March 11, 1999.

"The ages-old practice of treating 'hysteria' - that ill-defined disease thought to be caused by the womb wandering all over the body or by nasty fumes or whatever, and which resulted in a woman who acted, well, like a woman - [was] with a thorough 'massage' of the patient's genitals until she reached 'paroxysm.' Not surprisingly, women often required such treatments frequently...as a result, doctors often pawned this job off on some hapless nurse or midwife.

"So when technology came into use, in the mid 1800's, its potential as a finger-saving device was immediately put to use...for the longest time, vibrators were openly advertised in women's magazines, and were sold in the Sears catalog under a banner reading 'Aids That Every Woman Appreciates.'"

- celina hex, from a review of the technology of orgasm in this spring's bust magazine