The On Treating Things As People Objectification,...

We typically see vibrators as sex toys, however, at some point in time vibrators were used to medically treat women. In the article, On Treating Things as People: Objectification, Pornography, and the History of the Vibrator we will look at the history of vibrators. According to the article, in the 18th and 19th century women were said to have a disease known as hysteria. Hysteria as the researcher noted, had many symptoms in common with chronic arousal. Several solutions were stated in the article to resolve hysteria. One solution given was that doctors or midwifes would massage a woman’s genitals with their finger until orgasm was reached, and those women who were married were advised to engage in vigorous sexual intercourse with their husbands until orgasm was reached. According to the researcher, Genital massage was very effective, but doctors found it difficult to put into use because it took a lot of time and effort on their part. Another solution given in the arti cle was that Doctors than came up with a device which was composed of directed jets of water; these devices produced a form of douche and helped spas become a success. According to the researcher, Directed water jets were very effective in helping with the treatment of hysteria but it was very expensive and as a result not many doctors administered it to women. Lastly, according to the researcher, doctors came up as with a less expensive device a mechanical vibrator. These mechanical vibrators were