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Masturbation

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A drawing of a female masturbating
File:Male masturbation 1.jpg
A drawing of a male masturbating

Masturbation is the manual excitation of the sexual organs, most often to the point of orgasm. It can refer to excitation either by oneself or by another (see mutual masturbation), but the term commonly refers to such activities performed alone. It is part of a larger set of activities known as autoeroticism, which also includes the use of sex toys and non-genital stimulation. There are also masturbation machines used to simulate intercourse. Masturbation and sexual intercourse are the two most common sexual practices, but they are not mutually exclusive (for example, many people find the sight of their partner masturbating highly erotic). Some people are able to achieve orgasm solely by masturbation and without sexual intercourse. In the animal kingdom, masturbation has been observed in many mammalian species, both in the wild and in captivity.

Etymology

The word masturbation is believed by many to derive from the Greek word mezea (μεζεα, "penises") and the Latin turbare ("to disturb"). A competing etymology based on the Latin manu stuprare ("to defile with the hand") is said by the Oxford English Dictionary to be an "old conjecture". The esoteric and little-used synonym manustupration is similarly derived from manus stuprare.

Masturbation techniques

Ways of masturbating common to members of both sexes include pressing or rubbing the genital area, either with the fingers or against an object such as a pillow; inserting fingers or an object into the anus (see anal masturbation); and stimulating the penis or vulva/clitoris with electric vibrators, which may also be inserted into the vagina or anus. Members of both sexes may also enjoy touching, rubbing, or pinching the nipples or other erogenous zones while masturbating. Both sexes sometimes use lubricating substances to intensify sensation.

Reading or viewing pornography, or sexual fantasy, are common adjuncts to masturbation in adolescence and adulthood. Masturbation activities are often ritualised. Various fetishes and paraphilias can also play a part in the masturbation ritual; potentially harmful or fatal activities include autoerotic asphyxiation and self-bondage.

Female

File:Canard vibrant.jpg
A vibrating duck. By de-dramatising the nature of a vibrator, this kind of toy has gained wider acceptance.

Female masturbation techniques are numerous and perhaps more varied than those of males. They are influenced by a number of factors and personal preferences. Techniques include stroking or rubbing of the vulva, especially the clitoris, with the middle, index and/or second fingers. Sometimes one or more fingers may be inserted into the vagina to repeatedly stroke the frontal wall of the vagina where the g-spot is located. Masturbation aids such as a vibrator, dildo or Ben Wa balls can also be used to stimulate the vagina and clitoris. Many women will caress the breasts or stimulate a nipple with the free hand. Anal stimulation is also enjoyed by some because of the thousands of sensitive nerves located there.

Lubrication is sometimes used during masturbation, especially when penetration is involved, but this is by no means universal and many women find their natural lubrication sufficient—some even produce more lubricant alone than with a partner, though the reasons for this seem to be primarily psychological.

Women may masturbate in the bathtub, shower and hot tub, sometimes including the use of warm running water to stimulate the clitoris. Common positions include lying on back or face down, sitting, squatting, or even standing. Lying face down, one may straddle a pillow, the corner or edge of the bed, a partner's leg or some scrunched-up clothing and 'hump' the vulva and clitoris against it. Standing up, the corner of an item of furniture, or even a washing machine, can be used to stimulate the clitoris through the labia and clothing.

Some reach orgasm merely by crossing their legs tightly and clenching the muscles in their legs, which creates pressure on the genitals. This can potentially be done in public without observers noticing. Some prefer to use only pressure, applied to the clitoris without direct contact, for example by pressing the palm or ball of the hand against underwear or other clothing.

A few women can orgasm spontaneously, after experiencing prior sexual arousal, due to intellectual stimulation alone, for instance listening to certain pieces of music. Often, these mental triggers have associations with previous instances of arousal and orgasm. Some women claim to be able to orgasm spontaneously by force of will alone, but that ability, if it exists at all, may not strictly qualify as masturbation as no physical stimulus is involved.

Those who have difficulty reaching orgasm through sexual intercourse may find it easier to achieve an orgasm through masturbation. Sometimes sex therapists will recommend that female patients take time to masturbate to orgasm, especially if they have not masturbated before.

Male

File:Masturbationlinedraw.jpg
A male masturbating

Male masturbation techniques are also influenced by a number of factors and personal preferences. Techniques may also differ between circumcised and uncircumcised males, as some techniques which may work for one can often be quite painful for the other.

The most common technique is to simply hold the penis with a loose fist and then to move the hand up and down the shaft until orgasm is achieved. When uncircumcised, stimulation of the penis comes from the pumping of the foreskin. This gliding motion of the foreskin reduces friction. When circumcised the stimulation is sometimes from direct contact with the hand. Many massage (with some using a personal lubricant to reduce friction) the glans, the rim thereof and the notched indent left over from the removal of the frenulum.

Another technique is to place just the index finger and thumb around the penis about halfway along the shaft and move the skin up and down. A variation on this is to place the fingers and thumb on the penis as if playing a flute, and then shuttle them back and forth.

A less common technique is to lie face down on a comfortable surface such as a mattress or pillow and rub the penis against it until orgasm is achieved. Some people claim such masturbation may result in pain, irritation, or abrasion if performed too roughly. Other techniques include the use of an artificial vagina or simulacrum for masturbation. Many fondle their testicles, nipples or other parts of their body with the other hand while masturbating. Some may use vibrators and other sexual devices more commonly associated with female masturbation.

The prostate gland is one of the organs that contributes fluid to semen. As the prostate is touch-sensitive, some directly stimulate it using a well-lubricated finger or dildo inserted through the anus into the rectum. Stimulating the prostate from outside, via pressure on the perineum, can be pleasurable as well.

Ejaculation of semen is sometimes controlled by wearing a condom or by ejaculating onto a tissue or other item. A controversial ejaculation control technique is to put pressure on the perineum, about half way between the scrotum and the anus, just before ejaculating. This can, however, redirect semen into the bladder and the technique may cause long term damage due to the pressure put on the nerves and blood vessels in the perineum. A dry orgasm is one that is reached by withholding ejaculation. Proponents of tantric sex say that this is a learnable skill that can shorten the refractory period. Drugs, such as prolactin inhibitors, may also shorten the refractory period for a male. An example of this is the prescription drug Dostinex.

Males who can reach and stimulate their penis with their tongue or lips are said to be capable of autofellatio. Some men may taste or swallow their semen.

Historically, some have seen a connection between circumcision and masturbation frequency, which remains a debated topic. In a 1410-man survey in the United States in 1992, Laumann found that: "A total of 47% of circumcised men reported masturbating at least once a month vs 34% for their uncircumcised peers."

Masturbation frequency, age and sex

Frequency of masturbation is determined by many factors, eg. one's ability to resist transient sexual tension, hormones levels influencing sexual arousal (Physiology & Behavior, 2005 Oct 15; Vol. 86 (3), pp. 356-68), and one's attitude to masturbation formed by culture. (E. Heiby and J. Becker examined the latter[1]). "Forty-eight female college students were asked to complete a sexual attitudes questionnaire in which a frequency of masturbation scale was embedded. Twenty-four of the women (the experimental group) then individually viewed an explicit modeling film involving female masturbation. One month later, all subjects again completed the same questionnaire. Subjects in the experimental group also completed a questionnaire evaluating aspects of the film. Results indicated that the experimental group reported a significant increase in the average monthly frequency of masturbation, as compared to the control group. This same group, however, reported that the film had no effect on sexual attitudes or behavior."

It is thought that most people begin masturbating when reaching adolescence. Many scholarly and clinical studies have been done on the matter, and many informal surveys have asked the question. A 2004 survey by Toronto magazine NOW was answered by an unspecified number of thousands. [2] The results show that an overwhelming majority of the males — 81% — began masturbating between the ages of 10 and 15. Among females, the same figure was a more modest majority of 55%. (Note that surveys on sexual practices are prone to self-selection bias.) It is not uncommon however to begin much earlier, and this is more frequent among females: 18% had begun by the time they turned 10, and 6% already by the time they turned 6. Being the main outlet of child sexuality, masturbation has been observed in very young children. In the book Human Sexuality: Diversity in Contemporary America, by Strong, Devault and Sayad, the authors point out, "A baby boy may laugh in his crib while playing with his erect penis (although he does not ejaculate). Baby girls sometimes move their bodies rhythmically, almost violently, appearing to experience orgasm."

According to the Canadian survey of Now magazine readers cited above, the frequency of masturbation declines after the age of 17. However, most males masturbate daily or even more frequently well into their 20s and sometimes way beyond. This decline is more drastic among females, and more gradual among males. While females aged 13-17 masturbated almost once a day on average (and almost as often as their male peers), adult women only masturbated 8-9 times a month, compared to the 18-22 among men. It is also apparent that the ability to masturbate declines with age. Adolescent youths report being able to masturbate to ejaculation six or more times per day, while men in middle age report being hard pressed to ejaculate even once per day. The survey does not give a full demographic breakdown of respondents, however, and the sexual history of respondents to this poll, who are readers of an urban Toronto lifestyle magazine, may not extend to the general population.

In part this is due to the fact that females are less likely to masturbate while in a sexual relationship than men. Both sexes occasionally engage in this activity, however, even when in sexually active relationships. In general it is believed that individuals of either sex who are not in sexually active relationships tend to masturbate more frequently than those who are; however, much of the time this is not true as masturbation alone or with a partner is often a feature of a healthy relationship.

Health and psychological effects

It is held in many mental health circles that masturbation can relieve depression and lead to a higher sense of self-worth[citation needed]. Masturbation can also be particularly useful in relationships where one partner wants more sex than the other — in which case masturbation provides a balancing effect and thus a more harmonious relationship.

Both from the standpoint of avoiding unwanted pregnancy and that of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, masturbation is the safest of sexual practices. There is no credible scientific or medical evidence that manual masturbation is damaging to either one's mental or physical health.

On July 16, 2003, an Australian research team led by Graham Giles of The Cancer Council published a medical study [3] which concluded that frequent masturbation by males may help prevent the development of prostate cancer. The study also indicated that this would be more helpful than ejaculation through sexual intercourse because intercourse can transmit diseases that may increase the risk of cancer instead.

Masturbation involving both a man and a woman can result in pregnancy only if semen contacts the vulva. Any masturbation with a partner can theoretically result in transmission of sexually transmitted disease by contact with bodily fluids, and such contact should be avoided with any partner whose disease status is uncertain. Objects inserted into the vagina or anus should be clean and of a kind that will not scratch or break. Care should be taken not to fully insert anything into the anus—any object used should have a flared or flanged base; otherwise retrieval can require a visit to the emergency room. Most modern dildos and anal plugs are designed with this feature.

A man whose penis has suffered "an invasive procedure, blunt trauma or injury during intercourse"[4] may suffer later in life from Peyronie's disease. There is the rare event of penile fracture[5] which may occur. Phimosis is "a contracted foreskin (that) may cause trouble by hurting when an attempt is made to pull the foreskin back"[6]. In these cases, overly aggressive manipulation of the penis can be problematic.

Compulsive masturbation can be part of a sexual addiction syndrome.[7]

Possible issues with prone masturbation ("Traumatic masturbatory syndrome")

Lawrence I. Sank (1998) speculated that the habit of masturbating prone (i.e. lying face downward) was responsible for serious sexual problems, including anorgasmia and erectile dysfunction, as suffered by four men he examined. He coined the term traumatic masturbatory syndrome to describe the effect.

As of 2006 there has been no follow-up research and the idea that prone masturbation causes male sexual dysfunction is not familiar or widely-held within the medical community.

Some sources, however, continue to give credence to the idea. One sex therapist (Margolies, 1994) has condemned masturbation by rubbing against a pillow or mattress and Lipsith et al (2003) suggest that masturbation could play a part in male psychogenic sexual dysfunction (MPSD), citing Sank as their authority.

Masturbation in history and society

Antiquity

Samurai being masturbated by his kagema prostitute
Early ukiyo-e print in the shunga (erotic) style. Moronobu Hishikawa, ca. 1680; Private collection.

There are depictions of male masturbation in prehistoric rock paintings around the world, though these are all entirely matters of interpretation. Most early people seem to have connected human sexuality with abundance in nature. A clay figurine of the 4th millennium BC from a temple site on the island of Malta, depicts a woman masturbating. However, in the ancient world depictions of male masturbation are far more common.

Male masturbation became an even more important image in ancient Egypt: when performed by a god it could be considered a creative or magical act: the god Atum was believed to have created the universe by masturbating to ejaculation, and the ebb and flow of the Nile was attributed to the frequency of his ejaculations. The ancient Greeks had a more natural attitude toward masturbation than the Egyptians did, regarding the act as a normal and healthy substitute for other forms of sexual pleasure. They considered masturbation a safety valve against destructive sexual frustration. The Greeks also dealt with female masturbation in both their art and writings.

Religion

In many religions, such as some forms of Conservative Protestantism, Catholicism, Mormonism, Judaism and Islam masturbation is regarded as a sinful practice.

In the Buddhist tradition, under the Five Precepts and the Eightfold Path, one should neither be attached to nor crave sensual pleasure. Masturbation is therefore neither forbidden nor encouraged[8].

Judaism

Judaism forbids masturbation, as it leads to unnecessary spilling of semen. This prohibition is derived from the Biblical narrative of Onan (Talmud Niddah 13a). The Talmud (ibid) likens the act to murder and idolatry. There is disagreement between the poskim (decisors of Jewish law) whether masturbation is an acceptable way of procuring semen for artificial insemination or in vitro fertilisation[9].

Catholicism

The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists masturbation as one of the "Offenses Against Chastity" and calls it "an intrinsically and gravely disordered action" because "use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose." It is considered a mortal sin[10], however, factors taken into account during the sacrament of reconciliation are social factors, psychological factors (i.e. anxiety), immaturity, and the force of an acquired habit, which can lessen the moral culpability for masturbation.[11]

Protestantism

Protestant theologians only began shunning these teachings toward the middle of the 20th century with some today even taking pro-masturbation viewpoints. Masturbation, however, is still viewed in Catholic dogma and by many denominations as an act of self indulgence and a sin of the flesh, making it a contentious issue to this day.

It has been reported by Rolling Stone [12] that a small Christian-right group in America is encouraging people to wear a masturband to indicate a commitment to abstinence from masturbation.

Islam

In the broadest understanding scholars of Islam consider masturbation to be forbidden (haraam), except in extenuating circumstances.

Extenuating Circumstances

Masturbation is permissible for the sake of medical tests, or if medically necessary. Doctors make the decision on its necessity in all cases, not legal scholars.

For example Sistani remarks on fertility tests, "As long as it isn't an absolute necessity, masturbation is forbidden."[13]

Muslims should not engage in sex outside of marriage. Yet if one's desire is so overwhelming one might perform a greater wrong by having sex prior to marriage, masturbation becomes permissible.

"And those who are not married should try to live in chastity, until God enriches them with His Grace" (Qur'an, 24:33)

Masturbation may be permissible so that men and women have a healthy knowledge of their own bodies, and so that they may be able to communicate with their marital partner about their sexual needs.

For a discussion of this see "Sex" on ProgressiveIslam.Org's Women's Health Project.

Masturbation, like any form of sex in which seminal or vaginal fluids have been released, breaks one's fast if performed during the daylight hours and requires a major ablution if any seminal or vaginal fluids were released.

According to Sheikh Hamed Al-Ali: "Masturbation during the daytime of Ramadan breaks the fast, based on the Hadith that a fasting Muslim gives up eating, drinking, and sexual desire for the sake of Allah. Since masturbation is a kind of sexual desire, a fasting Muslim must avoid it. Therefore, masturbation invalidates the fast as does food and as it is one of the sins that if someone does it he or she would be violating the sanctity of this month." [citation needed]

Philosophical arguments regarding masturbation

Immanuel Kant regarded masturbation as a violation of the moral law. In the Metaphysics of Morals (1797) he made the a posteriori argument that 'such an unnatural use of one’s sexual attributes' strikes 'everyone upon his thinking of it' as 'a violation of one’s duty to himself', and suggested that it was regarded as immoral even to give it its proper name (unlike the case of the similarly undutiful act of suicide). He went on, however, to acknowledge that 'it is not so easy to produce a rational demonstration of the inadmissability of that unnatural use', but ultimately concluded that its immorality lay in the fact that 'a man gives up his personality ... when he uses himself merely as a means for the gratification of an animal drive'.

Subsequent critics of masturbation tended to argue against it on more physiological grounds, however (see medical attitudes).

Medical attitudes

Excerpt from United States patent number 745264, filed on May 29, 1903 by Albert V. Todd. It describes a device designed to prevent masturbation by inflicting electric shocks upon the perpetrator, by ringing an alarm bell, and through spikes at the inner edge of the tube into which the penis is inserted. The entire patent document: Page 1, 2, 3, 4.
Excerpt from US Patent 995600 by Jonas E. Heyser. The entire patent document: Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The first use of onanism to consistently and specifically refer to masturbation appears to be Onania, an anonymous pamphlet first distributed in London in 1716. In it was a bombastic but novel tirade, drawing on familiar themes of sin and vice, this time in particular against the "heinous sin" of "self-pollution". After dire warnings that those who so indulged would suffer impotence, gonorrhea, epilepsy and a wasting of the faculties (included were letters and testimonials supposedly from young men ill and dying from the effects of compulsive masturbation) the pamphlet then goes on to recommend as an effective remedy a "Strengthening Tincture" at 10 shillings a bottle and a "Prolific Powder" at 12 shillings a bag, available from a certain shop in London.

One of the many horrified by the descriptions of malady in Onania was the notable Swiss physician Samuel-Auguste Tissot. In 1760, he published L'Onanisme, his own comprehensive medical treatise on the purported ill-effects of masturbation. Citing case studies of young male masturbators amongst his patients in Lausanne, Switzerland as basis for his reasoning, Tissot argued that semen was an "essential oil" and "stimulus" that, when lost from the body in great amounts, would cause "a perceptible reduction of strength, of memory and even of reason; blurred vision, all the nervous disorders, all types of gout and rheumatism, weakening of the organs of generation, blood in the urine, disturbance of the appetite, headaches and a great number of other disorders."

Though Tissot's ideas are now considered conjectural at best, his treatise was presented as a scholarly, scientific work in a time when experimental physiology was practically nonexistent. The authority with which the work was subsequently treated—Tissot's arguments were even acknowledged and echoed by luminaries such as Kant and Voltaire—arguably turned the perception of masturbation in Western medicine over the next two centuries into that of a debilitating illness.

This continued well into the Victorian Era, where such medical censure of masturbation was in line with the widespread social conservatism and opposition to open sexual behavior common at the time. [14] There were recommendations to have boys' pants constructed so that the genitals could not be touched through the pockets, for schoolchildren to be seated at special desks to prevent their crossing their legs in class and for girls to be forbidden from riding horses and bicycles because the sensations these activities produce were considered too similar to masturbation. Many "remedies" were devised, including eating a bland, meatless diet. This approach was promoted by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (inventor of corn flakes) and Rev. Sylvester Graham (inventor of Graham crackers). The medical literature of the times describes procedures for electric shock treatments, infibulation, restraining devices like chastity belts and straitjackets, cauterization or—as a last resort—wholesale surgical excision of the genitals. Routine neonatal circumcision was widely adopted in the United States and the UK at least partly because of its believed preventive effect against masturbation (see also History of male circumcision). In later decades, the more drastic of these measures were increasingly replaced with psychological techniques, such as warnings that masturbation led to blindness, hairy hands or stunted growth. Some of these persist as myths even today.

Medical attitudes toward masturbation began to change at the beginning of the 20th century when H. Havelock Ellis, in his seminal 1897 work Studies in the Psychology of Sex, questioned Tissot's premises, cheerfully named famous men of the era who masturbated and then set out to disprove (with the work of more recent physicians) each of the claimed diseases of which masturbation was purportedly the cause. "We reach the conclusion," he wrote, "that in the case of moderate masturbation in healthy, well-born individuals, no seriously pernicious results necessarily follow."

Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of The Scout Association, incorporated a passage in the 1914 edition of Scouting for Boys warning against the dangers of masturbation. This passage stated that the individual should run away from the temptation by performing physical activity which was supposed to tire the individual so that masturbation could not be performed. By 1930, however, Dr. F. W. W. Griffin, editor of The Scouter, had written in a book for Rover Scouts that the temptation to masturbate was "a quite natural stage of development" and, citing Ellis's work, held that "the effort to achieve complete abstinence was a very serious error."

In 1994, when the first African-American female Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Joycelyn Elders, mentioned as an aside that perhaps it ought to be mentioned in school curricula that masturbation was safe and healthy, she was forced to resign, with opponents asserting that she was promoting the teaching of how to masturbate. Many believe this was the result of her long history of promoting controversial viewpoints and not due solely to her public mention of masturbation. Her case led to the coining of a new and humorous slang term for masturbation: Firing the surgeon general.

Law

In most countries, masturbation tends to be legal, even by children, as long as nobody else is involved and no image is made. However, a few jurisdictions in the U.S. do have laws against the distribution of masturbatory aids.[15] These laws are largely not enforced.

Masturbation in a public place, and in cases where somebody else is unexpectedly confronted with it, is usually considered "lewd and lascivious" or "dissolute" behaviour, or at least indecent exposure, both of which are misdemeanors. According to some historic chronicles, it has not always been so.

Laws may vary for masturbation as part of a performance, as a visitor of a live or screen performance, as a participant in a sex party, etc.

Euphemisms

Because masturbation is often an uncomfortable topic among peers, a huge variety of euphemisms and dysphemisms have been invented to describe it. For a complete list of terms, see: "Sexual slang".

Humour and masturbation

Masturbation, mainly male masturbation, has long been the subject of humour. Even in the early Twentieth Century, Mail Pouch Tobacco advertisements in some cases featured a boy baby reaching into his diaper, with the caption, "He's found his mail pouch."

In 1879, Mark Twain gave a humorous talk at the Stomach Club in Paris entitled Some Thoughts on the Science of Onanism, which concluded with the thought "If you must gamble your lives sexually, don't play a lone hand too much." This talk was not published until 1943.

In Chapter Nine of James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses, the character Malachi "Buck" Mulligan reveals a short play he has been working on: Every Man His Own Wife or A Honeymoon in the Hand, (a national immorality in three orgasms) with characters such as Toby Tostoff (a ruined Pole), Crab (a bushranger), and Medical Dick.

Some famous wits have commented on masturbation, as in P. J. O'Rourke's quote: "Sophisticated persons masturbate without compunction. They do it for reasons of health, privacy, thrift and because of the remarkable perfection of invisible partners."

Woody Allen, in the film Annie Hall, asserts "Don't knock masturbation. It's sex with somebody I love!" Also, in the film Love and Death, Woody has a wild off-screen, 5-minute encounter with a countess; she tells him, "You are a great lover!" and he answers, "Well, I practice a lot when I'm alone." In Hannah and Her Sisters, Mia Farrow's character suggests that their inability to conceive may be a result of Woody's excessive masturbation, to which Woody responds, "now you're gonna start knocking my hobbies?"

According to one biography, Allen Ginsberg came up with the idea for his celebrated poem "Howl" while masturbating with a broom.

Dorothy Parker reportedly said she had a parrot she named "Onan" because it was always "spilling its seed".

Humorous songs have been written about masturbation, such as Chuck Berry's hit song, "My Ding-a-Ling". This song has no sexually explicit lyrics, but is clearly intended as a double entendre: "This here song / it ain't so bad / the cutest little song / you ever had / Those of you / who will not sing / you must be playin' / with your own ding-a-ling!" It was in Berry's playlist for years, but was not committed to vinyl until 1972, whereupon it shot to number 1 on the Billboard chart.

In one episode of the Simpsons, a young boy is trying out for the talent show and brings up a song targeting his "ding-a-ling" The boy went on singing "My ding-a-ling, my ding-a-ling, I want you to play with my ding-a-ling" which resulted in him getting kicked off the stage.

Some other musical references to masturbation are the songs "I Touch Myself" by Divinyls, sung in one of the final scenes in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; the Cyndi Lauper song "She Bop"; "Pink Thing" by the British new wave group XTC; "The Sun and the Rain" by the British ska band Madness (according to sleeve notes); Frankie Goes to Hollywood's song "Relax"; (allegedly) The Posies album title "Frosting On The Beater"; Green Day's song "Longview"; the 1970s disco song "Imaginary Lover" by Atlanta Rhythm Section and the Nerf Herder song "Doin' Laundry". "Dancing With Myself" by Billy Idol is also alleged to be about masturbation. On the Oscar-winning Purple Rain soundtrack, Prince sings "I knew a girl named Nikki/I guess you could say she was a sex fiend/I met her in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine." in his song "Darling Nikki." This upset future Second Lady Tipper Gore. John Lennon mentions masturbation in the song "Give Peace A Chance"; the lyric sheet was changed to "mastication" (chewing) to keep the record from being banned. In another song, "I Found Out", Lennon chastises people who idly "sit there/ with your cock in your hand." The lyrics on this were changed to "axe", slang for guitar. In 1990, rap group Digital Underground released "Sex Packets." The title track concerns a pill that will give men a sexual fantasy. The rapper states, "No more will I ever have to jack it/ 'Cuz instead, I can just take a packet." Donovan's song "Young Girl Blues" includes the lines "Yourself you touch, but not too much / You've heard it's degrading." One of Billy Joel's early tunes, "Captain Jack", contains the line "Your sister's gone out / she's on a date / and you just sit at home / and masturbate." Jackson Browne's song "Rosie" is written from the perspective of a rock & roll roadie who always loses the girl to a member of the band but finds solace by singing, "looks like it's me and you again tonight, Rosie..." ("Rosie" or "Rosie Palmer" being a reference to the hand). The song "It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland)" by the Barenaked Ladies is likely about masturbation, containing lines such as,"I'm the me in monogamy" and "It's only natural, It's only me". The Violent Femmes song "Blister In The Sun" was widely believed to be about masturbation however the songwriter disputes this claim. In an early Fleetwood Mac song, "Rattlesnake Shake", and in two The Who's songs, Pictures of Lily and Mary-Ann With The Shaky Hand the subject is sung about. "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors is popularly thought to be about masturbation, although it is unclear if this was intended by the band. "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "One More Minute" contains the line "'Cause I'm stranded all alone at the gas station of love and I have to use the self-service pumps." Jethro Tull's song "Roll Yer Own" on the album Catfish Rising is specifically about female masturbation. The song "If You C Jordan" by Something Corporate includes a line about masturbation, used to mock a rival of the lead singer ("you tried to fight me down at tylers beach and man i think thats great, you said to yell at me like i do at all the girls and you drove home real quick, did you make it in time to masturbate?").

There are much older songs on the subject, including this old parody on the classic tune "Funiculì Funiculà".

Last night, I lay my head upon my pillow,
But stayed up late, to masturbate.
Last night, I lay myself upon my bed, but
I stayed awake, for pleasure's sake.
You should see me working on the short strokes,
It's really grand, I use my hand;
You should see me working on the long strokes,
It's really neat, I use my feet.
Smash it! Bash it! Pound it on the floor!
Smite it! Bite it! Ram it through the door!
Oh, it's so neat to beat your meat while sitting on the toilet seat,
Isn't life divine,
Funiculì, funiculà.

In 2002, R&B singer Tweet released a song called Oops (Oh My). The lyrics seemed to have small hints of masturbation.

In 2003, American pop singer Britney Spears released in her In The Zone album, which included a song entitled "Touch Of My Hand". The song contains blatant references to masturbation. The lyrics are as follows: "'Cause I just discover / Imagination's taking over / Another day without a lover / The more I come to understand / The touch of my hand" [...] "I'm all in my skin / And I'm not gonna wait / I'm into myself in the most precious way". On her Onyx Hotel World tour, the performance for the song, showed Spears "dancing" naked covered with diamonds in a hot-tub, while her backup dancers were in underwear touching all over in their own beds. Also, in the In The Zone DVD, Britney said that it was something natural for people to do, that she had done it, and that she recorded the song intentionally to see the reaction of the media.

In recent years, there have been many masturbation jokes in movies, such as in American Pie, where the pie (more or less of the title) is used as a masturbation object to generate humour. The characters believe that by masturbating with a pie, one can imitate a vagina. A famous scene in There's Something About Mary has Ben Stiller "cleaning the pipes" before a big date to calm his nerves.

One of the most famous discussions about masturbation by popular culture was done on the television show Seinfeld. In it, the four main characters made a bet as to which one could go the longest without masturbating. The episode coined the phrase "master of your domain" to refer to a person who can resist the temptation to masturbate. This episode also wound up winning an Emmy award.

The apparently addictive nature of masturbation has also been the subject of humour. Lenny Bruce, who was well-acquainted with addictions, had this bit of advice: "If you're going to stop masturbating, you can't 'taper off'. You've got to quit, cold jerky!"

There are many popular jokes about masturbation, including one upon which you summon someone across the room by extending and bending your index finger until they walk over, upon which you say, "I knew if I fingered you long enough you would come!" Another is the "meet my lover" joke, in which one simply reaches out as if to shake hands.

Comedian Richard Jeni has made countless jokes about masturbation, claiming he is "the best he has ever had." He claims that 90% of men masturbate, the other 10% have no arms (60% of women masturbate, the other 40% expect people to believe it takes that long to take a bath). Father Guido Sarducci calls masturbation a "cheap sin" and in his "Vitam Est Lavoro" lecture predicts that God will charge practitioners 35c per session.

In Neil Labute's 1999 film Your Friends and Neighbors, masturbation is an important theme that develops to accumulate in a humorous ending for one of the characters. The phrase "Is it me?" is a motivic question, and a metaphor for both sexual and social insecurity, and self-centeredness, repeated by almost all the characters in varying situations. An unnamed corporate executive played by Aaron Eckhart imposes discussion of his own masturbation on an intern during a lunch in his office. "The best I've ever had?" he speculates to his silent guest, "that would have to be me." When the intern appears incredulous, he continues "don't get me wrong, my wife is great and everything, but...no one makes me come like I do." Later scenes make clear however that the character is unable to please his wife, or excite her much, and comforts himself with masturbation, in what appears to be a "distant second" next-best option. When their relationship eventually dissolves, the character finds himself alone in a hotel room, unable to ejaculate, calling out in frustration, to his own genitals, "Come on! What's going on?" etc., and then finally "Is it me?"

Masturbation in other animal species

Masturbatory behavior has now been documented in a very wide range of other species. Individuals of some species have been known to create tools for masturbation purposes.

Main article: Non-human animal sexuality

See also

References

  • DeMartino, Manfred F. Human Autoerotic Practices. New York: Human Sciences Press, 1979. ISBN 0877053731.
  • Joanides, Paul (2004) Guide to Getting It On, p. 396 (Possible issues with prone masturbation)
  • Josie Lipsith, Damian McCann, and David Goldmeier. Male Psychogenic Sexual Dysfunction: The Role of Masturbation. Sexual and Relationship Therapy 18: 448-471 (2003). (Possible issues with prone masturbation)
  • Marcus, Irwin M. Masturbation: From Infancy to Senescence. New York: International Universities Press, 1975. ISBN 0823631508.
  • Eva Margolies. Undressing the American Male: Men with Sexual Problems and What Women Can Do to Help Them. New York: Penguin, 1994.( Possible issues with prone masturbation)
  • Stengers, Jean; van Neck, Anne. Masturbation: the history of a great terror. New York: Palgrave, 2001. ISBN 0312224435. (Discusses Victorian attitudes toward masturbation.)
  • Lawrence I. Sank. "Traumatic Masturbatory Syndrome." Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy 24(1): 37-42 (1998).
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