Description |
1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 73 min.) : sound, color |
Summary |
"Electricity has given so much comfort to womankind - the vacuum cleaner, the pop-up toaster and the automatic ice dispenser. And perhaps above all, it gave her the vibrator" (Natalie Angier, The New York Times). Passion & Power is an entertaining documentary that explores the controversial history of the vibrator, from the Victorian era - when doctors used the device to relieve women of "hysteria"--Through the sexual revolution of the 1960s, to the postfeminist present. As well as revealing the vibrator's fascinating past, this provocative yet unexpectedly funny film digs deeper to uncover the mysteries of the female orgasm, and examines its ramifications for sexual politics and gender dynamics from the time of Hippocrates to the present day. Featuring interviews with sexperts, historians and pioneering feminists, Passion & Power takes us on a surprising and enlightening journey through the secret history of the vibrator and the even more mystifying female orgasm. Based on Rachel P. Maines' provocative best seller The Technology of Orgasm: Hysteria, the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction. WINNER! Best Directing, Documentary - San Francisco Women's Film Festival |
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This is the story of one simple invention, the vibrator, and its relationship to one complex human behavior, the female orgasm. The history of the vibrator and its medical use had virtually vanished until historian, Rachel Maines, researching needlework patterns in early 20th century women's magazines, ran across ads for electric vibrators. Piquing her curiosity, she traced the origins of this early electrified appliance and made an astonishing discovery. Under the guise of a medical treatment, Victorian doctors had used vibrators to relieve women of symptoms of hysteria by masturbating them to orgasm. Why did women need this treatment? Female sexual satisfaction was, and continues to be, misunderstood or, worse, ignored. Almost 70% of women do not reach orgasm by penetration alone. Yet, the social, legal and religious definition of "real" sex is just that: penetration of the vagina to male orgasm. Female orgasm isn't even considered. Is it any wonder that a lot of women were unsatisfied? Their dissatisfaction was labeled "hysteria." Symptoms of hysteria were vague - being cranky, reading French novels while wearing tight corsets, etc. It was a disease manufactured by doctors creating a lucrative clientele and a mutually camouflaged procedure that satisfied both |
Notes |
Title from title frames |
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Originally produced in 2007. Released by First Run Features in 2008 |
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Based on the book, The technology of orgasm by Rachel Maines |
Credits |
Editors, Emiko Omori, Wendy Slick ; director of photography, Emiko Omori ; music, Mark Adler ; narrator, Gerri Lawlor |
Cast |
Featuring Joanne Webb, Rachel P. Maines, BeAnn Sisemore, Pat Davis, Betty Dodson, Dell Williams, Katharine Young, RENO, and Nina Townsend |
Notes |
Optional closed-captions in English |
Subject |
Female orgasm -- History
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Vibrators -- History
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Women -- Sexual behavior -- History
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Female masturbation -- History
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Female masturbation.
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Female orgasm.
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Vibrators.
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Women -- Sexual behavior.
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Genre/Form |
Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
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Nonfiction films.
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Feature films.
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Documentary films.
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History.
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Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
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Documentary films.
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Nonfiction films.
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Feature films.
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Vidéos pour personnes handicapées auditives.
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Documentaires.
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Films autres que de fiction.
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Form |
Streaming video
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Author |
Slick, Wendy Blair, 1949- film director, film producer, screenwriter.
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Omori, Emiko, film director, film producer, screenwriter.
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Adler, Mark, composer (expression)
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Maines, Rachel, 1950-
Technology of orgasm
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Maines, Rachel, 1950- interviewee.
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Young, Katharine Galloway, interviewee.
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Dodson, Betty, interviewee.
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Williams, Dell, 1922-2015, interviewee.
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Webb, Joanne, interviewee
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Sisemore, BeAnn, interviewee
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Reno, 1956- interviewee.
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Davis, Pat, 1944- interviewee.
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Townsend, Nina, interviewee
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Lawlor, Gerri, narrator
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