7 biggest sex myths from history
In this guest article, historian and content creator Mina Moriarty debunks some of the wildest sex tales stretching back thousands of years.
Image: Contrary to popular belief, the majority of medieval chastity belts never actually used to preserve virginity | Shutterstock.com
The following article was written by historian and content creator Mina Moriarty, also known by her alias History Ho. She has a passion for 18th century women’s history, with an audience who share her interest in sex, hygiene, reproductive rights, fashion and medicine in history.
Mina has appeared as an expert on Channel 4’s Queens Who Changed the World and Sky History’s Mayhem! Scandalous Lives of Georgian Kings. Her book,Who the hell is Olympe de Gouges? about the 18th century French feminist was published in 2019.
Let’s face it, when most of us think of history it isn't exactly synonymous with sexual enlightenment. Most of us imagine faeces-filled streets, rotten teeth, and questionable personal hygiene. Not exactly sexy.
We’re taught to believe that the Victorians fainted at the sight of an exposed ankle, Cleopatra used a DIY bee vibrator (yes, really), and medieval folks were clanking around with iron chastity belts like some kind of kinky cosplay.
But the history we learned about in school or online is actually stuffed full of myths, half-truths, and sometimes, just blatant porkies. Ever heard that doctors brought women to orgasm to cure their “hysteria”? Or that an arse full of farts could trigger an erection? Or that contraception wasn’t a thing until the 1960s?
Well, get ready to buckle up (chastity belt optional), because we’re diving groin-first into the juiciest, strangest, and biggest sex myths from history…
1. Victorians were prudes
The Victorians will forever be type-cast as uptight, tea-sipping, high-collared prudes. But the reality might have you choking on your Earl Grey. While society’s official position was that sex should be for procreation within marriage, there’s plenty of evidence that Victorians were horny as hell. Pornography and erotic media was out there for those on the hunt, the V&A Museum for example contains multiple examples of this type of erotica in the form of photographs and illustrations, like this definitely NSFW one from 1896.
Letter writing was also a way of expressing sexual desire and fantasy, even Queen Victoria was famously always horny for her husband Prince Albert (they had nine kids). In November 1839 she wrote in her diary: 'My dear Albert came in today from the rain; he looked so handsome in his white cashmere britches, with nothing on underneath.'
Gentleman’s clubs in this period also give us a sense of how people viewed sex. Although these clubs were not public and shenanigans happened behind closed doors, we know that people did things like pinned their lover’s pubic hair to their hats as a good luck charm, or just as a brag about who they had slept with.
In fact, in SEX: A Bonkers History, Amanda Holden and historian Dan Jones went to extreme lengths to learn how the Victorians were one of history's most sexually progressive societies. What started with a flick through Queen Victoria's secrets, ended with the pair trying out some of the era's hottest BDSM moves!
2. Doctor’s brought women to climax to combat hysteria
The story goes that Victorian doctors would cure women of their “hysteria” by manually bringing them to orgasm, and that the vibrator was invented as a solution for their aching hands. All of this is WRONG. While this has circulated in the media and online from a few speculative sources, there is no evidence that this ever happened and it has been totally debunked by historians. The vibrator was actually invented for men in 1880 and was used for spinal injuries, indigestion, deafness and general pain. Though it was also used to cure impotence (by massaging the perineum) its intended purpose was not for orgasm.
3. Cleopatra used a gourd filled with bees to get herself off
Speaking of vibrators, our next myth transports us back in time to Ancient Egypt, when Cleopatra plopped herself down on the couch for some alone time after a long day. Legend has it that she invented the first ever makeshift vibrator, by using a hollowed-out gourd and filling it with bees. While this myth has done the rounds, it goes without saying that the likelihood that this actually happened is very low. Any sane woman wouldn’t let a bee anywhere near her vagina, let alone a root vegetable teeming with a whole colony.
There is no archaeological or historical evidence that Cleopatra did this. Instead it’s a rumour created to define Cleopatra simply by her sexual prowess, something that the ancient Romans also did to discredit her as a leader.
4. Farts caused erections
Keen for a sexy night in at the castle? Apparently chowing down on some bean-stew before your nuptials will rock her world. The bizarre myth of farts causing erections likely comes from modern misinterpretations of ancient texts. Ancient Greek physician Galen suggested that erections were caused by 'pneuma', a form of vital air or breath, entering the penis. He believed that spicy and gas-inducing foods like beans and mustard would stimulate this air and therefore increase sexual function.
This myth persisted through to the medieval and early modern period. The Flemish physician Hugo Fridaevallis wrote in 1569 that the production of gas would help you get hard and recommended wind-producing foods, such as asparagus, to apprehensive newlyweds. This myth is pretty easy to debunk, but it is one of the funniest.
5. Contraception wasn’t a thing
Pull and pray, coitus interruptus, or the pull-out method, is likely to be the only contraception practice that many of us can conjure when we think about people avoiding pregnancy in the past. But people got surprisingly freaky and creative when it came to avoiding parenthood. Cassanova allegedly had his lovers use a lemon rind as a cervical cap (I can feel the stinging already), while some people used sponges soaked in vinegar to stop those pesky swimmers.
A popular contraception method from the medieval period onwards was condoms - but not as we know them. These were made from sheep bladders or other animal intestines like cow or goat and could be washed and reused. Yikes. Sometimes they would be secured at the end with a ribbon. Cute. Men would primarily have access to them, buying them at places like theatres or barbers, and rather than being used just for contraception, they were used to act as a barrier against venereal disease. But as we may have guessed, they did not work.
6. Everyone and their dog was a virgin on their wedding day
Before modern sexual liberation, (hello 1960’s orgies), we’ve learned that virginity was one of the most essential elements to any marriage, predominantly for women. And while patriarchy, polite society and the church’s position was that sexual activity outside of marriage was a big no-no, it may not be a surprise that people have been getting freaky outside of wedlock for centuries.
It’s definitely true to say that Christian influence in the west dictated the sin of premarital shagging, but in real life it was common to have sex before marriage, and to an extent, this was socially acceptable. For example, in 18th century Britain, if you were an ordinary person, it was generally understood that you were likely to get weird in the sheets with someone as long as you were committed and intending to marry. Of course, women were more vilified for this than men, but as long as you were discreet and betrothed, no one really cared.
7. Medieval chastity belts were a go-to accessory
Ah, the medieval chastity belt, an outrageous iron-clad contraption designed to stop women from having sex with anyone who wasn’t their husband. While medieval people and Christianity did place importance on virtue and virginity for women, these terrifying looking metal pants were never actually used to preserve virginity or maintain chastity.
The earliest known reference to a chastity belt appears in Konrad Kyeser's 1405 treatise Bellifortis, where it's mentioned in jest as part of a collection of fantastical and satirical inventions. They were then revived as a fantastical invention by the Victorians, who were obsessed with the medieval period. Most surviving examples were made in the 18th and 19th centuries, often for display in museums or as curiosities, rather than as functional devices.
Interested in more revelations around sex myths and horny historical figures? Make sure you follow Mina Moriarty on Instagram as well as tuning into History Crush on Sky HISTORY.
