How is sex technology changing intimacy?
When William Butler invented one of the first electromagnetic stimulators in the 1880s, he was pretty chuffed. His unwieldy machine appeared to be a genius solution to help doctors struggling to keep up with the growing cases of hysteria – a chronic illness of distress peculiar to frustrated women. What he didn’t realise at the time was that he had just invented one of the first vibrators. This vibrator was designed to allow doctors to give women the only known relief for hysteria – an orgasm. Since then, sex technology has evolved alongside our changing attitudes towards sexuality. And it’s not just the act of being intimate that’s changing, but the very ways we understand and express closeness.
Please be warned this episode contains sexual content.
Producer/Presenter: Cheyne Anderson
Speakers:
Judith Glover – Research Design at RMIT
Tanya Koens – Sexologist at Surry Hills Therapy
Ross Dawson – Futurist & Entrepreneur
Paul Byron – Research Assistant at University of Technology Sydney
Kay – Max Black Newtown
