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It might be hard to believe, but from the Stone Age to the present, there's been one tool that nearly every civilization has kept handy: Dildos!
Dildos have a history that dates back thousands of years. The first dildo, discovered in a German cave, was thought to have been used by people during the Ice Age, over 28,000 years ago!
Contrary to popular belief, the dildo isn’t a modern invention.
The evolution of dildos is an interesting one. Starting as a ritual tool, then being used for medical treatment, to finally becoming a staple of the adult industry.
The word we use today comes from the Latin word “dilatare,” which means open wide. This translates to the Italian word “diletto,” standing for delight. The term was introduced way back in 1400 AD, and it’s still in use today in its modern variant: dildo.
There’s still some argument surrounding the modern toy. Although we know that the late 19th century brought us the dildo we love, there is still some debate as to where it originated. Some say it comes from England, while others say it’s a United States invention that found its commercial use in Europe.
Either way, we know doctors would use it to “cure” female hysteria back in the 1800’s. They would massage the clitoris, thinking that stimulation of women’s genitals would help them relax and feel relief.
Archaeologists have attempted to conceive of non-sexual uses for the distinctly-shaped objects of the stone age period that they vaguely refer to them as “ice age batons.” However, scientific opinon is gradually shifting toward the idea that these objects were instead used for sexual pleasure.
This changing opinion is due to the incredible details on some of them. For example, some of the objects in question have retracted or totally absent foreskin, piercings, tattoos, and even scars. This, along with their life-size and smooth, polished construction from siltstone, chalk, or antler bone, makes scholars think that these ancient phalluses were actually used as dildos.
Moving on in history, the famous ancient Greeks did not look to the outside world for sexual inspiration in terms of their artificial phalluses, but to the inside of their kitchens. One of their most notorious sexual practices is the usage of olisbokollikes, or dildos made entirely out of bread. Basically, humping a baguette. Images of bread dildos have been recorded in a range of sources, although it's not clear whether they were used for ritualistic purposes or everyday pleasure.
The Greeks also used dildos in other contexts as well. In Aristophanes' famous play Lysistrata, for example, Greek women go on a sex strike that leads to a discussion of the use of dildos to satisfy themselves while protesting.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the incredible wealth of the Western Han dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.) led to incredibly elaborate tombs that held a variety of exquisite items, including a number of ancient sex toys.
The Hans believed that their spirits would live on inside these tombs in the afterlife, and Han royalty expected to maintain the same standard of living after death, which means that they took some of their most important possessions with them, including intricate bronze dildos.
These toys were common sexual aids among the elites and were products of high quality. However, although these dildos were toys, they had the additional function of being tools.
Moving forward to 16th-18th-century Europe, dildos became more scandalous. For example, Italian writer Pietro Aretino recorded how nuns began to use dildos in the 1500s to “quell the gnawing of the flesh.”
A century later, dildos began to be more readily available to the wealthy, but this didn’t mean that they were condoned in polite society. When the daring John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, imported dildos into England for his sex club in 1670, for example, they were destroyed immediately.
Nevertheless, plenty of people continued to try and get their hands on dildos. English women began making their own dildos, only to be penalized for it once it was made illegal.
Around the same time in Japan, people had a far different, and more relaxed, attitude about sex toys. The Japanese depicted these sexual aids in their erotic books and images known as “shunga.” In shunga, women were depicted purchasing and enjoying dildos.
In general, women were shown as being incredibly sexual, even to the point of being the aggressor. Even after the Japanese government banned shunga in 1722, it flourished in underground markets.
Nowadays, the dildo is made out of a number of materials, but the most successful material by far is the silicone dildo, created by Gosnell Duncan. In 1965, Duncan sustained an injury that left him paralyzed below the waist. His accident inspired him to become active in the disability movement and advocate for improved and safer options for penile substitutes.
During the 1960s and 1970s, dildos were largely made out of rubber, which was a poor material for the job, as it could not stand washing or heating without losing structural integrity. Also at this point dildos were only sold as medical aids and intended for straight couples that were struggling with sexual intercourse.
Duncan created the silicone dildo in the 70’s as a medical aid for people with disabilities. However, it took off as a product for anyone looking to improve or simply augment their sex lives.
Since Duncan and long before, phallic sex toys throughout history have remained fairly consistent in look, shape, and length and remained a hidden staple in many of the world's cultures for millennia.
We no longer use them on virgins during rituals, but they have now found a way into almost every household.
Today, sex toys are more out in the open and part of a huge industry. It's safe to say that the dildo has come a long way since the days of stones and baguettes.