Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy

In Buzz, Hallie Lieberman provides a riveting history that tells the story of sex toys from ancient phalluses to 21st century vibrating rabbits. She focuses on the period from the 1950s through the present, when sex toys evolved from symbols of female emancipation to tools in the fight against HIV/AIDS to consumerist marital aids and finally to mainstays of today''s pop culture. Lieberman''s history is populated by vivid and fascinating characters, including Ted Marche, an entrepreneurial ventriloquist and dildo maker; Duane Coleglazier, the gay ice cream truck driver who founded the first boutique sex-toy store; Dell Williams, ex-communist advertising maven who created the feminist sex toy store; Betty Dodson, whose workshops helped 1960s women discover vibrators; and Gosnell Duncan, a paraplegic engineer who invented the silicone dildo. And these personal dramas are all set against a backdrop of changing American attitudes toward sexuality, feminism, LGBTQ issues, and more.

Both educational and titillating, Buzz will make readers think quite differently about those secret items hiding in bedside drawers across the nation.

Hallie Lieberman obtained her Ph.D. in Sex Toy History from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 2014. She is frequently featured on podcasts such as ＂In Bed With Susie Bright;＂ Dr. Debby Herbenick’s ＂Kinsey Confidential;＂ and Bitch Magazine’s ＂Popaganda.＂ Her writing has been published in outlets such as Bitch, Bust, and L Magazine, as well as peer-reviewed journals including Enterprise and Society. She often speaks at university sexuality events and conferences, including the University of Wisconsin Madison’s ＂Sex Out Loud＂ seminar, the European Social Science History Conference, the Society for the History of Technology Conference, The Popular Culture Association’s Conference, and the Western Association of Women Historians Conference. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin.