The Hysterical Herstory Of Hysteria And How It Was Cured

GUERRILLA GIRLS
www.guerrillagirls.com
The Hysterical Herstory
Of Hysteria
And How It Was Cured
From Ancient Times Until Now
BY THE GUERRILLA GIRLS

26
The
Hysterical
Herstory
Q4
Of
Hysteria
And How
It Was
Cured
From Ancient Times
Until Now
BY THE GUERRILLA GIRLS

STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
Once upon a time, women in Europe and America
suffered from a terrible disease called hysteria.
Its symptoms were nervousness, fatigue, anxiety,
insomnia, faintness, muscle spasms, shortness
of breath, irritability, headaches, heaviness of the
abdomen, fluid retention, lack of concentration,
depression, loss of appetite for food or sex, ticklishness,
and making trouble. Doctors claimed two
out of every three women suffered from this awful
affliction.
No one knew what caused hysteria, so great men
of science decided it had to be women's mysterious
sexual organs.

Greek doctor searching for wandering uterus
SOMETHING IN THE WAY SHE MOVES
In Ancient Greece, Plato believed the uterus
wandered around a woman’s body, choking
and strangling all normal functions as it went.

Hanging witches
NO SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
Starting in the Middle Ages, many people thought
women who displayed extreme hysteria were possessed
by the devil ... they were witches! Among
the cures: burning at the stake and hanging.

Top: wooden syringe; Bottom: subfumigator
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
In the Renaissance, special instruments were
developed to purge women of hysteria. Lots
of Dutch houses had a wooden syringe in the
outhouse. It was hollow and shot medicinal fluids
into a woman’s vagina to flush out the unsavory
stuff deep inside her that caused her illness ...
including old sperm. In Italy, a device was used to
fumigate women’s innards with hot vapors.

Doctor massaging patient
DR. FEELGOOD
Another treatment for hysteria, if a woman could
afford it, involved a physician massaging the inside
edges of her vagina with aromatic oils. She
would then fall into a frenzied state of groaning
and moaning, sometimes over and over again. It
was not unusual for the patient to lose consciousness
or fall asleep. When revived, she was in a
state of calm relaxation. Cured! Until her next
episode of hysteria.
Some women had the procedure as often as once
a week. It was especially effective on virgins, widows
and nuns. The treatment could take minutes,
or even hours. What a lot of work for doctors!
Men of medicine gave women orgasms and got
paid for it. Should we call that healthcare ... or
prostitution?

Bouncing and riding
RIDE SALLY RIDE
Many women who suffered from hysteria were
instructed to bounce in hammocks or ride horses.

Top: French Pelvic Douche, 1860; Bottom: Ascending Douche at Saratoga, 1900
PUMP UP THE VOLUME
In the 19th century, along with dams, pumps,
sewers and other wonders of hydraulics, came
a new idea for making women healthy: the high
pressure pelvic douche. Vacation spas got into
the action too, with devices like the Saratoga
chair at left.

Left: Physicians’ Vibragenitrant with attachments
Right, top: Excitateur Vulvo-uterin, Paris, 1883; Right, bottom: Hanging Carpenter Vibrator, 1904
GOOD VIBRATIONS
After the electric motor was invented in the 1820s,
doctors came up with exciting new ways to treat
the ever present problem of female hysteria.
Scientific-minded physicians had machines like the
ones at left that they used directly on patients’
genitals. These early pioneers discovered that the
vibration created by these instruments also cured
sore muscles, headaches and aching feet. Modern
wonder tools!

Top: French Pelvic Douche, 1860
Bottom: Ascending douche at Saratoga, 1900
HOME SWEET HOME
Once electricity was more readily available in
the US, women could administer their own cure
for hysteria in the privacy of their homes. Portable
home vibrators appeared ten years before
vacuums and irons. Ads for them could be found
in magazines like Modern Priscilla, Woman’s
Home Companion, Good Housekeeping and Popular
Mechanics. White Cross vibrators were named
after a 19th century sexual purity organization.
Sears Roebuck had its own version, with special
attachments. Once a woman felt better, she could
clean the house with the same machine.

1920s flapper with a secret
GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN
The porn industry discovered the vibrator in the
1920s. In one film a woman dumps her date at the
door, then runs to her bedroom and enjoys her
little machine. Psychiatrists were horrified to see,
right there on the screen, a medical device used
for sexual pleasure. And with no penis in the room!
Experts declared vibrators lascivious and immoral.
Stores like Sears stopped selling them. As late as
1999 it was still illegal to sell vibrators in 14 states,
including Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Kansas, Alabama and Colorado.

A selection of Women’s Lib books
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
By the second half of the 20th century, women’s
sexuality was no longer a big mystery. Female
orgasm was identified, described and encouraged
for good mental and physical health. Vibrators
became the best friend of many a girl. They are
still at the core of a thriving sex toy industry.
Around 1952 the medical profession stopped
regarding hysteria as a serious, widespread
female disease. That was the same year Simone
de Beauvoir’s manifesto, The Second Sex, was
published, jump-starting the Women’s Liberation
Movement. Coincidence?
Maybe feminism was the cure for hysteria ... It
helped women and men understand how society
constrained, misunderstood and mistreated female
bodies. Plus, it brought female sexual pleasure
out of the closet.

Copyright © 2009 by Guerrilla Girls, Inc.
Thanks to the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 2006,
“Pathology Full Circle,” and to Rachel P. Maines, whose
book, The Technology of Orgasm, inspired us and provided
a lot of the info in this storybook.
We’d love to hear from you.
Guerrilla Girls’ email: gg@guerrillagirls.com