang by Alan Richter
Sex in History by Reay Tannahill.