Chastity belt

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Venetian chastity belt on display in the Doge's palace. (Claimed to be 16th–17th century.)

A chastity belt is a locking item of clothing designed to prevent sexual intercourse or masturbation. Such belts were historically designed for women, ostensibly for the purpose of chastity, to protect women from rape or to dissuade women and their potential sexual partners from sexual temptation.[1][2][3] Modern versions of the chastity belt are predominantly, but not exclusively, used in the BDSM community, and chastity belts are now designed for male wearers in addition to female wearers.[4]

According to modern myths, the chastity belt was used as an anti-temptation device during the Crusades. When the knight left for the Holy Lands on the Crusades, his Lady would wear a chastity belt to preserve her faithfulness to him. However, there is no credible evidence that chastity belts existed before the 15th century (more than 100 years after the last Crusade), and their main period of apparent use falls within the Renaissance rather than the Middle Ages.[2][5][6] Research into the history of the chastity belt suggests that they were not used until the 16th century, and then only rather rarely; they first became widely available in the form of 19th-century anti-masturbation medical devices.[4][5]

Renaissance chastity belts were said to have had padded linings (to prevent large areas of metal from coming into direct prolonged contact with the skin), and these had to be changed fairly frequently, so that such belts were not practical for uninterrupted long-term wear. Uninterrupted long-term wear could have caused genitourinary infection, abrasive wounds, sepsis and eventual death.[7]

Historical usage[edit]

The Bellifortis sketch (ca. 1405)
16th century satirical German woodcut
Excerpt from US Patent 995600 by Jonas E. Heyser. The entire patent document: Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

According to one fictional account, Semiramis, a mythical Assyrian queen, was afraid that the women of the household would seduce her son, so she forced them to wear locked chastity belts.[8]

Gregory the Great, Alcuin of York, Bernard of Clairvaux and Nicholas Gorranus all made passing references to 'chastity belts' within their exhortatory and public discourses, but meant this in a figurative or metaphorical sense within their historical context.[9]

The first detailed actual mention of what could be interpreted as "chastity belts" in the West is in Konrad Kyeser von Eichstätt's Bellifortis (1405), which describes the military technology of the era. The book includes a drawing that is accompanied by the Latin text: "Est florentinarum hoc bracile dominarum ferreum et durum ab antea sic reseratum." ("These are hard iron breeches of Florentine women which are closed at the front.") The belt in this drawing is described by Dingwall as "both clumsy and heavy", having "little in common with the later models which served the same use".[10] The Bellifortis account is not supported by any additional concrete evidence or corroborating documents. Polidoro argues that Keyser's references are meant to be humorous or ironic, and that Dingwall's accounts of the use of chastity belts by a few rich men in the 16th and 17th centuries to ensure the faithfulness of their often much younger wives should be treated critically, due to the absence of actual artefacts of this nature from the historical period in question, and his lack of access to more detailed contemporary historical records.[9]

In 1889, a leather-and-iron belt was found by Anton Pachinger—a German collector of antiquities—in Linz, Austria in a grave on a skeleton of a young woman. The woman was reportedly buried 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.[10]

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.[10] There are other such belts at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg and the British Museum in London. Most have been removed from display to avoid any further embarrassment because the authenticity of these belts as medieval devices has since been called into question. Many contemporary historians accept that these alleged "artifacts" date from the 19th century, and are thus inauthentic.[11]

From the 18th century and until the 1930s, masturbation was widely regarded as harmful in Western medicine. Numerous mentions can be found in medical journals of the time of the use of chastity belt-like devices to prevent masturbation in female children and adolescents, as well as women.[12] Many designs for anti-masturbation devices were filed in the US Patent Office until the early 1930s, when masturbation was deemed not to be the cause of mental health problems.[13]

Furthermore, some 19th century working women may have used chastity belts for protective reasons, as a "rape shield" to obstruct sexual assault from predatory bosses or male work colleagues; the belts were not worn for a long time uninterruptedly, however, since sanitary and hygiene reasons prevented this before the modern invention of stainless-steel belts.[9]

Modern usage[edit]


Main article: Chastity belt (BDSM)

Today, chastity belts are sometimes used in BDSM play and in consensual relationships. They are a means for the wearer to surrender control over their sexual behavior either for sexual play, or as a long-term method of preventing infidelity or masturbation. They range from simple leather or plastic toys commonly sold by adult stores to expensive high-security stainless steel devices made by a handful of specialist firms. The internet has significantly increased the number of people using chastity devices, by making the purchase of a chastity device much easier while providing a private avenue for subcultures dedicated to their usage to thrive and connect with one another.

Despite a historical association of chastity belts with women, worldwide purchasing demand for male chastity belts is reportedly far higher than purchasing demand for female chastity devices.[14] As a consequence, the male chastity devices market offers more options and diversity compared to what is available for female chastity devices. Among male chastity devices, "cock-and-ball" trap devices are the most popular, followed by typically more secure belt-around-the-waist style devices.

Other occurrences[edit]

In 1998, racial riots against the ethnic Chinese in West Java prompted the production and sale of "anti-rape corsets". These were Florentine-type belts of imitation leather-covered plastic, fastened with a combination lock. The belts had a solid crotch strap without holes, and were intended only for brief outings.[15]



In November 2006, photographs of Lucio Gubbio's hand-wrought iron chastity belts were published in newspapers including the Seoul Times,[18] and CRI Online.[19] Although Gubbio's company, MedioEvo, claims that their chastity belts' designs are from the Middle Ages on their website, a company spokesperson acknowledged that there is no proof that devices such as these were actually used.



On February 8, 2010, AOL News reported that Dexter Blanch, a dog breeder from Louisiana, introduced a chastity belt for dogs, called PABS (Pet Anti-Breeding System). It is made of polypropylene and uses an eight-buckle locking system and a washable mesh pad to prevent intercourse in female dogs. Dr. Kathleen Makolinski, director of veterinary outreach at the ASPCA, commented that "For the majority of animals, spaying and neutering remains the most beneficial option".[22]

On September 19, 2012, China People's Daily reported that a man in his 50s, naked except for a homemade chastity belt, appeared with a pair of banners in Changchun World Sculpture Park in Jilin province in China, seeking a wife. He stated that he wore the chastity belt to symbolize fidelity to his future wife.[23]

See also[edit]



  1. ^ Helen Sheumaker, Shirley Teresa Wajda (2008). Material Culture in America: Understanding Everyday Life. ABC-CLIO. p. 404. ISBN 1576076474. Retrieved May 19, 2014. 
  2. ^ a b Rosenthal, Martha (2012). Human Sexuality: From Cells to Society. Cengage Learning. p. 11. ISBN 1133711448. Retrieved May 19, 2014. 
  3. ^ "Chastity belt". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved January 13, 2014. 
  4. ^ a b J. Ley, David (2012). Insatiable Wives: Women Who Stray and the Men Who Love Them. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 176–177. ISBN 1442200324. Retrieved May 19, 2014. 
  5. ^ a b "The Secret Histories of Chastity Belts Myth and Reality". Museum, Library and Archives of the History of Medicine. Retrieved January 13, 2014. 
  6. ^ "forgery / chastity-belt". Museum. Retrieved January 13, 2014. 
  7. ^ Massimo Polidoro: "Myth of the Chastity Belts" Skeptical Inquirer: 35:5: September/October 2011: 27-28
  8. ^ Boccaccio, Giovanni; Brown, Virginia (2001). Famous women. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-674-01130-4. 
  9. ^ a b c Polidoro, 2011: 27-28
  10. ^ a b c Dingwall, Eric J (1931). "The Girdle of Chastity: A Medico-Historical Study". Routledge. 
  11. ^ "Two historians say chastity belts are purely medieval myths". Houston Chronicle. 23 June 1996. p. 22. 
  12. ^ Stengers, Jean; van Neck, Anne (2001). Masturbation: the history of a great terror. Palgrave. ISBN 0-312-22443-5. 
  13. ^ Bullough, Vern (1987). "Technology for the Prevention of 'les maladies produites par la masturbation". Technology and Culture (Johns Hopkins University Press) 28 (4): 828–832. doi:10.2307/3105184. JSTOR 3105184. PMID 11612372. 
  14. ^
  15. ^ Henderson, Peter (2000-07-11). "I Wear A Chastity Belt". Australian Cosmopolitan Magazine. Archived from the original on 2000-07-11. 
  16. ^ Cole, Barbara (12 May 2002). "Chastity belt-maker zips lips at Durban show". The Mercury. 
  17. ^ "Woman's chastity belt set off airport security alarm". USA Today (Athens). 6 February 2004. 
  18. ^ "Photo News: Medieval Chastity Belt". The Seoul Times. 18 November 2006. 
  19. ^ "意大利工匠打造贞操带 (Italian artisans to build chastity belt)". CRI Online (in Chinese). 17 November 2006. 
  20. ^ "INDIA: Forcing women to wear a chastity belt is a common practice in Rajasthan" (Press release). Asian Human Rights Commission. August 3, 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2010. 
  21. ^ "The return of the chastity belt". The Observers (Indonesia: France 24). 2008-04-29. Retrieved 10 June 2010. [dead link]
  22. ^ Wolf, Buck (8 February 2010). "Ruff Sex: A Chastity Belt for Dogs". AOL News. Retrieved 2 April 2011. 
  23. ^ "Man in his 50s tries to woo potential mates by wearing homemade ‘chastity belt’". China Peoples Daily (China). 2012-09-19. Retrieved 17 October 2012. 



Further reading[edit]

  • Eric John Dingwall: The Girdle of Chastity: A Medico-Historical Study: London: Routledge and Sons: 1931.
  • Massimo Polidoro: "The Myth of Chastity Belts": Skeptical Inquirer: 35: 5: September/October 2011: 27-28.
  • Albrecht Classen: The Medieval Chastity Belt: A Myth-Making Process (New Middle Ages): Palgrave Macmillan: 2007.

External links[edit]