Sex Toy
An exhibitor poses with dildos hand crafted from wood, at the booth of the company Waldmichelsholdi at the "Venus" erotic fair in Berlin October 17, 2013. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

The vibrator is a female and gay sex toy used often as a substitute for a male genital to help a person reach climax or it could be used as a foreplay tool by couples, whether heterosexual or homosexual.

Mashable reports that the Victorian doctor who invented the vibrator intended it to replace manual massage of the female pelvic area to induce “hysterical paroxysm.” During that era, the massage was the treatment for hysteria which was characterised by anxiety, irritability and bloated tummy.

The doctors then explained those symptoms to the woman’s womb, and the treatment to relieve their patients of hysteria was the pelvic massage to induce orgasm, then believed to restore the female patient to full health.

Because providing the pelvic massage was considered a “tedious, boring and physically demanding task,” Dr J Mortimer Granville invented in 1880 the vibrator which he had patented. The bulky device was initially found in the doctor’s surgery room, but it soon found its way into homes.

Based on illustrations, the vibrator evolved from a box with a crank to generate electric current in 1891 to a handheld device similar to today’s hairdryer and was advertised as good for removing wrinkles, massaging the scalp, relief for headache, fatigue and “nerviness.”

By 1906, it has further evolved into various shapes from round or square concussor plates to rollers, balls and disc and rotating hammers. A 1910 illustration had the caption that the device was used by physicians to treat 200 ailments such as deafness, headaches, insomnia, lumbago, neuralgia, paralysis and sprain.

Other ailments it sought to treat include the influenza, rheumatism and gout, indigestion and flatulence, all stomach troubles and lung troubles.

From its medical use, certainly there is no denying it has evolved into a sex toy and is included in the $167,000 loot bag to be given to losers in the nominees for the best and support actor categories and best director category in the 87th Academy Awards on Sunday.

Provided by marketing company Distinctive Assets – which has been providing the loot bag for the 13th consecutive year – the items included in the 2015 are $17,000 more expensive than the 2014 loot bag. The items include luxury condoms, a vibrator and orgasm booster, reports Inquistr.

According to USA Today, the $250 Afterglow Pulsewave Vibrator uses low-level laser to enhance arousal. The luxury condoms cost $56 for two packs of six pieces per pack.

The loot also contains non-sex toys such as a $11,500 getaway package in Tuscany, Italy and $68 lollipops from Dosha Pops that are herbal tea-based.

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au