CASE STUDY: PASSION AND POWER; THE TECHNOLOGY OF ORGASM
Looking back, in all my years I don’t remember seeing much of the female genitalia. I was lucky to have an extensive stretch of sex ed. throughout school, but there was something missing. I had only been exposed to my lower parts through diagrams and scientific jargon. I was too embarrassed to say the word vagina, let alone ask my mother about it. My first year at a woman’s college I was introduced to the film Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm. This film went under the covers to explain the importance of female ‘self love’ and society’s views of it throughout time.
Julie Tietz use the film Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm in her curriculum at Cottey College. Via e-mail, I asked why she chose this particular film in her Human sexuality progam. She said,“It shows how views toward sexuality, and female orgasm in particular, have changed over the course of history, It gives context to our current views about female orgasm and masturbation” (Tietz 2011).
Trisha Stubblefield, also a teacher at Cottey, uses this film a lot of her courses concerning women. She says,
“The interviews get to me every time I watch it--one of the main reasons I show it is that, even though many of the women who are interviewed are older, women of all ages STILL are so disconnected from their bodies. To hear older women speak so honestly and openly about their lack of knowledge is very moving (in the same way The Vagina Monologues is)--and to hear students discuss the issues in similar ways is so heartbreaking and so powerful. If women can't connect with/to their own bodies, how can they connect to any other bodies? Plus, I think it's important for students to know that when feminists complain about the government interfering with women's bodies, they aren't ONLY talking about abortion. I think the documentary deals with topics ALL women should know about!! And, I think the history it presents is the kind of history that we have traditionally been denied and that has not been taken seriously by the academy. But, it tells us SO much about gender, power, medicine, consumer culture, etc.!” (Stubblefield 2011).
I chose to focus my case study on Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm because it goes deep into the history of society’s views of women sexuality. According P&P, the uterus was “adored” in the medieval ages. The mass public thought that an orgasm was necessary for cJonception. This encouragement of pleasure did primarily focus on the goal of procreation, but pleasure was included.
Rachel Maines, Ph.D., who wrote Technology of Orgasm, the book that inspired this film, revealed a little secret that not many people know. As she was looking in needlework magazines of the early 1900’s, she was shocked to find ads for vibrators. When she looked deeper into the issue, she found that vibrators were touted as an invention to assist with medical problems that had been diagnosed for decades(Passion and Power, 2008).
Maines found that the act of orgasm was thought to be a cure for hysteria. Hysteria is a condition caused by “the revolt of the uterus against neglect” with symptoms like “yawning, itching, stomach upsets, insomnia, disagreeing with husbands, etc” (Passion and Power 2008). Women suffering from hysteria would see their local doctor routinely for their “chronic illness” and pay two to three dollars a visit for a relieving “massage.” These massages of the vulva could take up to an hour and required a lot of skill. The doctors of the time “didn’t like that” and looked for something a little easier(Passion and Power 2008). Thus, the vibrator was born.
After years of adaptions there was a mechanical tool that was “fast, efficient, and required little skill” (Passion and Power, 2008). Soon doctors everywhere treated those poor hysteric maidens with the push of a button. These excursions were expensive so, due to popular demand, it was only reasonable for these magic wands to go on sale to the public. At five to fifteen dollars a pop, your very own buzzer would pay for itself by two to three weeks.
How could it be that women were getting off going to Dr. Phalanges while their husbands went off to work, funding the whole thing? Rachel Maines defines the miracle with one phrase, “social camouflage.” It was seen as a cure and labeled as a massage. Why aren’t we still granted the same luxury now every time we are caught “reading french novels while wearing a corset?” (Passion and Power). Vibrators began to appear in stag films and photos. The camouflage cover was blown. Doctors and respectable consumer magazines retired their use of vibrators for fear of being involved with something sexual (Passion and Power 2008).
In the 21st century, I see female masturbation in our world as a social taboo. Any sight or sound of a woman feeling sexual pleasure has threat of being against the law. In the film we meet Joanne Webb, a respectable, all American woman. She saw people all around her uneducated sbout sex and felt it a duty to help educate those in need. Also, a way to earn some extra cash. This housewife started a business with the Passion Parties Company and began to sell “erotic goods” (technologyoforgasm.com 2010).
Joanne’s voice is the first voice you hear when watching Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm. She begins with her story.
“There was a voicemail message on my cellphone. It said ‘Mrs. Webb, there has been a warrant issued for your arrest on an obscenity charge. Be sure to turn yourself in between four and five this afternoon with a 1,500$ bond.” (Passion and Power).
As the story unfolds it is revealed that she was arrested for selling vibrators with the intent of her customers using them rather than buying them as “novelties” or “gag gifts” (Passion and Power 2008) This is where we, as an audience realize that It’s illegal to sell vibrators in Texas.
This spoke to females/feminists everywhere. I found this same story being told in a book called Full Frontal Feminism. The chapter concerning sex and masturbation and spoke of a Texan housewife who was arrested for selling vibrators. The book went further to say
“anything that vibrates (and is therefore fun for the ladies) is outlawed in eight states. Seriously- Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, Alabama, and Colorado all have ‘anti-erotic massager’ laws. Something tells me these states don’t have a similar ban on Lubriderm or Playboy” (pg 39 Valenti, Jessica).
Why is it that men can use tools for sexual satisfaction, but women cannot?
One reason for this anxiety of female pleasure is the media’s repression of it. In the film, This Film is Not Yet Rated, Kirby Dick goes on a hunt to discover the true faces of the group that determines film ratings. The Motion Picture Association of America. One subject he focuses on is the harsh ratings relating to scenes with sex. It seems the more realistic the sex, the older you have to be to see it. The most fantastical or unrealistic films slide by with a mere PG-13 (Kirby Dick, 2006). What does that say about our youth's views on fornication?
What Dick goes on to explore is the fact that female pleasure is far more condemned by the MPAA than a male. The MPAA would brand a film with a NC-17 for having a viewing of pubic hair, but not even flinch at a man convulsing with release (Kirby Dick, 2006). Are we only allowed to see men reach ecstasy and then turn a cold shoulder on a woman getting her share?
There are humorous interpretations everywhere in blockbuster movies such as American Pie (1999) and Fired Up(2009). Knocked Up (2007) doesn’t show any character “cocking the gun,” but there are frequent discussions about using a maple leaf tattoo as a target and a husband’s personal gratification habit ruining the softness of towels. Now, compare the number of films in which you see or hear about male masturbation and that of females.
2010 was an amazing year of Hollywood with two well-known movies that bravely portrayed women masturbation. In The Runaways (2010), Kristen Stewart sits outside a door while coaching her fellow band mate how to feel good. Oscar winning Natalie Portman expiraments with her pleasure in Black Swan (2010). Both were honest representations of masturbation.
I think just seeing that masturbation is out there is huge for the development of young women. Film and television arethe strongest representations of “seeing is believing.” We saw these women masturbate on TV, therefore we know self-love exists. Trisha Stubblefield says
“I think [Passion and Power] is [an effective source of media in inducing social change concerning women sexuality]. For example, I KNOW women who think they are deformed in the ways Betty Dodson talks about. Those misguided beliefs have a serious effect on these women's self identity, self worth, intimate relationships, etc. Getting information out there is so important; women talking to other women is so important; recovering women's history is so important. Part of why I show the DVD is that I hope to inspire students to work for social change--I hope the video angers them and saddens them and moves them to act in some way.” (Stubblefield)
Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm has created quite a life for itself. It was released in 2008 and has been awarded as “being one of the best Docs of 2009” by the Video Librarians Staff (technologyoforgasm.com). The film is being sold as an educational DVD, which allowed me to see it for the first time. As a documentary, it had a successful festival life. It screened At the Siskel Film Center, NYU, Cornell, Philadelphia International Film Festival, San Francisco Women’s Film Festival, and many more (technologyoforgasm.com).
It’s important for the society to embrace the female genitalia and the pleasure it can bring. This could also fix a lot of relationships by helping women feel more confident in being equal when in a sexual relationship. They will know what they like.
“It’s impossible to tell another person what gives you pleasure if you can’t give yourself pleasure. Think about how difficult it would be to show someone how to play the piano if you’d never seen one before” (Pg 61. Carol Livoti, 2004).
The knowledge of one’s own body could be a catalyst for the desire to share the information with a partner. That communication is a good path to go on in order to have a healthy sexual relationship.
“Women have been denied too much for too long, and they have internalized misogyny for too long, and they have so much to offer the world and themselves, and they are human beings! I encourage liberation by choosing to make my career in a women's college (in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere!), by mentoring students, by encouraging their voices, by supporting their choices, by treating them as adult human beings, by listening to them, by presenting information they need to know, by developing in them skills to make their voices heard, by taking them seriously.” (Stubblefield 2011)
As a feminist, much like Trisha Stubblefield, I plan to go out of my way to inspire women around me to take pride in their clitorises and to talk about it. Maybe this way some young woman who’s scared of her downstairs will be brave enough to turn on the light.
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