Some physicians questioned the propriety of vulvular massage

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The vibrator and its predecessor technologies - particularly manual and hydriatic massage - made it easy for physicians to provide the relief that was not otherwise accessible to many women. The vibrator was convenient, portable, and fast and thus enjoyed a considerable popularity as a medical instrument before its discovery by consumers and by the makers of erotic films. The ultimate difficulty of the vibrator, from the point of view of the medical profession, was that it was so convenient and easy to use that it rendered unnecessary any medical intervention in the process of producing female orgasm. Hydriatic equipment and expensive office vibrators like the Chattanooga at least kept massage innovation in the hands of medical professionals; once the vibrator became a lightweight and inexpensive device that could be operated by water or electricity in the home, it became a "personal care appliance" and not a medical instrument. In the second half of this century the vibrator has become an overtly sexual device. Interestingly, when such devices appear in erotic films, it is rarely the true vibrator that is portrayed; what is seen is the reassuringly phallus-shaped vibrating dildo, with its suggestion that the machine is really only a substitute for a penis. For most women, however, these under­powered battery-operated toys are more visually than physiologically stimulating; it is the AC-powered vibrator with at least one working surface at a right angle to the handle that is best designed for application to the clitoral area.