Wiki for Dr. McClurkens Courses

You've loaded an old revision of the document! If you save it, you will create a new version with this data.

====== Nye, 238-286, “A Clean, Well-lighted Hearth” ======

In about 1910, Westinghouse and General Electric dominated the electrical equipment industry (261). However, prior to this date they had been so focused on large companies and large contracts.Smaller domestic contracts were seen at the time as less profitable than those large company contracts. Due to this thought process, they missed out on the domestic market and smaller manufacturers started to "invade" the domestic market. They had no idea that in a few years, other inventors would create their own appliances to avoid the patents that they owned, This is crucial as we see the market really start to shift and the home become more technology friendly. - Haley Denehy

Right from the beginning of Chapter 6, Nye explains how schoolchildren were given a pamphlet desiring "electricity the Silent Servant in the Home." The modern touches that effected typical house work and helped "Mrs. Modern Women" do her everyday chores. However, it seemed that it was not an effective tool and did not go over well in households, "home is no longer defined by production but by consumption." People said that due to these inventions, freedom would lack and "cooperate control" would take over. I understand the home was "industrialized before elective light and power", but these technological advances could m=only make the work easier. Why was it not seen that way? The advertisements, in the beginning, were also very bland. It did not grab the viewers attention, or make them want to buy. GE made a great decision in changing their advertising approach. -- Erika Mabry

All throughout chapter 6, Nye explains how electricity impacted typical American households.  These American households were built around the notion that women belong in the kitchen, while men make the money for their family. These gender roles play a huge part in the gender wage gap today and how men are still seen as more intelligent and brutish than women. How do you think the notion that women can only do household chores in the mid-1900s affected gender roles today?
-Reilly Miller

I found it interesting that they decided to advertise electric appliances to children. I guess the idea would be that the kids would see how much easier this family lived with their new appliances, that they would go home and tell their moms and dads about it. I find it interesting because you would think that the key target audience would be the women of the home. -- Erin Madden

This reading introduced an interesting idea to me, which is the concept that technological advancements have always been widely accepted in the business and industrial sphere of Aamerican life it moving into the domestic sphere was seen as “invading” the household. This made me think back to other accounts of development and how society responded. In almost all cases technology has been perceived as a sign of wealth and class. This has caused a constant competition between consumers which is great for manufacturers but could be seen as problematic within the household. Electricity may have been hesitantly accepted at first but after sometime Americans found themselves wanting to adopt these advancements as a sign of wealth and acceptance into society. -Emma Monaghan

In Chapter 6 of Nye, electricity is described with the 1930s passage on page 238: ““Electricity, the Silent Servant in the Home.” It describes “Mrs. Modern Woman” who was in her kitchen an electric toaster, electric coffee maker, electric refrigerator, electric egg boiler, and electric mixer, which together make breakfast effortless. Her son, “Bob Modern Boy,” operates the “new electric dish-washer”; “Ann Modern Girl” uses the new electric vacuum cleaner; and “Mr. Modern Man…decides that he will use the electric floor-waxer that very day after his return from work.” While he is away, “Mrs. Modern Woman” is not exhausted on “Monday, which has long been the proverbially blue wash-day of the week, for Electricity, the silent servant in the home, has done much to make the day just as enjoyable as any other day of the week.”” The reference to Monday as Laundry Day parallels the discussion on the 12th of November, which we had about the evolution of the washing machine. The devices mentioned above were advertised as being “labor-saving,” but rather than freeing housewives and children from housework, they simply towed the line on preexisting gender roles despite reducing the amount of physical exertion. – Rachel Beatty.

====== Pursell, 116-143 ======

Rachel Maines utilizes a feminist lens to examine social camouflage of sexual massage treatment via electromechanical vibrators, and provides a detailed explanation of female masturbation in relation to novelty sex toys, during the early twentieth century. The author argues that the controversy that arose with this technology was due to a matter of social acceptance, rather than legality. What progressive technologies have been recently released to the public that are unfavorable not due to legality, but rather social acceptability? (-Nate Stringer)

In response to Nate: I believe emerging technology related to sexuality and reproduction is still unfavourable due to society. Whether it’s new clinical procedures pertaining to pregnancy and abortion, sex toys, pills, and accessories, and even emerging virtual and augmented reality applications containing sexual references. In general, virtual and augmented reality are also two independent progressive technologies that seem to be only slowly emerging due to societal hesitance and belief that programs associated with them will only ever be for gaming and entertainment purposes. Whereas they can actually assist in a variety of ways in commercial, instructional, and social industries. Artificial intelligence is another apprehensive technology that humans are only seemingly okay with so long as we give them names and female voices. - Dillyn Scott

It's quite fascinating to see how women's sexuality comes into play in the creation of technology. I didn't think that people really thought about women and their sexuality around that time period. - Lauren Blouch

It's fascinating to me to see the different ways that science has been used to defend or market products/ideals since the 19th century. In Maines' argument, it is electromechincal vibrators. Other things marketed as scientifically proven are things like eugenics or conversion therapy. The camouflage of the electromechincal vibrators' real usage can be compared the racist and homophobic ideals that are covered up with claims of "purity" and "superiority" when talking about eugenics and conversion therapy. It would be interesting to see if new technology helped promote these ideas as it did with sex toys (as Maines points out that electric energy was seen as inherently healing, which is why so many of these medical machines deal with electricity directly). -Kim Eastridge

In this writing by Rachel Maines, she focused on the history behind sexuality with women, mainly bringing an understanding to the 'social camouflage' brought about with "electromechanical vibrators" or other sex toys. She states that 'social camouflage' is "the idea that technologies are socially constructed (p116). Maines states, "Certain commodities are sold in the legal marketplace for which the accepted use is either illegal or socially unacceptable" (p117).  Another example of how products that have a 'social camouflage' are tobacco pipes. Though they are made for the purpose of smoking tobacco, it has now been changed socially to where a lot of people are using them to consume illegal drugs instead. It is interesting to think of all of the other products that have changed perceptions because of the social change. -Nick Bass

In the Electromechanical Vibrator Section of Nye (pg. 116-143), Nye analyzes the history of the original electric sex toy. The electric vibrator is part of the story of women’s sexual liberation and was created to rectify what was at the time referred to as “women’s complaints,” which was a euphemism for the buildup of sexual energy in the woman’s genitals, and was believed to cause “female hysteria,” which was named for the Greek word for uterus, and it was first believed to be indicated by a “wandering uterus,” anxiety, thoughts of sex, loss of appetite, etc. Until the turn of the 20th century, it was believed in both Europe and America that females did not experience sexual desire or pleasure and were merely the organic dumping grounds for male lust and for the most part, were obliged to mate with their husbands to grant them their sexual wishes and have children, and when females displayed signs of erotic fantasy or sexual forwardness, doctors attributed this to “mental illness” and women “diagnosed” with female hysteria often ended up in insane asylums at the behest of their families and at the mercy of abuse from male physicians. – Rachel Beatty.

I found it interesting that the section brought together those 3 different aspects that don’t have a lot of history to be talked about in the first place but there are very important to the technology that we have today involving sexuality, women, and “social camouflage” of technology. We have to remember that gender was being used more often as a sort of “lens” to the view that is “sexuality.” – Hunter Dykhuis

===== Maines, Socially Camouflaged Technologies =====

The notion of technology as being “socially constructed” has been commonly discussed by historians. However, the notion of “camouflage,” or technologies being advertised for a purpose other than their true intent, is less discussed. Author Rachel Maines argues that this concept is most appartent when looking at the introduction of sex toys to the mainstream market in the late 19th-century. (117) (Nowadays, I sometimes wonder about the intended uses the “neck massagers” in the end caps of department stores, but never realized that this question had real historical backing.) In the 19th-century, devices meant to be enjoyed, by women, such as vibrators were advertised either as “medically necessary” or as “novelties,” therefound devoid of sexuality. Ironically, seeing a doctor for “treatments for hysteria,” comes across as more perverse than simply purchasing the “home medical appliances,” which I doubt was the intended effect, but these early "treatments" were a result of a desire to shame, diminish, or otherwise control female sexuality. Obviously, as evident in the fact that advertisements existed for vibrators, companies knew that these devices had public demand, and yet still needed to cloak vibrators in a sense of mystery.(-Glynnis Farleigh)
===== Document A -- Taylor ===== 
===== Document B -- Snow =====

I think it’s interesting to hear about vibrators being used to treat various issue of the body.  Snow is very descriptive of the many uses and the different ailments or conditions it is capable of treating.  Now of days vibrators are seen as just sex toys and have a shameful or dirty light in media.  Within the whole passage he talks about the benefits it could have on your body.  He wrote that there was very little published in the line of treatment, if there are so many benefits then why is this? -- Claire Starke
===== Document C -- Eberhart ===== 
===== Document D -- Covey =====

Edit summary

Note: By editing this page you agree to license your content under the following license: CC Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International