The second women's history month of the 21st century has arrived and almost gone, and great strides have been made, especially in the way science and technology have joined forces in the last century to produce vital tools for women's health. A majority of women would agree that the speculum, an instrument which allows a doctor to see a female patient's cervix, falls into the category of essential tools.
Most people are unfamiliar with the expressly medical context in which the vibrator was invented.
Maines and Kapsalis also use this disease paradigm as a centerpiece in their books. Hysteria was thought to be a consequence of lack of sexual intercourse. For centuries hysteria was believed by many to lead to inflammation of the uterus, which necessitated the expulsion of fluids to prevent it from wandering away from its anatomical home and possibly suffocating the woman who housed it. A description of such a treatment reads like a cross between a medical report and soft-core pornography. From that time on she was free of all the evil she felt.