Masturbation can also be seen as a form of women’s sexuality that has evolved since the Victorian era. Masturbation was seen as a moral disgrace and was shunned by the majority of society. It was blamed to be the causes of diseases such as heart disorders, cancer and hysteria. The editor of the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, went so far as to say that even if masturbation wasn’t the cause of the diseases that the engaging in it would further the disease. According to the website, Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Circumcision, and Dr. Joseph Jones, a former president of the Louisiana State Board of Health, masturbation resulted in 'hopeless insanity.' This insanity could also be inherited from the offspring of a person that masturbated. As a result, many females thought to be masturbating were subject to a clitoridectomy, or removal of the clitoris. Although this was often a drastic measure and by no means the norm, it still shows the strict code of virtue imposed on sexuality in the Victorian age.

Source: http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ulrich/femhist/sexuality.shtml