CHAPTER 8
MASTURBATION
MASTURBATION
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
• Historically condemned
• Rooted in Judeo-Christian views that saw only sex
for procreation as moral
• Erroneous health concerns:
“The health soon becomes noticeably impaired; there will
be general debility . . . . Next come sore eyes, blindness,
stupidity, consumption, spinal affliction, emaciation,
involuntary seminal emissions, loss of all energy or spirit,
insanity, and idiocy--the hopeless ruin of both body and
mind.” (Wood & Ruddock, 1918)
• Freud recognized that masturbation wasn’t
harmful, but said that it led to “immature sexual
development”
• Roman Catholic church considers masturbation to
be an "intrinsically and seriously disordered act."
MASTURBATION
SOME GENERAL INFO
• Contrary to earlier cultural views, all research on
masturbation indicates that it is harmless.
• Women are more likely to masturbate in and
after their 20s than in adolescence. Why do you
think this is the case?
• Factors associated with greater likelihood and
frequency of masturbation:
• Living with a sexual partner
• Engaging in more frequent sexual activity with a
partner
contrary to
• Having more education popular
• Having more liberal views about sex stereotype
• Viewing sexual pleasure as a goal …
• Being Caucasian
MASTURBATION
PURPOSES
• Relieve sexual tension
• Means of self-exploration
• Can improve quality of sexual experiences w/a
partner
• Shared experience
• Assists in physical relaxation
MASTURBATION TECHNIQUES
• Men
• Commonly grasp penile shaft, using up-and-down
motions (w/ or w/o lotion/lube)
• Some rub against a mattress or pillow
• Women
• Wide variety of stimulation techniques
• Most typical is manual stimulation of clitoris
• Glans of clitoris is rarely stimulated directly--rather,
through clitoral hood or labia minora
• Contrary to what is often portrayed in
pornography, most women do not use vaginal
insertion to reach orgasm during masturbation (Hite
study, 1976, 1.5% of women used vaginal insertion)
• Many women (and some men) enjoy vibrators
during self-stimulation
