Hysteria Preview: Cured by cookies

I've been eagerly awaiting Maggie Gyllenhaal’s new movie Hysteria. One reason is because Gyllenhaal is an amazing actor. (OK, I didn't much like her in The Secretary, but she was fearless in Sherrybaby.) But there's a second reason somebody posted the trailer for this movie on my Facebook wall today and asked if I wanted to go see it. Take a look and you'll see why.

Yep, it's about the first vibrators. I'm not as much interested in the vibrator aspect of the movie as I am the premise that women get "hysterical" because they need cookies, and at some point a man decided he had just the cure.

I first heard about this movie months ago on Violet Blue's blog Tiny Nibbles. (NSFW. You've been warned.) I didn't hear more about it, so I thought it went the way of so many movies about women's rights -- into the straight-to-DVD crapper -- but I'm delighted to see that it's back again.

I've written here fairly often about the phenomenon of men trying to control women through their vaginas. Who hasn't noticed that struggle in the political arena in the past few months? As quaint as the idea of curing women of "hysteria" through womb massage is --womb massage! -- I don't think anybody can deny women are still fighting for our rights to control our own vaginas and vulvas and labias and, yes, our wombs too. Not enough has changed since the Victorians. 

I'll be back to review the movie as soon as I get a chance to see it. In the meantime, Gyllenhaal gives a decent interview in the New York Times. It's worth reading.

If it leaves you feeling hysterical at all ...... you know what to do. Hitachi to the rescue! Buuuuzzzzzzzzz. Ahhh. Ahhh. Mmmmm. 

There now. Doesn't the little lady feel calmer?