Chastity belt
A chastity belt is a locking item of clothing that prevents the wearer from engaging in sexual intercourse and possibly masturbation. Both male and female versions exist. The use of such devices against another's will would now be considered abusive in most western societies.
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History
Chastity belts are surrounded by myths and folklore, the most common of which is that they were first used by crusading knights on their wives. Their actual use, however, is likely to have been quite limited; the crude metalworking of the times would have made it difficult to produce a belt safe for long-term wear. It also is not known whether or not these referred to actual physical devices in use.
Chastity_belt_Bellifortis.jpg
The first known mention of chastity belts in the West is in Konrad Kyeser von Eichstätt's Bellifortis, a book describing the military technology of the era. In it is included a rough drawing, accompanied by the text: "Est florentinarum hoc bracile dominarum ferreum et durum ab antea sit reseratum." ("These are hard iron breeches of Florentine women which are closed at the front.")
In 1889, a leather-and-iron belt was found by A. M. Pachinger—a German collector of antiquities—in Linz, Austria in a grave on a skeleton of a young woman. The woman was purportedly buried sometime in the 16th century. Pachinger, however, could not find any record of the woman's burial in the town archives. The belt itself, along with most of the rest of Pachinger's collection, has been lost.
Two belts have been exhibited at the Musée de Cluny in Paris. The first, a simple velvet-covered hoop and plate of iron, was supposedly worn by Catherine de' Medici. The other—said to have been worn by Anna of Austria—is a hinged pair of plates held about the waist by metal straps, featuring intricately etched figures of Adam and Eve. There are other such belts at the in Nuremberg and the British Museum in London. The authenticity of these exhibits as medieval devices has since been called into question.
There are numerous mentions in medical journals of the Victorian era of the use of chastity belt-like devices to prevent masturbation in children and adolescents. Designs for many such devices were also filed in the US Patent Office.
Modern Use
Today, chastity belts are sometimes used in consensual BDSM play and as provocative items of fetish wear. They range from simple leather or plastic toys commonly sold by adult stores to high-security steel devices made by a handful of specialist firms.
Although no reliable statistics are available on the use of chastity belts, anecdotal reports from manufacturers suggest that most belts sold are for men.
Chastity_belt.jpg
Modern, high-security chastity belts tend to be one of two types:
- A "Florentine"-style (named after the Bellifortis reference) belt around the waist or hips, with a "shield" part running between the legs to cover the genitals.
- For females, the shield is commonly a flat band with a slot through which the labia can protrude and through which fluids can pass. (Some manufacturers fit a perforated cover—sometimes called the "secondary shield"—over this slot to prevent the wearer being pinched when sitting.)
- For males, the shield usually covers a tube in which the penis is held facing downward.
- "Thong"-style belts have a single strap running up between the buttocks to the waistband, usually with an aperture over the anus. Other designs have a pair of straps parted in a "V" to leave the rear open.
- A "cage"-type device which encloses the male genitals, intended to prevent stimulation and erection. "Metal-detector safe" models made entirely of plastic (fastened with tamper-evident plastic seals) exist.
Many chastity belts are fastened with regular padlocks because of the cost and difficulty of machining integral locks; some high-security designs nest the lock within a round shroud to make it more difficult to attack with bolt cutters.
Precautions
Modern chastity belts designed for long-term, continuous wear are available. Before using a chastity belt, however, it usually advisable to clarify one's goals and balance them against the potential physical and mental discomfort.
- Given large variations in human physiology, careful fitting and adjustment is normally required. Testing the belt itself carefully for wearability before relying upon it is recommended, as is checking regularly for bruising, odema and chafing.
- The choice of materials used in the belt is also important: some plastics and metallic alloys (especially those containing nickel) may cause allergic contact dermatitis after constant contact with the skin.
- Weight gain may make the fitting of a "Florentine"-style belt difficult, or render an existing belt unsuitable for wear. This may make a hip belt (which rests on the taper of the hips rather than at the narrowest part of the waist) preferable.
- For "thong"-style belts, access to a bidet can greatly simplify hygiene.
- Badly-fitted "cage"-type belts can compress the genitals of males in a potentially harmful manner. Some cage designs may also be more suitable than others (particularly for well-endowed men), depending on body shape.
See also
- Orgasm denial (Discusses medical aspects of denial.)
- Sexual abstinence
References
- Dingwall, Eric J (1931). The Girdle of Chastity: A Medico-Historical Study. London: Routledge.
- Stengers, Jean; van Neck, Anne (2001). Masturbation: the history of a great terror. New York: Palgrave. ISBN 0312224435. (Discusses Victorian anti-masturbatory chastity belts.)
External links
- Personal and informational sites: [1], [2], Jan Thor.
- Chastity belt manufacturers: Tollyboy, Neosteel, Carrara.
- Peter Henderson: I Wear A Chastity Belt. Australian Cosmopolitan Magazine (July 2000). (Describes anti-rape chastity belts used by ethnic Chinese women after the 1998 Indonesian riots.)