The Dildorks · Billy Lore, Kate Sloan

Hysterically Wrong

March 31, 2026·58 min·4 clips

Kate Sloan fantasizes about the Victorian hysteria doctor's vibrator myth, even though she knows it's not true.

1. Kate Sloan and Billy Lora of The Dildorks record part two of their sex toy myths series, opening with the Victorian hysteria vibrator myth. 2. Kate is a sex journalist and podcaster; Billy Lora is a sex educator and porn maker who works daily next to vintage vibrators at a sex shop. 3. The episode's purpose is to debunk persistent myths about sex toys using historical sources, retail experience, and cultural analysis. 4. Kate explains that the hysteria vibrator myth was popularized by the 2015 Hollywood film Hysteria and Rachel Maines' book The Technology of Orgasm, which theorized that Joseph Mortimer Granville invented the vibrator to administer orgasms to Victorian women as a cure for hysteria. 5. Sex toy historian Hallie Lieberman's book Buzz is cited as finding no historical documentation for the orgasm-administration story; the real Granville used his electromechanical vibrator only on male patients for muscle aches and explicitly opposed using it on women. 6. Billy Lora describes early vibrator marketing as filling the gap left when the FDA cracked down on patent medicines, noting that a 1918 Hamilton Beach vibrator instruction manual survives in their collection. 7. Kate argues the hysteria myth endures because modern people enjoy imagining past men 'unwittingly' providing women with orgasms, and because it offers a fantasy of female sexual agency hidden inside Victorian medical authority. 8. Billy extends this observation to 2026 social media censorship, noting that TikTok-era euphemistic sexual language mirrors the coded advertising language Victorian toy marketers used. 9. Kate argues that the myth functions as a medical play fantasy and connects it to consensual non-consent, where removing the need to ask for pleasure can itself be erotic. 10. The episode addresses the myth that there are few sex toys for people with penises; Billy Lora describes cis men routinely walking past a full aisle of penis-oriented toys to complain 'y'all got nothing for me in here.' 11. Kate recommends the magic wand as one of her favorite toys to use on people with penises, citing their frequent surprise at how good vibration feels. 12. Billy argues that a Betty Dodson-influenced narrative of sexual empowerment through toys has been established for people with vulvas — via Sex and the City and mainstream culture — but no equivalent narrative exists for people with penises. 13. Kate argues that people with penises would benefit from taking more time during masturbation: warming up, fantasizing, teasing, edging, and stimulating areas beyond the penis itself. 14. The episode discusses the myth that sex toys are only for people who can't get laid, with Billy comparing the logic to being insulted by the offer of a fork alongside a meal. 15. Kate addresses the claim that sex toys — particularly dolls and robots — cause people to forgo human connection, distinguishing the health question from the rights question. 16. Both hosts critique the 'as long as it doesn't stop them pursuing relationships' framing as rooted in scarcity thinking about the sexual marketplace and desirability capital. 17. Kate describes writing an angry email to a company claiming its product could guarantee orgasm, arguing such claims make people feel broken when the product doesn't work for them. 18. Billy Lora proposes a more useful sales frame: describe the specific sensation a toy excels at — the rose for pinpoint clitoral intensity, the pure wand for G-spot stimulation, the magic wand for maximum vibration — rather than promising universal outcomes. 19. The tone throughout is analytical and candid, with retail anecdotes from Billy and personal kink disclosures from Kate used to ground abstract arguments. 20. Listeners who enjoy evidence-based debunking of sexual myths with specific product recommendations and cultural analysis will find this episode useful; those looking for straightforward sex toy reviews without the analytical framing may prefer other formats.

As heard by us

A rude, smart myth-busting hangout that makes sex toy lore worth a second look.

This episode offers a funny, nerdy take on sex toy myths and misconceptions, with the old hysteria-doctor story surfacing as a running example of how badly people can misunderstand pleasure, anatomy, and cultural hype.

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Why you'd press play

If you like sex-toy myth-busting with a dorky, explicit vibe, this one goes straight for the folklore.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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