Good Vibrations Magazine

It was the opinion of doctors (and all other health and morality experts) in Europe and the U.S. from the 1830s to the 1930s that masturbation was a compulsive affliction, similar to the way we view smoking today. In fact, the widely held view was that no sane adult man or woman would “voluntarily” masturbate. Masturbation was viewed in Western societies as an unhealthy form of self-abuse performed only by the morally degenerate or mentally ill.

Because the evidence of male masturbation was tangible, a disease was invented to explain adult men’s ejaculations, called spermatorrhea, which doctors claimed was responsible for their “involuntary” emissions. Physicians erroneously assumed that the loss of semen caused many of the same maladies that were seen in castrated men. Asylum attendants were quoted in medical books as saying that masturbation is “not only the cause of brining many of their patients there, but an almost insuperable obstacle in the way of their recovery.”

The people who espoused anti-masturbation beliefs were not only medical professionals. Religious moralists, frightened parents, repressed spouses and inventors with questionable preoccupations all contributed to a public phobia around masturbation. There sprang up a huge market in devices for preventing masturbation, many of them utilizing painful and humiliating methods. Between 1856 and 1932 the U.S. Government Patent Office awarded 33 patents to the inventors of devices designed to stop masturbation. One of the inventors said: “I feel happy to have contributed my share to combating this pernicious evil.”

Below is a list of the 10 most commonly used remedies and devices in the war on masturbation.

1. Bondage.

A common low-tech solution was to restrain the “afflicted” party so he or she couldn’t masturbate. In 1895 a girl was thought to be masturbating, so she was made to sleep “in sheepskin pants and jacket made into one garment, with her hands tied to a collar about her neck; her feet were tied to the footboard so she couldn’t slide down and use her heels; she had been reasoned with, scolded and whipped, and in spite of it all she managed to keep up the habit.” I think we understand the poor woman’s frustration!

2. Leather-Jacket Corset.

No, it’s not a sexy Gaultier outfit designed for Madonna. In 1831, a sinister Dr. Fleck created a corset out of leather and steel for wicked pleasure-seeking girls and boys. For boys, there was “a metal penis tube and a steel band riveted to the shield permanently attached to the body with an encircling steel band in such a manner that it could not be removed.” Apparently, in several cases the tube was too small, resulting in inflammation, swelling and pain to the penis.

3. Spike-Lined Ring.

Nocturnal emissions are a natural part of almost any male’s sleep cycle, especially during adolescence. This made adolescent boys prime victims for anti-masturbation hysteria. In the early 1850s, doctors in Boston created spike-lined penis rings, and in respected medical journals, these “spermatorrhea rings” received rave reviews. One author, a doctor, said that he had used them “in hundreds of cases.”

4. Spermatorrhea Bandage.

These were bandages or devices that kept the penis tightly bound to the boy, making erection impossible. No wonder they believed that masturbation caused infertility!

5. Stephenson Spermatic Truss.

Patented in 1876, the Truss placed the penis in a pouch, which stretched it and tied it down back between the legs, making erections extremely painful. Good Dr. Stephenson apparently spent a lot of time obsessing about other people masturbating. Later he created an “improved” version out of wood, and patented another device 21 years later which had a spiked metal hood over the penis.

6. Bowen Device.

This device came from a James Bowen of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1889. It was a simple cup over the penis that attached to the pubic hair with chains and clips. If the wearer got an erection, the pubic hair would be pulled painfully, waking the sleeping wearer and give him a chance to “prevent or check the discharge.”

7. The Cage.

In 1885, the Handbook of Medicine mentioned a metal cage that went around the genitals of the boy. It allowed erections (which the inventor didn’t deem unhealthy) but prevented touching in any way, and was sold with handcuffs.

8. Dr. Moodie Apparatus for Boys.

This was another truss-and-shield with a penis tube, but one that was worn at all times. Invented by Scottish physician Dr. John Moodie in 1848, this one allowed urination out of a tube. Masturbation being an equal opportunity affliction, Dr. Moodie kindly invented a panty girdle for girls with an ivory grille over the genitals and a lock in the back.

9. Penis-Cooling Devices.

These truly Kafkaesque devices cooled impending erections with either air or water. One Frank Orth patented both water and air-cooling devices in 1893, which had electric motors, water reservoirs, and special undergarments a man wore to bed. Orth explained their mechanism saying that, “the penis is inserted in the hole between the levers,” so that if “during the night an erection occurs, the dilation of the penis spreads the levers, thus separating the jaws, and permitting cold water to flow through. The water… cools the organ of generation.”

10. Sexual Armor.

Invented by a Miss Perkins in 1908, the sexual armor was a jacket with leather pants that supported a large piece of steel armor, and was worn at all times. Perforations in the armor allowed urine to escape, and if you had to defecate, you had to have someone else open the bolted, padlocked trapdoor at the rear. Perhaps today Miss Perkins would have been what we call a “dominatrix,” but back then they called her a “nurse.”

These devices were used on children and adults, especially those adults placed in hospitals by well-meaning relatives. It’s chilling to consider that the people who created and employed these devices considered themselves to have good intentions and to be more highly educated and more moral than someone who would be lured into masturbating.

Fortunately, we made it through masturbation’s darkest hours: the behavior is now considered a normal process in sexual development and maturity. Masturbation can have dramatic psychological and physical benefits. So don’t torture yourself — celebrate your ability to give yourself pleasure and have a happy Masturbation Month!