"It became increasingly mainstream to believe that masturbation - aka the 'solitary vice'- could lead to mental and physical disorders, including insanity. Historian Dr John Woolf, a Victorian specialist and author of The Wonders, told masturbation was a huge concern. Married men were warned by doctors to limit the amount of sex they were having, and unmarried men were urged to conserve their "essence" by avoiding sex altogether, particularly masturbation. Why all the fuss? While it's widely agreed today that masturbation doesn't have any dangerous side effects, in the 19th century it was seen as a serious threat to mental and physical health. Manufacturers rushed to construct horrific devices as doctors tried to cure their patients of what was known as the male version of female "hysteria". Its sole purpose was to stop an unwanted erection because it inflicted so much pain on the poor man that self-love was out of the question. Next, your doctor might insist you purchase an anti-masturbation device such as "jugum penis", which was a jagged metal ring that attached to the base of the penis with a screw. This confession would undoubtedly unleash a diagnosis of "spermatorrhoea" - a so-called "illness" that sparked an influx of anti-masturbation devices that looked exactly like penis torture chambers. If you were a man living in the Victorian-era and you happened to be experiencing anxiety, irritability or a loss of confidence, a visit to the doctor might lead to a series of embarrassing questions about your love life.Īn honest and/or brave man might confess to dabbling in the occasional sport of self-love. Some anti-masturbation devices from the Victorian era could've been marketed as at-home torture devices.
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