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The Tools Will Change. Your Shaft Doesn’t Have To.
The ‘evolution’ of male masturbation
Ladies First
Women have used sex toys almost as long as there have been women: the earliest dildo known to archaeologists was discovered in 2005, in a German cave¹ already famous for its Paleolithic art and musical instruments. The 20-centimetre siltstone artefact dates from 28,000 years ago, but our toys have evolved over time, with different materials being employed: ancient Greek women played with leather dildos² (and were the first to call them ‘toys’), Ming dynasty women in China used lacquered wood³ phalluses, Elizabethan English women used polished glass,⁴ and in the Edo period of Japan, women bought water buffalo horns⁵ carved into a less dangerous shape (and size).
The vibrator originated in 1869⁶ as a large, coal-powered medical device used to treat ‘hysteria’, but some women found the treatment so effective they sought to continue it at home.
The invention of electricity made that possible: Joseph Mortimer Granville patented a portable electromechanical vibrator in the…
