Female hysteria
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| Patients diagnosed with female [[hysteria]] would sometimes undergo "pelvic [[massage]]" — manual stimulation of the [[female genitalia|woman's genital]]s by the doctor to "hysterical paroxysm", which is now recognized as [[orgasm]]. | Patients diagnosed with female [[hysteria]] would sometimes undergo "pelvic [[massage]]" — manual stimulation of the [[female genitalia|woman's genital]]s by the doctor to "hysterical paroxysm", which is now recognized as [[orgasm]]. | ||
| ==Early history== | ==Early history== | ||
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| + | '''Furor uterinus''' (literally agitation of the uterus) is condition ascribed to the womb in [[ancient medicine]]. | ||
| ===Hippocrates=== | ===Hippocrates=== | ||
| The history of hysteria can be traced to ancient times; in ancient Greece it was described in the gynecological treatises of the [[Hippocrates |Hippocratic corpus]], which date from the 5th and 4th centuries [[BCE]]. | The history of hysteria can be traced to ancient times; in ancient Greece it was described in the gynecological treatises of the [[Hippocrates |Hippocratic corpus]], which date from the 5th and 4th centuries [[BCE]]. | ||
| ===Plato=== | ===Plato=== | ||
| [[Plato]]'s dialogue ''[[Timaeus (dialogue) |Timaeus]]'' tells of the [[uterus]] wandering throughout a woman’s body, strangling the victim as it reaches the chest and causing disease. This theory is the source of the name, which stems from the Greek word for uterus, ''hystera'' (ὑστέρα). | [[Plato]]'s dialogue ''[[Timaeus (dialogue) |Timaeus]]'' tells of the [[uterus]] wandering throughout a woman’s body, strangling the victim as it reaches the chest and causing disease. This theory is the source of the name, which stems from the Greek word for uterus, ''hystera'' (ὑστέρα). | ||
| - | {{Template}} | ||
| - | '''Furor uterinus''' (literally agitation of the uterus) is condition ascribed to the womb in [[ancient medicine]]. | ||
| :"Thus our original design of discoursing about the universe down to the creation of man is nearly completed. A brief mention may be made of the [[generation]] of other animals, so far as the subject admits of brevity; in this manner our argument will best attain a due proportion. On the subject of animals, then, the following remarks may be offered. Of the men who came into the world, those who were cowards or led unrighteous lives may with reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in the second generation. And this was the reason why at that time the gods created in us the desire of [[sexual intercourse]], contriving in man one [[animated substance]], and in woman another, which they formed respectively in the following manner. The outlet for drink by which liquids pass through the lung under the kidneys and into the bladder, which receives then by the pressure of the air emits them, was so fashioned by them as to penetrate also into the body of the marrow, which passes from the head along the neck and through the back, and which in the preceding discourse we have named the [[seed]]. And the seed having life, and becoming endowed with respiration, produces in that part in which it respires a lively desire of [[emission]], and thus creates in us the love of procreation. Wherefore also in men the organ of generation becoming rebellious and masterful, like an animal disobedient to reason, and maddened with the sting of lust, seeks to gain absolute sway; and the same is the case with the so-called [[womb]] or matrix of women; the animal within them is desirous of procreating children, and when remaining [[unfruitful]] long beyond its proper time, gets discontented and angry, and wandering in every direction through the body, closes up the passages of the breath, and, by obstructing respiration, drives them to extremity, causing all varieties of disease, until at length the desire and love of the man and the woman, bringing them together and as it were plucking the fruit from the tree, sow in the womb, as in a field, animals unseen by reason of their smallness and without form; these again are separated and matured within; they are then finally brought out into the light, and thus the generation of animals is completed." --[[Timaeus (Plato)]] | :"Thus our original design of discoursing about the universe down to the creation of man is nearly completed. A brief mention may be made of the [[generation]] of other animals, so far as the subject admits of brevity; in this manner our argument will best attain a due proportion. On the subject of animals, then, the following remarks may be offered. Of the men who came into the world, those who were cowards or led unrighteous lives may with reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in the second generation. And this was the reason why at that time the gods created in us the desire of [[sexual intercourse]], contriving in man one [[animated substance]], and in woman another, which they formed respectively in the following manner. The outlet for drink by which liquids pass through the lung under the kidneys and into the bladder, which receives then by the pressure of the air emits them, was so fashioned by them as to penetrate also into the body of the marrow, which passes from the head along the neck and through the back, and which in the preceding discourse we have named the [[seed]]. And the seed having life, and becoming endowed with respiration, produces in that part in which it respires a lively desire of [[emission]], and thus creates in us the love of procreation. Wherefore also in men the organ of generation becoming rebellious and masterful, like an animal disobedient to reason, and maddened with the sting of lust, seeks to gain absolute sway; and the same is the case with the so-called [[womb]] or matrix of women; the animal within them is desirous of procreating children, and when remaining [[unfruitful]] long beyond its proper time, gets discontented and angry, and wandering in every direction through the body, closes up the passages of the breath, and, by obstructing respiration, drives them to extremity, causing all varieties of disease, until at length the desire and love of the man and the woman, bringing them together and as it were plucking the fruit from the tree, sow in the womb, as in a field, animals unseen by reason of their smallness and without form; these again are separated and matured within; they are then finally brought out into the light, and thus the generation of animals is completed." --[[Timaeus (Plato)]] | ||
Revision as of 21:09, 14 March 2011
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Female hysteria or furor uterinus was a once-common medical diagnosis, made exclusively in women, which is no longer recognized by modern medical authorities. It was a popular diagnosis in Western nations, during the Victorian era, for women who exhibited a wide array of symptoms including faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, muscle spasm, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and a "tendency to cause trouble".
Patients diagnosed with female hysteria would sometimes undergo "pelvic massage" — manual stimulation of the woman's genitals by the doctor to "hysterical paroxysm", which is now recognized as orgasm.
Contents |
Early history
Furor uterinus (literally agitation of the uterus) is condition ascribed to the womb in ancient medicine.
Hippocrates
The history of hysteria can be traced to ancient times; in ancient Greece it was described in the gynecological treatises of the Hippocratic corpus, which date from the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.
Plato
Plato's dialogue Timaeus tells of the uterus wandering throughout a woman’s body, strangling the victim as it reaches the chest and causing disease. This theory is the source of the name, which stems from the Greek word for uterus, hystera (ὑστέρα).
- "Thus our original design of discoursing about the universe down to the creation of man is nearly completed. A brief mention may be made of the generation of other animals, so far as the subject admits of brevity; in this manner our argument will best attain a due proportion. On the subject of animals, then, the following remarks may be offered. Of the men who came into the world, those who were cowards or led unrighteous lives may with reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in the second generation. And this was the reason why at that time the gods created in us the desire of sexual intercourse, contriving in man one animated substance, and in woman another, which they formed respectively in the following manner. The outlet for drink by which liquids pass through the lung under the kidneys and into the bladder, which receives then by the pressure of the air emits them, was so fashioned by them as to penetrate also into the body of the marrow, which passes from the head along the neck and through the back, and which in the preceding discourse we have named the seed. And the seed having life, and becoming endowed with respiration, produces in that part in which it respires a lively desire of emission, and thus creates in us the love of procreation. Wherefore also in men the organ of generation becoming rebellious and masterful, like an animal disobedient to reason, and maddened with the sting of lust, seeks to gain absolute sway; and the same is the case with the so-called womb or matrix of women; the animal within them is desirous of procreating children, and when remaining unfruitful long beyond its proper time, gets discontented and angry, and wandering in every direction through the body, closes up the passages of the breath, and, by obstructing respiration, drives them to extremity, causing all varieties of disease, until at length the desire and love of the man and the woman, bringing them together and as it were plucking the fruit from the tree, sow in the womb, as in a field, animals unseen by reason of their smallness and without form; these again are separated and matured within; they are then finally brought out into the light, and thus the generation of animals is completed." --Timaeus (Plato)
Galen
Galen, a prominent physician from the second century, wrote that hysteria was a disease caused by sexual deprivation in particularly passionate women: hysteria was noted quite often in virgins, nuns, widows and, occasionally, married women. The prescription in medieval and renaissance medicine was intercourse if married, marriage if single, or vaginal massage (pelvic massage) by a midwife as a last recourse.
See also
- Furor uterinus
- Human female sexuality
- Hysteria
- Fureurs utérines de Marie-Antoinette
- Furor
- Hypersexuality
- Nymphomania
- Womb
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Female hysteria" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
