Group Blog for Western History and Culture: March 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

Vibrators throughout the Years

By: Mariah Alexander

The first vibrator was a steam powered vibrator that was invented in 1869, no pun intended, by a man named George Taylor.[1] When I first read that the vibrator was steam powered I imagined a modern day vibrator with seem coming out the back end. But it actually resembled a table with a hole in the center.[2] George Taylor is given the credit of creating the first vibrator but there is rumor that Cleopatra may have invented it. She used a hollowed out gourd and filled it with angry bees and used it as a vibrator.[3]

Shortly after the invention of the steam-powered vibrator, in 1880, electric vibrators began to take over. The electric pull-in vibrators were easier and made treatment for hysteria, which was considered easier for doctors so they could treat more patients. Not only doctors had these devices but lots of spas had them as well. Before the vibrator, many spas would use a high-powered water hose and if it was aimed correctly if could aid in some women reaching a climax in less than 4 minutes.[4]

In the beginning if the 20^st century vibrators begin making their way into homes in disguise. They were advertised as various types of body massagers. Many advertised that they cured many sicknesses such as headaches, asthma and tuberculosis. Some even claimed to keep women young. Even though they were extremely popular that began disappearing in the 1920’s. This was because the porn had revealed these devices to be used for sexual pleasure from women, stripping innocence of these said “body massagers.”[5] I can only think of one explanation for why vibrators, after being revealed to be sex toys, literally disappeared… MEN. Was the vibrator hurting anyone? No. So why was it so unacceptable for women to want pleasure? This makes me think back to my mother’s sex talks with me. When we had them she only talked about how boys only wanted sex from me and that they were hormonal beast who stop at nothing to get, as she said, “their hand in the cookie jar.” At first I believed her, then I had my first sexual encounter with the opposite sex and relieved that I wanted to have sex too. This idea that sex is the horrible thing that should only be spoken of behind closed doors and is unladylike is deeply engraved into out culture.

This brings me to modern day vibrators. They come in many shapes, sizes, colors and types. Today vibrators are still not socially acceptable to the older community but based off the opinions of many of my peers, if you are waiting to lose your virginity to the “right person” the vibrator is the way to go. I can only believe that vibrators will become more acceptable in American society because as time goes of society has no choice but to become more tolerant of the choices of this nation. With stores like Spencer’s and Adam and Eve who have walls of vibrators of every kind the mind could think of it only gives me home as to what the views one not of vibrators but female sexuality will be in the future.

[1]Null Hypothesis - The Journal of Unlikely Science. (n.d.). Null Hypothesis. Retrieved March 29, 2014, from http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/science/straight-talking/item/history_of_vibrator_orgasm_female

[2] Null Hypothesis - The Journal of Unlikely Science. (n.d.). Null Hypothesis. Retrieved March 29, 2014, from http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/science/straight-talking/item/history_of_vibrator_orgasm_female

[3] The Bizarre History of the Vibrator: From Cleopatra's Angry Bees to Steam-Powered Dildos. (n.d.). Gizmodo. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://gizmodo.com/5909857/the-bizarre-history-of-the-vibrator-from-cleopatras-angry-bees-to-steam-powered-dildos/all

[4] Null Hypothesis - The Journal of Unlikely Science. (n.d.). Null Hypothesis. Retrieved March 29, 2014, from http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/science/straight-talking/item/history_of_vibrator_orgasm_female

[5] The Strange, Fascinating History of the Vibrator. (n.d.). Alternet. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://www.alternet.org/story/154489/the_strange%2C_fascinating_history_of_the_vibrator?page=0%2C1

Sex in the Civil War

by Rhyann Bowman

When someone mentions the Civil War, the first thing that pops into your head isn't sex. You think of weapons, slavery, Abraham Lincoln, and the split between northern and southern states. The war that led to slavery being abolished was known as America's bloodiest clash [1]. One thing that you won't hear grade school teachers explaining to students is how much sex played a role in the Civil War. While the soldiers were fighting in a war, they were also indulging in their sexual pleasures. For those who are knowledgeable about sex in the Civil War, among the most popular names and terms are Annie Jones, General George Custer, General Judson Kilpatrick, and Smokey Row.

In their camps, the soldiers obtained pictures of nude women. White women who were nude in the pictures were innocent in the pictures while women of different races were usually engaging in sexual activity. These pictures were most likely for masturbation. However, pictures were not the only way for soldiers to get women. They were many prostitutes available. Prostitutes often followed the troops [2]. For one soldier, Joseph Hooker, there were so many prostitutes around him that the prostitutes who were in his company became known as “hookers”. We can thank Joseph Hooker for this endearing term that is still around today. As you can imagine, there were many cases of venereal disease. The most popular diseases among the soldiers were syphilis and gonorrhea. These diseases were attempted to be treated with mercury. However, the mercury killed the soldiers.

One camp follower, Annie Jones, was very popular among the soldiers in the Civil War. She was seventeen years old when she left home. She initially left to become a nurse, but she soon began to service the soldiers in the war [3]. She was also arrested many times because she was thought to be a spy but she denies these claims. Annie Jones is mostly known for being the mistress of General George Custer. Custer was under the command of General Judson Kilpatrick, who was jealous of Custer because he was constantly visited by Annie Jones. In fact, Annie believed that this was the reason that she was charged with being a spy.

Smokey Row was Nashville, Tennessee’s red-light district. The women in this red-light district serviced farmers and merchants in town on business [4]. As mentioned before, syphilis and gonorrhea were the most popular diseases. These diseases were almost as deadly as the war to the soldiers. Many men who died in the war died of diseases they contracted instead of the war. After the war ended, the spread of pornography led to the Comstock law and other anti-pornography forces.

[1] Lowry, Thomas. The Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell: Sex in the Civil War. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 1994.

[2] Case Western Reserve University, "case.edu." Last modified 2010. Accessed March 31, 2014. http://www.case.edu/affil/skuyhistcontraception/online-2012/Civil-War.html.

[3] Albright, Evan. Cape Cod Confidential, "Cape Cod Confidential." Last modified December 31, 2001. Accessed March 31, 2014. http://capecodconfidential.com/cccanniejones011230.shtml.

[4] Serratore, Angela. Smithsonian, "Smithsonian." Last modified July 8, 2013. Accessed March 31, 2014. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-curious-case-of-nashvilles-frail-sisterhood-7766757/?no-ist.

Masculinity in America

By: Kiara Bell

Throughout the years, feminism has become such a popular and controversial topic. I am always hearing about how women feel as though we need to try extremely hard to fit into a certain image and look a certain way. I have heard often that women try to resemble and imitate the “ideal” woman so they will be accepted into today’s society. However, women aren’t the only ones experiencing the struggles of fitting in and fulfilling the proper gender role. Men have been facing everyday issues of not resembling the ideal male figure.

In today’s society, manliness is very important to Americans.[1] Through the perceptions of gender roles throughout the years, refraining from showing any type of weakness or vulnerability is still a very common stereotype in men. [2] There are other various stereotypes that men still try to live by, some of them talk about how real men can handle their booze and that real men drive fast. Others discuss how real men don’t get sick but real men do work out hard. One that I didn’t find to be very shocking was that for true manliness to be achieved, the more sexual partners one has the better. Sex can be looked at as a prerequisite to becoming a true macho man.

Although I highly dislike the fact that these stereotypes even exist and wish they didn’t affect men, these certain ideals of manliness and masculinity can influence them to act or think a certain way which can eventually become detrimental to a man’s health overall. With the drinking, for example, the unfortunate outlook made about drinking can cause some men to binge which can then lead to all kinds of health problems like

heart disease and mental health issues. This issue of masculinity has been around for a very long time. One of the original images that men attempted living up to is the George Washington figure and that made men feel the need to fight oppression and bring honor to their native land. When we lived in a patriarchal society, men were required to be the main provider of the household. There were so many different ideal figures the men tried to live up to. There was the homesteader who was expected to till the Earth and protect his family. There was the farmer who cultivated his land with only a plow, horse, and the help of his sons. There was the wealthy businessman who was mostly successful in the cities. As you can see, there were so many different kinds of figures that men were, and still are, supposed to live up to. Sadly, if they don’t then they are viewed as weak and insignificant.

[1] Garland, Eric. The Crisis of American Masculinity (blog), December 20, 2012, http://www.ericgarland.co/2012/12/20/the-crisis-of-american-masculinity/.

[2] Myers, Wyatt. 7 Macho Mistakes: Why Being a Macho, Macho Man Is Bad for Your Health. November 18, 2013. http://www.everydayhealth.com/mens-health-pictures/why-being-a-macho-macho-man-is-bad-for-your-health.aspx

Is She Crazy? She Must Have Hysteria! Is She Horny? She Must Have Hysteria Too!

By: Gyovanni Boston-Crompton

As a woman, we all get called crazy on a daily basis. Why we are crazy? Most men would say that we are hormonal, we have periods, we have estrogen, and a vagina. Also, many men like to say my favorite quote of all time that after a female has received “good dick” from someone they go crazy as well. Even though the word crazy is thrown around in a lighter manner than before, it was once considered a disease to be crazy, hormonal, or even becoming aroused. To think that if were to be just mad at the world due to a period that I would be considered to be having a disease and that I would have to be medically treated. Now that is just crazy.

In order to be treated for this disease you needed to display the vast array of symptoms. Several symptoms of this female disease were irritability, nervousness, muscle spasms, and sexual desires. They also believed that too much lubrication of the vagina and having fantasies of sex were also a part of the symptoms as well. This “disease” dates back to the 500 B.C. where many inscription in Egypt and Italy that talked the wombs of women moving throughout their body and cause many different hysterical diseases. Hysteria was not given a name until Hippocrates used the word “Hystera”, which means uterus. In 200 A.D. Galen, who was a Roman physician, thought that hysteria was the result of sexual deprivation. He believed that if you were a married woman all you needed to do was to have sex and if you were divorced, unmarried, or widowed you would need to have pelvic massages which many people would follow suite with this method of treatment for the disease. In the 19^th century female hysteria was common within one fourth of the women population. In the 1860's, they would use hydrotherapy in spas which they would douche the woman in order to cure the hysteria. George Taylor created the first vibrator that was steamed-powered in 1869, which lead to the portable vibrator that was made by Joseph Mortimer Granville in 1885. In 1898, saddle machines became popular as well to treat hysteria. Almost everyone kept a vibrator in their home and it being so popular that it became the fifth household item to become electrical right after the sewing machine. By the 1920's, the vibrator, which was once a cure all method, was now shown in many pornographic films and was not only used for medical reasons but also recreational. In the 1950's the vibrator was not shown as much as before and the word hysteria was dropped by the American Psychological Association. In the 1980's, the vibrator was reintroduced and the name of hysteria was changed to Conversion Disorder. [1]

Women were suppressed because they had an arousal and enjoyed sex. The cure to everything in life for a woman back then was basically masturbation and now most women are ashamed to even say that they masturbate. To think that life was so simple a long time ago and that a woman’s best friend was a vibrator. No wonder why so many use vibrators today because our history has told us the solution to having problems is using a vibrator. Personally, for me I don’t think a vibrator actually solved all the women’s problems back then and I definitely don’t think that they solve all the problems now either. And if that’s the case shouldn’t most of us be sane unlike what most men claim that we all aren’t. There is now even a movie about how Mortimer Granville made the vibrator that was actually named Hysteria. [2]

[1] Dusenbery, Maya. Mother Jones, "Timeline: Female Hysteria and the Sex Toys Used to Treat It." Last modified June 1, 2012. Accessed March 30, 2014. http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/05/hysteria-sex-toy-history-timeline.

[2] IMDb, "Hysteria (2011)-IMDb." Last modified December 14, 2011. Accessed March 30, 2014. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1435513/.

What is Rape Culture?

by: Gabriela Borzachini

When I told my friend I was going to write about rape culture, she looked at me with confusion and asked what is that? She thought it was a cult of people who believed rape was an okay thing to do. I can admit that I had no idea what rape culture was for a while. Many people are not aware of the significant amount of rape and sexual assault that goes on in our country. It is important to define what rape culture means. Rape culture is a culture where rape is a common occurrence and remains prevalent because of the societies views on gender roles and sexuality. America, for instance, is thought to be a well-known rape culture because of its views of the sexes and their gender roles. Women are seen as objects to the sexual predators that are men.[1]

There has long been a history of unequal rights and privileges regarding race and gender. To this day, women are still not treated the same as men. African Americans and racial minorities are not always treated the same by the racial majority even though they should be at this point in time. Since the 18^th century, women have lost the majority of the rape cases in court to their white male assailants. Seldom did a woman win a case like this unless they had a long history of chastity. If a black man was accused of raping a white woman, well that was a different story. The law officials would hang the black man unless the public got to him first. Slavery was a big cause of this issue. White men could own basically anyone. They could own black men and women as slaves, and they could own their wives. It was not illegal for a man to rape his wife or for a slave owner to have black women slaves just for their sexual needs. Since, the end of slavery and since women entered the work force, they have gotten more rights to protect themselves. [2]

Because of the history our country has with rape, the change has been slow. Today rape is still prevalent. It has been studied that college campuses have been seen to have more cases of date rape of acquaintance rape. This means that the individuals involved know each other at least to some extent. Often times alcohol is involved as well, whether it be at a fraternity party or any other type of party. Men are the predators and women are the prey. The common theme in rape culture is that men are dominant and women are passive. The men will get them drunk and alone so they can exert their dominance over the woman. [3]

Rape can occur anywhere. It is because of America’s history with rape, views of gender roles and the double standard that we live in a rape culture. It is still prevalent today and is a working progress to get the issue settled and gone for good. Hopefully one day this will not be an issue anymore.

[1] University of Minnesota Duluth, "The Rape Culture: An American Epidemic." http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/3925/Readings/rapeculture.html. (Accessed 31 Mar. 2014).

[2] Sarah Begley, “’Redefining Rape’: A Brief History of Rape in America,” The Daily Beast, 22 August 2013, www.thedailybeast.com/witw. (Accessed 31 Mar. 2014).

[3] Boswell, A. Ayers, and Joan Z. Spade. "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?." Gender and Society. no. 2 (1996).

H.I.V./ A.I.D.S on College Campuses By: Nia Beals

H.I.V./A.I.D.S On College Campuses

By: Nia Beals

H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. have become a huge problem on college campuses for a long time. According to stateuniversity.com, one in every five-hundred people have H.I.V. (Human Immune deficiency Virus) which when it is not taken care of properly can turn in to A.I.D.S. (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).[1] Some people have made the mistake of thinking that H.I.V. and A.I.D.S. are the same thing. The main thing people do not understand is that A.I.D.S is the final stage of H.I.V.[2] Researchers have come to the conclusion that the H.I.V. /A.I.D.S. problem on college campuses is because most college students lack maturity, do not know how to handle peer pressure, or abuse drugs and alcohol. Another problem is 75-85% of students, whom define themselves as straight, do not feel as if they are in danger of being infected with H.I.V. This mindset is not good to have because sometimes the symptoms of H.I.V. will stay hidden for up to ten years. Other times one could begin to feel the symptoms in as early as a week. Some of the symptoms of H.I.V. include headaches, fatigue, muscle aches, terrible diarrhea, and difficulty swallowing.[3] An example of this came from an anonymous male on reddit.com. This individual had a one night stand with another male whom he met on craigslist even. Within a week, the individual began to have flu like symptoms and was misdiagnosed with strep throat. A couple of months later, it was confirmed that the individual had contracted H.I.V., even though he used protection during the act.[4]

The number of young people whom have contracted H.I.V./A.I.D.S on college campuses is exponentially high. Every year Trojan Condoms releases the “Trojan Sexual Health Report Card” that ranks the sexual health of majority of the college and university in the United States. Unfortunately our amazing school of UNC Charlotte was not on the list but several other North Carolina schools made the cut. The rankings included Duke at 32, N.C. State at 33, Chapel Hill at 37, East Carolina at 50, and Wake Forest at 89. East Carolina rankings really surprised me because of their promiscuous reputation. However, the worst sexually healthy schools are Chicago State University (which is where I was going to attend) ranked at 139 and Brigham Young University ranked at 140. Brigham Young University being ranked last in sexual health is alarming because the university was founded on Mormon principles.[5] Another alarming fact about the percentage of young people with H.I.V. /A.I.D.S. is 71 percent. Also, of the majority of the young people whom have contracted the disease are African American males.

It is sad to say that African Americans make up 12 percent of the population but make up 39 percent of the A.I.D.S. population.[6]
Today, many historically black colleges are trying to stop the increase of H.I.V./A.I.D.S. cases on their campuses. HBCUs have begun to enhance their sex education. Scientists have stated that the increase of the disease in African Americans is because of recklessness, homophobia in the African American community, lack of information, and denial. The state of North Carolina has developed “Project Commit to Prevent” to help educate students about H.I.V. Also, N.C. A&T at Greensboro has begun to throw safe sex parties that where students learn how to do things such as put on condoms the right way and play STD Bingo.[7] However, HBCUs are not the only schools that have tried to decrease the rate of H.I.V. among college students. UNC Charlotte just conducted their annual “Scarlett Fever” drag show to raise money for A.I.D.S. Walk. The annual A.I.D.S. Walk of Charlotte is sponsored by Regional A.I.D.S. Interface Network Also, UNC Charlotte happens to give out free H.I.V. testing every second Tuesday and Thursday of the month to students

[1] stateuniverisity.com, "College Students and HIV/AIDS." Accessed March 28, 2014.

[2] aids.gov, "Whats is HIV/AIDS." Last modified June 6, 2012. Accessed March 28, 2014.

[3] stateuniverisity.com, "College Students and HIV/AIDS." Accessed March 28, 2014.

[4] "I am a 21-year-old college student who contracted HIV through someone I met on craigslist." redt.com. no. 15 (2013).

[5] Trojan Condoms, "Trojan Sexual Health Report Card." Last modified 2013. Accessed March 28, 2014.

[6] stateuniverisity.com, "College Students and HIV/AIDS." Accessed March 28, 2014.

[7] nbcnews, "Black colleges seek stem HIV cases." Last modified March 22, 2004. Accessed March 28, 2014.