Description and uses
General
A dildo is a device usually designed for sexual penetration of the vagina, mouth,
or anus, and is usually solid and phallic in shape. Some expand this definition to
include vibrators. Others exclude penis prosthetic aids, which are known as
"extensions". Some include penis-shaped items clearly designed for vaginal
penetration, even if they are not true approximations of a penis. Some people
include devices designed for anal penetration (butt plugs), while others do not.
People of all genders and sexual orientations often use these devices for
masturbation or for other sexual activity.
Materials
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Mahogany wood dildo
Rubber dildos, usually incorporating a steel spring for stiffness, became available
in the 1940s. This arrangement was unsatisfactory because of the potential for
injury from cuts by the spring if the rubber cracked and came apart. Later, PVC
dildos with a softer PVC filler became popular. Most of the inexpensive dildos sold
in the 2000s are made this way.
PVC and jelly-rubber toys are problematic because they contain unsafe phthalates,
softeners added to many plastics that are also found in some jewelry, food
containers, and other soft rubber toys. Phthalates are linked to health problems
such as cancer and prenatal defects. Products made of PVC or jelly rubber cannot be
sterilized. Manufacturers recommend using condoms with these toys if users share
them.
High-end, chrome plated steel dildos are also popular in the BDSM scene. Some users
prefer them because of their hardness, firmness, durability, electrical conductance
(see erotic electrostimulation), and low friction, especially when used with
lubricant. Because they are heavy, they can be used to exercise vaginal PC muscles.
A steel dildo may be warmed or cooled in water to elicit a range of temperature
sensations. It may also retain the user's body heat. Its polished nonporous surface
allows sterilization in boiling water or an autoclave.
Glass and steel dildos have similar features. In most cases, glass toys are solid,
and made of Pyrex or other types borosilicate glass (Schott-Duranglas and Simax),
although their construction can vary depending on the manufacturer. Like steel,
glass toys may be used to apply firmer pressure than silicone can to a female's G-
spot (urethral sponge) or a male's prostate gland. Unlike other types of toys,
glass sex toys can also be personalized with inscriptions.
Cyberskin is a synthetic material that feels more like human skin. It is porous and
cannot be sterilized. It often becomes sticky after washing (which can be remedied
by a dusting of cornstarch) and is more delicate and more prone to rips and tears
than silicone dildos. "Packing dildos", which are not designed for penetration, are
often made of this material.
Phallus-shaped vegetables and fruits, such as bananas or zucchini or other food
items, such as hot dogs or other types of sausages, have been used as dildos. Any
object of sufficient firmness and shape could be used as a dildo.[1]
Shape
Acrylic dildo
Conventionally, many dildos are shaped like a human penis with varying degrees of
detail; others are made to resemble the phallus of animals. Not all, however, are
fashioned to reproduce the male anatomy meticulously, and dildos come in a wide
variety of shapes. They may resemble figures, or simply be practical creations
which stimulate more easily than conventional designs. In Japan, many dildos are
created to resemble animals or cartoon characters, such as Hello Kitty, so that
they may be sold as conventional toys, thus avoiding obscenity laws. Some dildos
have textured surfaces to enhance sexual pleasure, and others have macrophallic
dimensions including over a dozen inches long.[2]
Uses
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"Anal dildo" redirects here. For the vibrating device intended to remain in place
for some time, see anal vibrator.
Most dildos are intended for vaginal or anal penetration and stimulation, whether
for masturbation or with a sexual partner. Dildos have fetishistic value as well,
and may be used in other ways, such as touching one's own or another's skin in
various places, often during foreplay or as an act of dominance and submission. If
of appropriate sizes, they can be used as gags, for oral penetration for a sort of
artificial fellatio. Dildos, particularly specially designed ones, may be used to
stimulate the G-spot area.
A dildo designed for anal insertion and to remain in place is usually referred to
as a butt plug. A dildo intended for repeated anal penetration (thrusting) is
typically referred to as an anal dildo or simply "dildo". Anal dildos and butt
plugs generally have a large base to avoid accidental complete insertion into the
rectum, which may require medical removal. Some women use double-ended dildos, with
different-sized shafts pointing in the same direction, for simultaneous vaginal and
anal penetration, or for two partners to share a single dildo. In the latter case,
the dildo acts as a sort of "see-saw," where each partner takes an end and receives
stimulation.
Some dildos are designed to be worn in a harness, sometimes called a strap-on
harness or strap-on dildo, or to be worn inside, sometimes with externally-attached
vibrating devices. Strap-on dildos may be double-ended, meant to be worn by users
who want to experience vaginal or anal penetration while also penetrating a
partner. They may also be used for anally penetrating men. If a female penetrates a
male, the act is known as pegging.
Other types of dildos include those designed to be fitted to the face of one party,
inflatable dildos, and dildos with suction cups attached to the base (sometimes
referred to as a wall mount). Other types of harness mounts for dildos (besides
strapping to the groin) include thigh mount, face mount, or furniture mounting
straps.
Recent social acceptance and popularity has resulted in the emergence of highly
adorned dildos, which are often made of expensive materials and may be jewelled.
Society and culture
Etymology
The etymology of the word dildo was long considered unclear,[3] but the third
edition of the Oxford English Dictionary concluded in 2018 that the word originates
in nonsense syllables common in early-modern popular ballads (not dissimilar to the
still-familiar nursery rhyme phrase "hey diddle diddle"), which came to be used as
a coy euphemism for dildos.[4] The phrase "Dil Doul", referring to a man's penis,
appears in the seventeenth-century folk ballad "The Maids Complaint for want of a
Dil Doul".[5] The song was among the many in the library of Samuel Pepys.
Other theories that have previously circulated include that the word dildo
originally referred to the phallus-shaped peg used to lock an oar in position on a
dory (small boat). It would be inserted into a hole on the side of the boat, and is
very similar in shape to the modern toy. The sex toy might take its name from this
sailing tool, which also lends its name to the town of Dildo and the nearby Dildo
Island in Newfoundland, Canada. Others suggest the word is a corruption of Italian
diletto "delight".[6][7]
According to the OED, one of the word's first appearances in English was in Thomas
Nashe's The Choice of Valentines or the Merie Ballad of Nash his Dildo (c. 1593),
in the sentence "Curse Eunuke dilldo, senceless, counterfet, | Who sooth maie fill,
but neuer can begett" ('curse dildo, that eunuch, lacking feelings, and
counterfiet, who can certainly fill [a vagina], but can never beget [children]').
[8]
Terms in other languages
An olisbos (pl. olisboi) is a classical term for a dildo, from Greek ???s�??,[9]
i.e. a dildo that was usually made of leather. A godemich� is a dildo in the shape
of a penis with scrotum.
In some modern languages, the names for dildo can be more descriptive, creative or
subtle�note, for instance, the Russian ????????????? (literally "phallic
imitator"), Hindi ????????? darsildo, Spanish consolador "consoler" and Welsh cala
goeg "fake penis".
History
Dildos in one form or another have existed widely in history. Artifacts from the
Upper Paleolithic of a type called b�ton de commandement have been speculated to
have been used for sexual purposes.[10] Few archaeologists consider these items as
sex toys, but archaeologist Timothy Taylor put it, "Looking at the size, shape,
and�some cases�explicit symbolism of the ice age batons, it seems disingenuous to
avoid the most obvious and straightforward interpretation. But it has been
avoided."[11][12]
The first dildos were made of stone, tar, wood, bone, ivory, limestone, teeth,[13]
and other materials that could be shaped as penises and that were firm enough to be
used as penetrative sex toys. Scientists believe that a 20-centimeter siltstone
phallus from the Upper Palaeolithic period 30,000 years ago, found in Hohle Fels
Cave near Ulm, Germany, may have been used as a dildo.[14] Prehistoric double-
headed dildos have been found which date anywhere from 13-19,000 years ago. Various
paintings from ancient Egypt around 3000 BCE feature dildos being used in a variety
of ways. In medieval times, a plant called the �cantonese groin� was soaked in hot
water to enlarge and harden for women to use as dildos.[13] Dildo-like breadsticks,
known as olisbokollikes (sing. olisbokollix),[15] were known in Ancient Greece
prior to the 5th century BC.[16] In Italy during the 1400s, dildos were made of
leather, wood, or stone.[17] Chinese women in the 15th century used dildos made of
lacquered wood with textured surfaces, and were sometimes buried with them.[13]
Nashe's early-1590s work The Choice of Valentines mentions a dildo made from glass.
[18] Dildos also appeared in 17th and 18th century Japan, in shunga. In these
erotic novels, women are shown enthusiastically buying dildos, some made out of
water buffalo horns.[13]
Dildos were not just used for sexual pleasure. Examples from the Eurasia Ice Age
(40,000-10,000 BCE) and Roman era are speculated to have been used for defloration
rituals. This isn�t the only example of dildos being used for ritual ceremonies, as
people in 4000 BCE Pakistan used them to worship the god Shiva.[13]
Many references to dildos exist in the historical and ethnographic literature.
Haberlandt,[19] for example, illustrates single and double-ended wooden dildos from
late 19th century Zanzibar. With the invention of modern materials, making dildos
of different shapes, sizes, colors and textures became more practical.[20]
Ancient Greece
A woman with a dildo. Red figure amphora attributed to the Flying-Angel Painter c.
490 BC; City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts
Dildo being used by two women. Lithograph from De Figuris Veneris (1906) by
�douard-Henri Avril
Dildos may be seen in some examples of ancient Greek vase art. Some pieces show
their use in group sex or in solitary female masturbation.[21] One vessel, of about
the sixth century BCE, depicts a scene in which a woman bends over to perform oral
sex on a man, while another man is about to thrust a dildo into her anus.[22]
They are mentioned several times in Aristophanes' comedy of 411 BCE, Lysistrata.
LYSISTRATA
And so, girls, when fucking time comes� not the faintest whiff of it anywhere,
right? From the time those Milesians betrayed us, we can�t even find our eight-
fingered leather dildos. At least they�d serve as a sort of flesh-replacement for
our poor cunts� So, then! Would you like me to find some mechanism by which we
could end this war? [23]
Herodas' short comic play, Mime VI, written in the 3rd Century BCE, is about a
woman called Metro, anxious to discover from a friend where she recently acquired a
dildo.
METRO
I beg you, don't lie,
dear Corrioto: who was the man who stitched for you this bright red dildo?[24]
She eventually discovers the maker to be a man called Kerdon, who hides his trade
by the front of being a cobbler, and leaves to seek him out. Metro and Kerdon are
main characters in the next play in the sequence, Mime VII, when she visits his
shop.
Page duBois, a classicist and feminist theorist, suggests that dildos were present
in Greek art because the ancient Greek male imagination found it difficult to
conceive of sex taking place without penetration. Therefore, female masturbation or
sex between women required an artificial phallus to be used.[21] Greek dildos were
often made out of leather stuffed with wool in order to give it varying degrees of
thickness and firmness. They were often lubricated with olive oil, and used for
sexual practice and other activities. The Greeks were also one of the first groups
to use the term �toy� in reference to a dildo.[13]
Early modern period
In the early 1590s, the English playwright Thomas Nashe wrote a poem known as The
Choice of Valentines, Nashe's Dildo or The Merrie Ballad of Nashe his Dildo. This
was not printed at the time, due to its obscenity[25] but it was still widely
circulated and made Nashe's name notorious.[18] The poem describes a visit to a
brothel by a man called "Tomalin"; he is searching for his sweetheart, Francis, who
has become a prostitute. The only way he can see her is to hire her. However, she
resorts to using a glass dildo as he finds himself unable to perform sexually to
her satisfaction.[26]
Dildos are humorously mentioned in Act IV, scene iv of Shakespeare's The Winter's
Tale. This play and Ben Jonson's play The Alchemist (1610) are typically cited as
the first use of the word in publication (Nashe's Merrie Ballad was not published
until 1899).[25]
John Wilmot, the seventeenth-century English libertine, published his poem Signor
Dildo in 1673. During the Parliamentary session of that year, objections were
raised to the proposed marriage of James, Duke of York, brother of the King and
heir to the throne, to Mary of Modena, an Italian Catholic princess. An address was
presented to King Charles on 3 November, foreseeing the dangerous consequences of
marriage to a Catholic, and urging him to put a stop to any planned wedding '...to
the unspeakable Joy and Comfort of all Your loyal Subjects." Wilmot's response was
Signior Dildo (You ladies all of merry England), a mock address anticipating the
'solid' advantages of a Catholic marriage, namely the wholesale importation of
Italian dildos, to the unspeakable joy and comfort of all the ladies of England:
You ladies all of merry England
Who have been to kiss the Duchess's hand,
Pray, did you not lately observe in the show
A noble Italian called Signor Dildo? ...
A rabble of pricks who were welcomed before,
Now finding the porter denied them the door,
Maliciously waited his coming below
And inhumanly fell on Signor Dildo ...
This ballad was subsequently added to by other authors, and became so popular that
Signor became a term for a dildo.[27] In the epilogue to The Mistaken Husband
(1674), by John Dryden, an actress complains:
To act with young boys is loving without men.
What will not poor forsaken women try?
When man's not near, the Signior must supply.[27]
Signor Dildo was more recently set to music by Michael Nyman for the Wilmot biopic,
The Libertine.
Many other works of bawdy and satirical English literature of the period deal with
the subject. Dildoides: A Burlesque Poem (London, 1706), attributed to Samuel
Butler, is a mock lament to a collection of dildos that had been seized and
publicly burnt by the authorities. Examples of anonymous works include The Bauble,
a tale (London, 1721) and Monsieur Thing's Origin: or Seignor D---o's Adventures in
London, (London, 1722).[28] In 1746, Henry Fielding wrote The Female Husband: or
the surprising history of Mrs Mary, alias Mr. George Hamilton, in which a woman
posing as a man uses a dildo. This was a fictionalized account of the story of Mary
Hamilton.[29]
Twentieth century
Dildos are obliquely referred to in Saul Bellow's novel The Adventures of Augie
March (1953): "....he had brought me along to a bachelor's stag where two naked
acrobatic girls did stunts with false tools".[30] A dildo called Steely Dan III
from Yokohama appears in the William S. Burroughs novel The Naked Lunch (1959).[31]
[32] The rock band Steely Dan took their name from it.
Twenty-first century
In 2017, dark web privacy researcher Sarah Jamie Lewis connected a vibrator (using
reverse engineering) to Tor, the anonymity network, in a proof of concept
demonstrating the applicability of privacy technology after the fact.[33]
Legal and ethical issues
The possession and sale of dildos is illegal in some jurisdictions, including
India.[34] Until recently, many southern states and some Great Plains states in the
United States banned the sale of dildos completely, either directly or through laws
regulating "obscene devices".[35] In 2007, a federal appeals court upheld Alabama's
law prohibiting the sale of sex toys.[36] The law, the Anti-Obscenity Enforcement
Act of 1998, was also upheld by the Supreme Court of Alabama on September 11, 2009.
[37] There are even instances where dildos have been seized and burned at
customs[13].
In February 2008, a federal appeals court overturned a Texas statute banning the
sales of dildos and other sexual toys, deeming such a statute as violating the
Constitution's 14th Amendment on the right to privacy.[38] The appeals court cited
Lawrence v. Texas, where the Supreme Court of the United States in 2003 struck down
bans on consensual sex between gay couples, as unconstitutionally aiming at
"enforcing a public moral code by restricting private intimate conduct." Similar
statutes have been struck down in Kansas and Colorado. Alabama is the only state
where a law prohibiting the sale of sex toys remains on the books.[39]
Some Conservative Christians believe that the use of sex toys is immoral. The
Southern Baptist preacher Dan Ireland has been an outspoken critic of such devices
and has fought to ban them on religious and ethical grounds.[37] Ireland led an
effort to outlaw dildos and other sex toys in Alabama to "...protect the public
against themselves."[40] Other Christian religious leaders such as Evangelical
Lutheran Church of America pastor Heidi Johnson, who founded a student group on
sexuality at Duke Divinity School, have a positive view of sex toys in Christian
sexuality.[41]
