Editing Sex toy (section)

==History==

=== Dildos ===
[[File:Édouard-Henri Avril (27).jpg|thumb|A [[strap-on dildo]] being used by two women. Lithograph from {{lang|la|[[De Figuris Veneris]]}} (1906) by [[Édouard-Henri Avril]]]]
Dildos in one form or another have existed widely in history. [[Artifact (archaeology)|Artifacts]] from the [[Upper Paleolithic]] of a type called [[bâton de commandement]] have been speculated to have been used for sexual purposes.<ref>Marshack, A. 1972 The Roots of Civilization ''McGraw-Hill New York:'' 333</ref>  Few archaeologists consider these items as sex toys, but archaeologist [[Timothy Taylor (archaeologist)|Timothy Taylor]] put it, "Looking at the size, shape, and—some cases—explicit symbolism of the ice age batons, it seems disingenuous to avoid the most obvious and straightforward interpretation. But it has been avoided."<ref name='taylor_prehistory'>Taylor, T. 1996. ''The Prehistory of Sex.'' New York: Bantam.  p. 128.</ref><ref name='macaques'>Paul L. Vasey, ''Intimate Sexual Relations in Prehistory: Lessons from the Japanese Macaques.''  World Archaeology, Vol. 29, No. 3, Intimate Relations (Feb., 1998), pp. 407-425</ref>

The first dildos were made of stone, tar, wood, bone, ivory, limestone, teeth,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Buzz: The Stimulating History of the Sex Toy|last=Lieberman|first=Hallie|publisher=Pegasus Books|year=2017|isbn=978-1-68177-543-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/buzzstimulatingh0000lieb/page/n1/mode/1up}}</ref> and other materials that could be shaped as penises and that were firm enough to be used as penetrative sex toys. Scientists believe that a 20-centimeter siltstone [[phallus]] from the Upper Palaeolithic period 30,000 years ago, found in [[Hohle Fels]] Cave near Ulm, [[Germany]], may have been used as a dildo.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4713323.stm | work=BBC News | title=Ancient phallus unearthed in cave | date=2005-07-25 | access-date=2010-05-01 | first=Jonathan | last=Amos}}</ref> Prehistoric double-headed dildos have been found which date anywhere from 13 to 19,000 years ago. Various paintings from ancient Egypt around 3000 BCE feature dildos being used in a variety of ways. In medieval times, a plant called the "cantonese groin" was soaked in hot water to enlarge and harden for women to use as dildos.<ref name=":0" /> Dildo-like [[breadstick]]s, known as ''olisbokollikes'' (sing. ''olisbokollix''),<ref name=LSJolisbokollix>{{LSJ|o)lisboko/llic|ὀλισβοκόλλιξ|ref}}</ref> were known in Ancient Greece prior to the 5th century BC.<ref>{{cite book|last=Belardes|first=Nick|title=Random obsessions : trivia you can't live without|year=2009|publisher=Viva Editions|location=San Francisco|isbn=978-1573443609|page=97|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AW_g7e0QXBkC&q=olisbo-kollix&pg=PT111}}</ref> In Italy during the 1400s, dildos were made of leather, wood, or stone.<ref>{{cite news|website=Huffington Post UK|date=10 February 2014|title=The History Of Female Sex Toys: From Early Dildos To Rampant Rabbits|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/10/history-female-sex-toys-dildos-rampant-rabbits_n_4760274.html}}</ref> [[China|Chinese]] women in the 15th century used dildos made of lacquered wood with textured surfaces, and were sometimes buried with them.<ref name=":0" /> Nashe's early-1590s work ''[[The Choise of Valentines]]'' mentions a dildo made from glass.<ref name="Haynes">{{cite book | title=Sex in Elizabethan England | publisher=Sutton Publishing | author=Haynes, Alan | year=1997 | pages=140 | isbn=0750910712}}</ref> Dildos also appeared in 17th and 18th century Japan, in [[shunga]]. In these erotic novels, women are shown enthusiastically buying dildos, some made out of water buffalo horns.<ref name=":0" />

Dildos were not just used for sexual pleasure. Examples from the Eurasia Ice Age (40,000-10,000 BCE) and Roman era are speculated to have been used for [[defloration]] rituals.<ref name=":0" />

Many references to dildos exist in the [[history|historical]] and [[ethnography|ethnographic]] literature. Haberlandt,<ref>Haberlandt, M. 1899. "Conträre Sexual-Erscheinungen bei der Neger-Bevölkerung Zanzibars", ''Zeitschrift für Ethnologie'', 31: 668–670</ref> for example, illustrates single and [[double penetration dildo|double-ended wooden dildos]] from late 19th century [[Zanzibar]]. With the invention of modern materials, making dildos of different shapes, sizes, colors and textures became more practical.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bestdildo.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Interesting-Facts-about-your-Favorite-Sex-Toys.pdf|title=More Historical Facts on Sex Toys|access-date=12 June 2015|archive-date=14 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150614235725/http://bestdildo.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Interesting-Facts-about-your-Favorite-Sex-Toys.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Ancient Greece ====
[[File:Pittore dell'angelo volante (attr.), anfora con falli-uccello e ragazza con un fallo, 490 ac. ca. 04.JPG|thumb|right|A woman with a dildo. [[Red-figure pottery|Red figure]] amphora attributed to the [[List of Greek vase painters|Flying-Angel Painter]] {{Circa|490 BC}}; [[Petit Palais|City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts]]]]
Greek dildos were often made out of leather stuffed with wool in order to give it varying degrees of thickness and firmness. They were often lubricated with olive oil, and used for sexual practice and other activities. The Greeks were also one of the first groups to use the term "toy" in reference to a dildo.<ref name=":0" /> Dildos may be seen in some examples of [[Pottery of ancient Greece|ancient Greek vase art]]. Some pieces show their use in group sex or in solitary female masturbation.<ref name="duBois 2003 85">{{cite book | title= Slaves and other objects | last=  duBois | first= Paige | year= 2003 | publisher= University of Chicago Press| isbn= 0-226-16787-9 |page=85}}</ref>  One vessel, of about the sixth century BCE, depicts a scene in which a woman bends over to perform [[oral sex]] on a man, while another man is about to thrust a dildo into her [[anal sex|anus]].<ref>
{{cite book | title= Athenian Red Figure Vases: the Archaic Period | last=  Boardman | first= John | year= 1975 | publisher=  Thames & Hudson| isbn= 0-500-20143-9 |page=85| author-link=John Boardman (art historian)}}</ref>

[[Page DuBois]], a classicist and feminist theorist, suggests that dildos were present in Greek art because the ancient Greek male imagination found it difficult to conceive of sex taking place without penetration. Therefore, female masturbation or sex between women required an artificial phallus to be used.<ref name="duBois 2003 85"/>

=== Vibrators ===
Electromechanical vibrators were first invented by [[Joseph Mortimer Granville]] in the late 1880s. Its intended use was to treat muscle pains in men, not a sexual device.<ref name=":dildo">{{Cite journal |last=Lieberman |first=Hallie |date=2016 |title=Selling Sex Toys: Marketing and the Meaning of Vibrators in Early Twentieth-Century America |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26568014 |journal=Enterprise & Society |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=393–433 |doi=10.1017/eso.2015.97 |jstor=26568014 |issn=1467-2227}}</ref>

Several theories have been proposed to explain how the technology grew to also have sexual uses. [[Rachel Maines]]' claims in ''The Technology of Orgasm''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maines |first=Rachel |date=June 2000 |title=The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270133906 |journal=Journal of American History |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=244|doi=10.2307/2567990 |jstor=2567990 }}</ref> about physicians using vibrators to cure hysteria through inducing an [[orgasm]] (referred to at the time as a 'paroxysm') have been widely cited in academic documents and the media as the origins of vibrators' sexual origins. However, these claims lack valid evidence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lieberman |first=Hallie |date=August 2018 |title=A Failure of Academic Quality Control: The Technology of Orgasm |url=https://journalofpositivesexuality.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Failure-of-Academic-Quality-Control-Technology-of-Orgasm-Lieberman-Schatzberg.pdf |journal=Journal of Positive Sexuality |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=25|doi=10.51681/1.421 }}</ref>

[[Hallie Lieberman]]'s more plausible historical account is that American vibrator companies started targeting household appliance and electrotherapeutic device markets in the early 1900s. It was advertised overtly as a tool to relax, assist with labor in the home, and a general medical cure-all, but coded language and imagery hinted at its potential sexual uses as well.<ref name=":3" />
[[File:Old Hitachi Magic Wand box.jpeg|alt=The packaging box for the Hitachi Magic Wand vibrator.|thumb|Old packaging box for the [[Hitachi Magic Wand]], later rebranded as the Magic Wand Original.]]
In the late 1960s, sex-positive second-wave feminist [[Betty Dodson]] organized group mastrubation workshops in New York City, encouraging women to become more independent sexually. In these sessions, Dodson encouraged the use of the [[Hitachi Magic Wand]], a wand vibrator intended for muscle pain relief.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sutton |first=Emily |date=2024-01-01 |title=Pedagogy, Politics, and Betty Dodson's Liberating Masturbation |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/727205 |journal=Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society |language=en |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=311–331 |doi=10.1086/727205 |issn=0097-9740}}</ref> Inspired by her workshops, Dell Williams launched “Eve’s Garden” in the same city, which marked history as the first feminist sex toy shop in the US.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Dell |date=1990 |title=The Roots of the Garden |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3812814 |journal=The Journal of Sex Research |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=461–466 |doi=10.1080/00224499009551572 |jstor=3812814 |issn=0022-4499}}</ref>

This movement culturally rebranded the product as a sex toy, although Hitachi would not market it for its sexual uses. Although Hitachi briefly ceased manufacturing of the product in 2013 due to concerns of being associated to a popular sex toy, they later decided to continue manufacturing it under as the "Original Magic Wand" under the sex toy distribution company Vibratex.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-01 |title=The new Star Wars: Skeleton Crew trailer is heavy on Spielberg vibes |url=https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-new-star-wars-skeleton-crew-trailer-is-heavy-on-spielberg-vibes-151150849.html |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}}</ref>