Vibrator
- See also The Vibrators for the British punk band and Vibrator (album) for the 1995 album by Terence Trent D'Arby
A vibrator is a mechanical device that is designed to generate vibrations. The vibration is often generated by an electric motor with an unbalanced weight (mass) on its driveshaft. If the motor is switched on, the rotating weight will resonate.
There are many different types of vibrator, including those in cellphones and pagers. There are also vibrating devices intended to touch the body (including insertion in a body cavity), thereby stimulating the nerves and giving a pleasurable and possibly erotic feeling.
While most searches will undoubtedly be for the body vibrator, the electronic vibrator has been placed above it for PG-13 reasons.
Vibrators for early electronics
Vacuum tubes require relatively high voltages in order to function, with B+ supplies ranging from about 45 volts to 450 volts in consumer electronics. B batteries (note how there's an AA, AAA, C, D, etc. - the A and the B became obsolete when transistors replaced tubes) were available to power portable radios and hearing aids, with 45V and 90V B-batteries once common. However, for car radios, it was undesirable to add a B battery when there was already an electric supply on-board the car (typically 6 volts at the time).
Since the then-typical 6V automotive power was insufficient to provide B+ for radio tubes, a relay was wired as an oscillator; when power was applied, the coil would turn on, causing the armature to pull in and disconnect power to the coil, which would then cause the armature to fall back and the power to be restored to the coil. By this action, a crude square wave was generated and fed to a transformer which stepped up the voltage sufficiently to operate radio tubes.
Vibrators were noisy (a raspy buzzing sound) and unreliable, since their action would wear the contact surfaces quickly. They were usually encased in a (somewhat phallic, appropriate given the current common meaning of the word) steel or aluminum can and were socketed to allow easy replacement. They mostly disappeared with the advent of transistorized car radios in the early 1960s.
Applications requiring more stability and reliability used dynamotors or motor-generator sets, where a low voltage motor would spin a high voltage generator. (A dynamotor is a motor and a generator wound onto the same armature.)
Modern semiconductors have replaced both these electromechanical devices with inverters.
Vibrators for body stimulation
The electrically-powered vibrator was invented in the 1880s by doctors, who had been ostensibly treating women for "hysteria" for centuries by performing what we would now recognise as masturbating those women to orgasm.[1] At the time, however, not only did doctors regard the "vulvular stimulation" required as having nothing to do with sex, they reportedly found it time-consuming and hard work. The vibrator got the job done more quickly and without such efforts, and as such was extremely popular with doctors. Home versions began to appear soon after and became equally popular, with adverts in places like Needlecraft, Woman's Home Companion, Modern Priscilla and the Sears, Roebuck catalog. These disappeared in the 1920s, apparently because their appearance in pornography made it no longer tenable for polite society to avoid the sexual connotations of the devices.
In their more common guise as "body massagers", millions of vibrators have been sold to both men and women. Some of the purchasers never use their purchases for anything other than relief from muscular tension or aches and pains. However, many people who purchase vibrators marketed as "body massagers" — and, presumably, most people who purchase vibrators marketed as adult toys — use them to attain sexual release, primarily in masturbation, a form of autoeroticism. Vibrators often allow people to achieve orgasm faster and easier and are often said to provide stronger orgasms than those produced by hand stimulation alone. They are often recommended by sex therapists for women who have difficulty reaching orgasm by other means. Couples also use them sometimes as an enhancement to the pleasure of one or both partners.
The sale of vibrators and similar "novelty items" is forbidden in several states in the southern USA. In the state of Texas, the sale of devices for sexual stimulation such as vibrators and dildos is technically illegal, but many stores will sell such items provided that the customer sign a statement that the device will be used only for educational purposes.
Types of erotic vibrators
An enormous range of vibrators exist, falling into several broad categories:
- Clitoral—Often sold as "back massagers", these are powerful vibrators such as the Hitachi Magic Wand or the Acuvibe.
- Dildo-shaped—Approximately penis shaped, can be made of plastic, silicone or latex.
- Waterproof—Can be used under water.
- 'Rabbit', 'Jackrabbit' or 'Rampant Rabbit'—Two pronged for stimulation of both the vagina and the clitoris.
- G-spot—Similar to the traditional vibrator but with a curve and often a soft jelly like coating. The curve makes it easier to use to stimulate the g-spot or prostate.
- Egg—Egg shaped vibrator which can be used for stimulation of the clitoris or insertion into the vagina
- Pocket rocket or "Sagi Goldberg"—Shaped like a cylinder, one of its ends has some vibrating bulges. It is meant to stimulate the clitoris or nipples, not for vaginal insertion.
- "Undercover" vibrators—Vibrators discreetly shaped as every-day objects, such as lipstick tubes, cell phones, or art pieces.
- Anal vibrators—Vibrators designed for anal use have either a flared base or a long handle to grip, to prevent them from slipping inside and getting lost.
- 'Butterfly'—vibrator strapped around legs and waist for hands free clitoral stimulation during sexual intercourse
- Vibrating Cockring—vibrator (usually cordless) inserted in or attached to a cock ring, usually for stimulation of the clitoris
Most vibrators use internal batteries, but some of them have a power cord and must be plugged into a wall power socket to work.
References
- ^ Rachel P. Maines (1999). The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction. The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore. ISBN 0801866464.
- Joani Blank, Ann Whidden. Good Vibrations: The New Complete Guide to Vibrators Down There Press, 2000. ISBN 0940208261.