Note:
LezBeOut.com reserves all copyrights on all articles published
within this site, any
articles may be linked back to LBO but not published on
any other website or message board without written permission
Feb
2004
By
Keston Huntington
The
History of the Dildo
The
word Dildo comes from a Latin word meaning to "open
wide”. Dildos are represented throughout history in erotic
painting, and were often quite beautifully designed, being
works of art themselves.
Historians
do not know who invented the dildo but most believe that
dildo’s most likely originated in Asia. Dildos have been
found in China that date back as early as the New Stone
Age, that's more than 12,000 years ago and most recently
a tomb was uncovered from the Han Dynasty in Xian, China
that was home to a rather interesting collection of dildos.
Seven cast bronze dildo’s were discovered and evidence indicates
that they were used by palace maids on sexually deprived
imperial concubines or aristocratic women during the Han
Dynasty. You go girls!
Also
discovered in ancient China , are hand crafted dildo’s which
double as works of art that are made of wood, jade, and
ivory.
Dildo’s
were wildly popular in Ancient Greece and the city of Miletus
was a major dildo manufacturer of what was known in its
day as olisbos, mostly made out of stone, wood or padded
leather. They were made for single, lonely (and most likely
lesbian) women and the lubricant of choice at that time
was olive oil.
It
is also depicted that unripened bananas were commonly used
in ancient Arab and Polynesian countries.
The
most shocking dildo discovery is the ancient African variant
which was reportedly made of camel dung, coated with layers
of resin. Somebody was horny?
Meanwhile,
anyone who’s ever eyed their broomstick lustily may take
comfort in the knowledge that in centuries past Celtic women
danced beneath the full moon in the freshly plowed fields,
sometimes even ritually masturbating themselves with short-handled
brooms (to bring fertility to the earth before planting).
Sometimes they would coat the broom stick with psychoactive
drugs!
Besides
use for pleasure, dildos were often used in deflowering
ceremonies. In some cases, dildos were attached to statues,
as in the case of Priapus, a Greek god of Ancient Greece
whose erect stone statue was used to pierce the hymen of
young aristocratic women to better prepare them for marriage.
Granted it often took a little doing, but with assistance
and diligent persistence, the maiden would clamber aboard
the erect member and wriggle her way to ecstasy.
While
some ladies were out to lose their virginity, others were
seeking the blessings of fertility. For example, Ancient
Egyptian women who had trouble getting pregnant believed
they could improve their fertility by masturbating by moonlight
atop the stone phallus of Amon-Ra. In the 1990s, the Egyptian
government began posting armed guards at some of the more
popular statues of Amon-Ra because Egyptian women were wearing
these archaeological treasures down through many centuries
of the practice. Yikes!
In
more recent times, women's personal toys have often been
disguised as items of health. Vibrators were invented in
the Victorian Era as a treatment, during the mid 1800's
women were treated for what physicians called "hysteria".
Women frustrated in their sexual release. The physician
would massage his patient's clitoris until "paroxysm"
or orgasm was achieved. He would often dispense an apparatus
that, although phallus shaped, was referred to as a therapeutic
device.
In
the earlier part of the 20th century, dildos and vibrators
began to make their appearance in women's magazines and
catalogues disguised as massagers or "A device for
anxiety and female tension". Sold through Sears Roebuck,
these toys were described as aids that every woman would
love. Their uses were encouraged as a way to keep women
relaxed and content.
Todays
dildo’s are what they are today due to the porn industry.
The porn industry in the late sixtees early seventies, took
the bold steps to introduce dildo’s strictly for the female
erotic pleasures. Today, dildo’s are popular for both men
and women!
- The first electrical dildo
was sold in 1911.
- A
town in Newfoundland is named Dildo. Allegedly the name
originates from the town's earlier industry in the 19th
century – carving dildos from whalebone.
- The band Steely Dan
is named after a giant dildo.
