Rachel Maines
Technology Historian
Rachel Maines is a visiting scientist in the Cornell University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her principal research interests lie in the history of technology, especially issues relating to technology and the body, such as sexuality, medicine, technological risk, and injury epidemiology. She is the author of three books: "The Technology of Orgasm: 'Hysteria,' Vibrators, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction" (1999), "Asbestos and Fire: Technological Tradeoffs and the Body at Risk" (2005), and her most recent, "Hedonizing Technologies: Pathways to Pleasure in Hobbies and Leisure," published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2009.
Why Traffic Lights Signal Democracy
Historian of technology Rachel Maines explains the most fascinating insight to emerge from her current research.
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3 min
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How Work Became Leisure
Activities that were once functional—from gardening to brewing—have become recreational in advanced societies. The author of “Hedonizing Technologies” explains why.
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5 min
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Will Laundry Ever Be Fun?
The “Hedonizing Technologies” author wouldn’t bet against it. Ironing, she says, is already a sport.
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3 min
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Orgasm Technology: the Hard Data
How common is vibrator use among women, men, and societies worldwide? Has this segment of the market been hurt (or stimulated) by the recession?
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3 min
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What Was “Female Hysteria,” Really?
And did the doctors who claimed to “treat” it by inducing orgasm know better? Rachel Maines reveals the truth behind the historical rumors.
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8 min
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The Steam-Powered, Coal-Fired Vibrator
The “Technology of Orgasm” author recounts the outrageous history of female genital “manipulators,” from water-powered turbines to the contraption called the Chattanooga.
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7 min
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The Study That Set the World Abuzz
When Rachel Maines first published a history of the vibrator (“The Technology of Orgasm”), she “expected it to derail [her] career, and it did.” But even she wasn’t prepared for […]
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3 min
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