Symbolic vibration: A meaning-based framework for the study of vibrator consumption

Abstract

This article explores the creation process and the subsequent meaning development of vibrators within a framework consisting of various theories of material culture. The conceptual scheme is based on the view that four underlying junctures of meaning creation and vibrator consumption, namely (1) vibrators as a medical implement, (2) vibrators as a household appliance, (3) vibrators as a liberating political object and (4) vibrators as a post-feminist ‘toy’, interact to (re)produce and change the meaning of this sexually imbued product. First, existing research is reviewed on the history and consumption of vibrators, and findings are synthesized concerning product functions. Theories of material culture and product meaning are then incorporated as a means to gain ontological and epistemological insights into the nature of this sexual product. Finally, a framework is presented that builds on these foundational theories, including a discussion of its benefits for the sociology of consumption. The article concludes that the meaning of vibrators can be seen as being intricately bound up with processes of social movements, individual interpretation and identity politics as well as with historical, economic and cultural phenomena.