It’s become a cliché that sex drives technological innovation. Yet the geeks have not always focused on making sex more enjoyable, more accessible or more affordable.

Not all that long ago, sex-obsessed inventors channeled their creativity into designing torturous devices designed to prevent men, women and children from accessing their genitals except to urinate — and even that could not have been easy.

The U.S. Patent Office Sex Inventions exhibition at the Museum of Sex in New York showcases a number of these Victorian anti-sex devices, contrasting them with the sexual aids proposed in the 1970s and 1980s.

One contraption encircles the penis and attaches to the pubic hair with little clamps. If an erection occurs during the night, the clamps pull the hair, which wakes the wearer so he can make sure he doesn’t ejaculate. (6/17/05)

intellectual property, sex

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