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BREAKING DOWN THE STEREOTYPE (continued) female psyche, they deemed 75% of women afflicted by this disease (Lips, 132). It was as common as fever! According to the psychanalytic theory, which claims that there are inner forces outside of your awareness that are directing your behavior; women suffered from hysteria due to a lack of paroxysm (orgasmic) release. In other words, women were considered mentally ill because they were not having orgasms! That is evidence that even then men had no idea how to relate to or understand the female psyche. Cures for this mental illness included bed rest, seclusion, refrain from mental activities (such as reading), sensory deprivation, and daily massage. Treatment was exhausting for women as well as doctors. Some women were massaged for an hour or more to reach paroxysm. The massage was proclaimed the Vulva massage because the targeted areas included the labia majora, the labia menora, the clitoris and clitoral hood, the vagina, and the perineum. Can you imagine going to the doctor today and being treated for depression with a vulva massage? This treatment became a cash cow for the medical profession and led to the invention of the electic vibrator in 1880, allowing patients to reach paroxysm in less than ten minutes. Want to know more? Well, since your going through a divorce and vibrator might become your new best friend, heres a little history lesson for you. Following the sewing machine and way before the electic iron, the vibrator became the fifth electric appliance for the home. In 1917 there were more vibrators than toasters in the home. Then in 1920, the Sears catalog featured a multi- purpose appliance for women that included a buffer, grinder, and mixer with a vibrator attached. So when did the vibrator become so hush hush? In the 1930’s, films such as A Nuri Story, blew the vibrators cover and revealed it to be the sex toy that it was. Multiple films perceived physicians who treated hysteria with the vulva massage in an extremely negative light and; vibrators became a machine used by women who were mentally unstable. Beginning in the 1950’s through the 70’s, vibrators became camuflaged technology and doubled as hair brushes, back scratchers, and vaccum cleaner attachments. It wasn’t until 1990 that the vibrator came back around and was viewed as a positive piece of technology. Some might give thanks to the radical feminists, but it was the Reagan administration that brought them to light by placing vibrators on ‘the ways to prevent AIDS’ list and the rest is history. (Lips, 124-139) In western society, men and women have been expected to take on certain gender specific roles. The expectations and standards America has placed upon the roles pretaining to a man and a woman have been fixed in our psyche making it extremely difficult to transform. As a divorced woman, society along with our justice system clearly expects you to be able to maintain a household, raise the children, and also be able to solely provide for yourself and your dependent children. Regarding Lippman’s idea that stereotypes are a shortcut emphasizes that stereotypes are easy to distinguish, simple, and have become the norm. On the other hand, Dyer highlights T.E.Perkin’s article, “Rethinking Stereotpyes,” in which she decribes the possiblity of a short cut to be very misleading. Perkins shows evidence of this by explaining the stereotype ‘dumb blonde,’ which ironically seems strikingly familiar to that of a female divorcee: To refer correctly to someone as a dumb blonde and to understand what is meant by that, implies a great deal more than hair colour and intelligence. It refers immediately to her sex, which refers to her status in society, her relationship to men, her inability to behave or think rationally, and so on. In short, it implies knowledge of a complex social structure. (1979: 139)
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