Cast of Characters

RACHEL MAINES, Ph.D.
author of The Technology of Orgasm: Hysteria, the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction, and a scholar of needlework and technology.
author of The Technology of Orgasm: Hysteria, the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction, and a scholar of needlework and technology.
While researching the changing patterns of needlework
in early twentieth century women’s magazines, Maines kept
being distracted by ads that sounded remarkably like the modern day
vibrator. Investigating further, Maines discovered that a doctor,
Mortimer Granville, had invented the electro-magnetic vibrator in the
1880s. This documentary, based on her book, traces the history of one
simple invention, the vibrator, and its relationship to one complex human
behavior, the orgasm. Maines traces the sometimes lascivious, sometimes
ludicrous trail of the “hysterical” woman and her search
for sexual release from the days of Hippocrates to the present uncovering
a complex history of sex, power, and gender.

DELL WILLIAMS
pioneering feminist and founder of Eve’s Garden
pioneering feminist and founder of Eve’s Garden
In the 1970s, Dell Williams discovered the power of sexuality in
bringing about equality and change in women’s lives. Williams
organized the first women’s sexuality conference in 1974 and
was inspired to open Eve’s Garden, the first feminist sex shop.
Recounting charming anecdotes from those early days, she reminds us
how far women and society have progressed and, ironically, how far
we have yet to go.

RENO
New York performance artist
New York performance artist
Reno’s sharp wit, observations,
and openness about her vibrator experiences keeps things in the proper perspective.

JOANNE WEBB
Texas housewife and sales consultant for Passion Parties
Texas housewife and sales consultant for Passion Parties
A church going mother needing to bring in a little extra income,
Webb became a sales consultant for Passion Parties. Modeled on
Tupperware and Avon, Passion Parties sells erotic goods in women’s
homes. Unbeknownst to her and Passion Parties, Texas has laws forbidding
the sale of items that stimulate the human genitals (having six or more
of these items is interpreted as intent to sell). Webb unwittingly sold
to two undercover cops masquerading as a couple with sexual problems and was arrested.

BEANN SISEMORE
Texas attorney
Texas attorney
Sisemore, outraged at this assault on women’s rights and
privacy issues, took the case on pro bono and she and
Webb are ready to fight to the finish.

PAT DAVIS
CEO of Passion Parties
CEO of Passion Parties
Davis was as surprised as everyone else about the Texas law
enacted in the 1970s. Davis believes that Passion Parties
help empower women to explore their own sexuality in a safe
environment and that helps maintain healthy relationships.
Besides that, her growing sales force are women who are becoming
financially independent and, in addition, having a great time.

Betty Dodson, Ph.D.
Author and Sexologist
Author and Sexologist
Dodson is credited as the godmother of the masturbation movement
of the 60’s and 70’s and for bringing the exiled vibrator back
into women’s lives. Noticing that men were having a better time
at her “orgies” while the women were frequently faking
it, she started on her quest to introduce women to their sexual selves.
The vibrator is her technology of choice and she exuberantly extols it’s virtues.

KATHRYN YOUNG, Ph.D.
Philosophy of the Body
Philosophy of the Body
Young describes how images of men and women are cultural
constructs. In medieval times, it was thought that women
needed to have orgasm in order to conceive. By Victorian times
(and the present), orgasm was no longer needed for conception
and, in fact, there was a question of whether proper bourgeois
women had orgasm at all.