Masturbation

Definition

Masturbation is the erotic stimulation of one's own genitals for pleasure.

Description

Masturbation is the self-stimulation of the sex organs, most often to the point of orgasm. Sixty to ninety percent of adolescent boys and 40 percent of girls masturbate. Although people's attitudes about masturbation differ widely, there is no evidence that masturbation is in any way physically, psychologically, or emotionally harmful. For many young people, masturbation is an opportunity for private sexual exploration before deciding to engage is sexual activity with another person. It is also considered the safest form of sex in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases , including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Masturbation allows a healthy way to express and explore one's sexuality and to release sexual tension without the associated risks of sexual intercourse, according to many healthcare providers. They also agree that masturbation is a natural, normal, and healthy way of self-exploration and sexual expression.

It is increasingly recognized among mental health professionals that masturbation can relieve depression and lead to a higher sense of self worth. Masturbation can also be particularly useful in relationships in which one partner wants more sexual activity than the other, in which case masturbation provides a balancing effect.

Many conservative religious groups teach that masturbation is a sinful practice. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2352, 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 goes on to caution that extenuating factors could exist, such as immaturity, habitual, or psychological problems.

The discussion of masturbation has been controversial for hundreds of years and still is to some extent in the early 2000s, more so in the United States than Europe and other Western nations. Children caught by their parents masturbating are often punished and told it is a sin. In fact, there is no mention of the word "masturbation" or "self-pleasure" in the Bible. Children are also often told it is wrong or unhealthy, myths that are not supported by medical research.

In the early 2000s, masturbation has become more accepted for both males and females yet there is still a stigma about discussing it openly. College courses on human sexuality include materials and discussion of masturbation, and many parenting manuals deal with ways to affirm a child's self-pleasing habits rather than degrading or punishing the child. Many sex therapists believe that to have better sexual experiences with a partner, an individual needs to learn to masturbate first since it is the best way to learn what one likes and does not like in his or her sex acts.

Most people think of masturbation as a very personal and private act involving using only the hands to manipulate the genitals. Ways of masturbating common to both males and females include pressing or rubbing the genital area against an object, inserting a finger or other object into the anus, and stimulating the penis or clitoris with electric vibrators, which can also be inserted into the anus or vagina. Some males and females enjoy touching, rubbing, or pinching their nipples while masturbating, and both sexes also sometimes use lubricants, such as hand lotion, to improve the sensation.

Masturbation in males

The most common form of masturbation, especially in circumcised males, is to wrap one or both hands or several fingers and thumb around the erect penis and stroke it up and down until ejaculation. This action results in no direct stimulation of the head of the penis and ejaculation is achieved almost entirely from stimulation of the penis shaft and its contact against the underside of the head of the penis only. In uncircumcised males, it is most common to grip the skin of the penis and move it up and down, resulting in repeated sliding of the foreskin back and forth over the head of the penis until orgasm is reached.

Another common method is to rub the erect penis against a smooth surface, such as a mattress or pillow until ejaculation is reached. Less common masturbation techniques include use of an artificial vagina or other "sex toy."

In 2003, an Australian research team led by Graham Giles of the Cancer Council published a medical study that concluded frequent masturbation by males may help prevent the development of prostate cancer and that it would be more helpful than ejaculation through sexual intercourse because intercourse can transmit diseases which can increase the risk of cancer instead.

Masturbation in females

Females most commonly masturbate by stroking or rubbing the vulva, especially the clitoris, with hands and fingers until orgasm is reached. Females also may use running water to stimulate the vulva or insert fingers or a hard object into the vagina. Many women are only able to achieve orgasm through masturbation. Some women can experience sexual stimulation simply by crossing their legs tightly.

One enduring myth is that female masturbation can lead to decreased sensitivity of the clitoris resulting in a decrease in the frequency and intensity of female orgasm. However, the evidence points the other way and suggests that women who have engaged in masturbation have a better understanding of their own genital anatomy and can guide their sexual partners in appreciating the specific sexual acts that contribute to female orgasm.

Infancy and toddlerhood

Some and probably all children are capable of what appear to be sexual responses even in earliest years. Most infants probably explore and fondle their own genitals, but not in a goal directed way. Masturbation by infants is also referred to as gratification disorder or infantile masturbation. It is sometimes mistakenly identified by physicians for epilepsy. A study published in the March 2004 issue of Archives of Disease in Childhood reported the median age at first symptoms was ten and one-half months, with an age range of three months to five years and five months. The median frequency was seven times a week and the median length was two and one-half minutes. Masturbation in infants is difficult to recognize because it often does not involve manual stimulation of the genitals at all, the study reported.

Preschool

Occasional masturbation is a normal behavior in preschool-age children and most commonly occurs "when a child is sleepy, bored, watching television, or under stress," according to a 2002 advisory in the annual journal Clinical Reference Systems. The advisory states that up to one third of preschool-age children discover masturbation while exploring their bodies. They often continue to masturbate simply because it feels good. Some children masturbate frequently because they are unhappy or under stress or are reacting to punishment or pressure to stop masturbation completely. Once a child discovers masturbation, he or she seldom stops doing it completely, according to the advisory. It is not abnormal or excessive unless it is deliberately done in public places after age five or six, when most children learn discretion and masturbate only in private.

"It is impossible to eliminate masturbation in a child. Accept the fact you're your child has learned about it and enjoys it," the advisory states. "The only thing you can control is where he or she does it. A reasonable goal is to permit it in the bedroom and bathroom only. . . . If you completely ignore the masturbation, no matter where it's done, your child will think he or she can do it freely in any setting."

School age

As a child grows, masturbation to orgasm becomes more and more likely. Researchers and experts disagree on how many children masturbate before adolescence . Most children seem to have the biological capacity to derive pleasure from self-stimulation. Masturbation becomes almost universal at puberty in response to normal surges in sex hormones and sexual drive. Most studies suggest that approximately 94 percent of teenage males and about 70 percent of teenage girls admit they masturbate. The actual number of youngsters who masturbate is believed to be higher, since the use of the word "admit" in surveys can imply wrong-doing.

Most males learn to masturbate during adolescence; fewer females do. Some sex therapists believe that girls who do not masturbate miss an important step in their sexual development, since masturbation provides an opportunity to learn how one's body responds to erotic stimulation. Because boys usually masturbate and girls often do not, boys are more likely to learn a sexuality that is genitally focused. Boys learn their sexuality in a context with other boys who bestow a sense of esteem on them. Boys often masturbate with another boy or group of boys. This in itself does not imply homosexuality or bisexuality . Girls who masturbate almost always discover it alone. Girls generally talk among themselves about masturbation but do not perform with other girls or in front of others. There is no peer support for sexual exploration or reward for teaching orgasm. Boys emerge from adolescence both sexually advantaged and disadvantaged. They are practiced at having orgasms and comfortable with the physical aspects of sex. They are less adept at handling emotional relationships with girls.

Common problems

There is no credible scientific or medical evidence that manual masturbation is damaging to either one's physical or mental health. The exception to this includes some cases of Peyronie's disease in which aggressive manipulation, such as inversion during adolescence, and bending or twisting of the penis, results in a localized benign tumor, distorting the erectile appearance.

Contrary to popular myth, masturbation does not make the palms hairy or cause blindness or genital shrinkage. It has also been alleged that masturbation can reduce sensitivity in the male penis. This statement is also false. The only side-effects recorded are that repeated masturbation may result in tiredness or soreness, which tend to make repeated masturbation self-limiting in any case and that the volume of ejaculate is temporarily reduced in men after multiple ejaculations until normal semen volume is regained in a day or so. Also, people from a socially conservative or religious background may experience feelings of guilt during or after masturbation.

Parental concerns

Studies show that kids who feel they can talk with their parents about masturbation and other sexual issues—because their moms and dads speak openly and listen carefully to them—are less likely to engage in high-risk behavior as teens than kids who do not feel they can talk with their parents about the subject. Parents should explore their own feelings about sex and masturbation. Parents who are uncomfortable with the subject should read books or articles on masturbation and discuss their feelings with a trusted friend, relative, physician, or clergy member. The more parents examine the subject, the more confident they will feel discussing it. If a child has not started asking questions about masturbation, parents should look for a good opportunity to mention it.

While children need to know the biological facts about masturbation, they also need to understand that sexual relationships involve caring, concern, and responsibility. If parents discuss with their children the emotional aspect of a sexual relationships, the children will be better informed to make decisions later on and to resist peer pressure .

When to call the doctor

In the vast majority of cases masturbation is considered to be a normal activity but the following scenarios may suggest that a problem exists:

• If a child masturbates frequently and appears to be relating to adults in a sexually precocious manner.
• If masturbation becomes a compulsive activity and the person is driven to do it at certain times each day and it almost becomes a ritualistic activity, at the exclusion of almost all else.
• If masturbation takes place in a public place.

KEY TERMS

Circumcision —A surgical procedure, usually with religious or cultural significance, where the prepuce or skin covering the tip of the penis on a boy, or the clitoris on a girl, is cut away.

Clitoris —The most sensitive area of the external genitals. Stimulation of the clitoris causes most women to reach orgasm.

Ejaculation —The process by which semen (made up in part of prostatic fluid) is ejected by the erect penis.

Genital —Refers to the sexual or reproductive organs that are visible outside the body.

Infantile masturbation —The masturbation by infants, also called gratification disorder.

Orgasm —Another word for sexual climax. In the male, orgasm is usually accompanied by ejaculation but may be experienced as distinct from ejaculation.

Peyronie's disease —A disease of unknown origin which causes a hardening of the corpora cavernosa, the erectile tissue of the penis. The penis may become misshapen and/or curved as a result and erections are painful.

Vulva —The external genital organs of a woman, including the outer and inner lips, clitoris, and opening of the vagina.

Resources

BOOKS

Bockting, Walter O., and Eli Coleman. Masturbation as a Means of Achieving Sexual Health. New York: Haworth Press, 2003.

Cornog, Martha. BIG Book of Masturbation. Burlingame, CA: Down There Press, 2003.

Richardsom, Justin, and Mark A Schuster. Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know about Sex, but Were Afraid They'd Ask: The Secrets to Surviving Your Child's Sexual Development from Birth to the Teens. New York: Crown Publishers, 2003.

Scott, Elijah. Masturbation: It's Time to Talk. New York: Light Publishing, 2000.

PERIODICALS

Howard, Barbara J. "Sexuality in Young Children." Pediatric News (January 2003): 27.

Nechay, A., et al. "Gratification Disorder (Infantile Masturbation): A Review." Archives of Disease in Childhood (March 2004): 225–26.

Nolan, Peter. "Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation." Mental Health Practice (March 2004): 24–25.

Schmitt, B. D. "Masturbation in Preschoolers. (Behavioral Health Advisor 2002.1)" Clinical Reference Systems (Annual 2002): 2020.

"Strong-arm Tactics: Masturbation is Good for Prostate Health.)" Men's Health (October 2003): 64.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Academy of Pediatrics. 141 Northwest Point Blvd., Elk Grove Village, IL 60007. Web site: <www.aao.org>.

WEB SITES

"Sexual Experience: Masturbation." Palo Alto Medical Group, October 2003. Available online at <www.pamf.org/teen/sex/masturbation/> (accessed October 25, 2004).

Ken R. Wells

masturbation There are many expressions for this practice, including auto-eroticism, self-abuse, the solitary pleasure, and onanism (incorrectly; the sin of Onan in Genesis was practising coitus interruptus, not masturbation). According to George Ryley Scott's Encyclopaedia of Sex (1939), it is ‘as old as the world itself … the vice of all races, classes, and ages’, and has been observed in animals as well as humans. The Greek Cynic philosopher Diogenes remarked that it was a pity that the pangs of hunger could not be assuaged as easily as the pangs of lust, simply by rubbing the affected part. The early-twentieth-century Viennese satirist, Karl Kraus, remarked that one met a better class of partner in masturbatory fantasy. Nonetheless, it has been abhorred as a vice for centuries and is still somewhat stigmatized. Even in the 1990s, when the AIDs epidemic placed safe sex high on the agenda, advocating this safest of practices led to the dismissal of a US Surgeon-General. No questions on it were included in the British survey sponsored by the Wellcome Trust, published in 1994 as Sexual Behaviour in Britain. The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles. If no longer regarded with horror and loathing, it may be considered the resort of the sad loser unable to find a suitable partner.

This stigmatization seems particularly odd for what is probably the most universal of all sexual practices, at least among men. The evidence accumulated by surveys since Kinsey suggests that over 90% of men masturbate at some time during their lives, although the figures for women are significantly lower, at around 50–70% according to different surveys, and the frequency of masturbation in women is around half that in men. There is some evidence that the practice has become more common among women but still not as near-universal as it is among men.

Masturbation has not been the subject of legal regulation, though at least one British case is recorded of a man arrested for ‘procuring an indecent act with himself’: an element of exhibitionism would appear to have been present. The stringent objections advanced about the practice have been both moral and medical. On moral and religious grounds masturbation has been regarded as a sin of lust. As a non-procreative act, in medieval Christian theology it counted as an act against nature, more serious than adultery or rape.

On health grounds, it has been regarded as leading to depletion of the energies contained in the seminal fluid; in ancient Chinese medicine various practices were resorted to in order to conserve vital yang energy by avoiding ejaculation. In the West, the major medical case against masturbation emerged in the eighteenth century. Following Tissot, authorities declared it to be a habit leading to a gothic plenitude of ailments, physical, mental, and moral, with repercussions not only upon the individual himself but his offspring. This belief in the debilitating effects of masturbation (rather than its being something morally deleterious which it might benefit the soul or character to struggle against) led to the introduction of various stringent means of preventing it (and even of preventing involuntary nocturnal emissions).

Although it is often supposed that infantile masturbation was the focus of these anxieties, it is clear from the literature that it was young men at puberty and in the years immediately following who were the group at which much of the agitation against self-abuse was directed. The perception of the dangers of masturbation and the outcries against its practice have been directed overwhelmingly towards men. Although there have been occasional diatribes against masturbation in women, this never generated the virtual industry of pamphlets and preventive and curative prescriptions dealing with the apparent epidemic of sexual debility caused by ‘the secret vice’ in males. During the heyday of belief in a clear distinction between immature clitoral and mature vaginal orgasm, masturbation was supposed to interfere with women's capacity to achieve the correct kind during intercourse. However, being neurotic and immature, though deplorable, was hardly as serious a threat as the major mental and physical debilitation men allegedly risked. These proliferating fears around the sexuality of young men from the mid-eighteenth century may bear some relation to the increasingly late age of marriage. Many authorities even believed masturbation to be a far greater danger than intercourse with prostitutes (even though these might well be diseased). There is indeed some evidence of fornication being recommended as a ‘cure’ for masturbation during the nineteenth century. When, from the early twentieth century, sex educators began to disseminate reassuring messages that masturbation would not cause consumption, tabes dorsalis, or insanity, the practice was still said to be best avoided and not indulged to excess. From being physiologically damaging it became an indicator of some psychological defect, neurosis, immaturity, or an inability to form proper interpersonal relationships. At a half-folkloric, half-joking level, the belief that it causes hair to grow on the palms of the hands is still bandied about.

The false etymology deriving the term ‘masturbation’ from ‘manustupration’ — from the Latin meaning to defile with the hand — alludes to the commonest, but by no means the only, method of self-stimulation. Much of the fear around self-abuse was exacerbated by this awareness that the means was always to hand. However, some men masturbate by rubbing or thrusting against something, or by using vibrators, inanimate objects with holes in, or water jets. Pornography in its various forms may also be regarded as an appurtenance to masturbation. In women, in spite of the long historical tradition of dildos, the preferred method is direct stimulation of the clitoris, occasionally with additional vaginal stimulation. Some women are capable of achieving orgasm simply by squeezing their thighs together. Of recent decades masturbation has been recommended to women as a means of familiarizing themselves with their own sexual responses in order to overcome difficulties in achieving orgasm. And of course, more recently, it has had advocates as a safe form of sexual activity which does not transfer bodily fluids.

Lesley A. Hall

MASTURBATION

Masturbation is the act of obtaining pleasure from manipulation of the genital organs.

Before Sigmund Freud shed light on infantile sexuality, masturbation was exclusively viewed from the extremely negative perspective of religion and morality, rather than being seen as a social and medical problem. This is attested by Dr. Samuel Auguste David Tissot's L'onanisme: Dissertation sur les maladies produites par la masturbation (Onanism: Dissertation on the illnesses produced by masturbation; 1778), which for more than a century and a half remained the standard reference on the issue. In 1576 Michel de Montaigne, in his Essays (II, 12), was the first to introduce the term masturbation into the French language; its etymological origins are controversial. In 1835 the word appeared in the sixth edition of the dictionary of the French Academy, where onanism was given as a synonym.

In his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905d), Freud defined masturbation as an infantile sexual activity, an autoerotic practice whose erotogenic zone is the genital region. During the child's development, most of the other erotogenic zones lose their importance and are subordinated to the genital zone. Within psychoanalytic theory, Freud gave a central place to masturbation, specifying in a note added to the same text in 1920 that "masturbation represents the executive agency to the whole of infantile sexuality and is, therefore, able to take over the sense of guilt attaching to it" (1905d, p. 189, n. 1). He placed the three phases of infantile masturbation at the period when the infant is nursing, at four years of age, and at puberty.

René Spitz held that autoerotic activity in the form of playing with the genitals during the first eighteen months of life is a good indicator of appropriate object relations, just as appropriate sexual activity is in the adult. Melanie Klein always placed great importance on masturbatory fantasies, arguing that these indirectly feed into most activities of the normal child, such as play and schoolwork.

The reactions of caregivers to the child's masturbatory behaviors play a part in structuring the child's personality. In the case of the "Wolf Man," presented in "From the History of an Infantile Neurosis" (1918b [1914]), Freud explained that within the childhood nodal complex, in the realm of sexual relations the father takes on the role of the enemy: the person who interferes with autoerotic sexual activity. Spitz showed that this restriction of sexuality, masturbation in particular, allows for social and civilized attainments such as the superego in humans.

Freud insisted on the infantile aspect of masturbation, and this topic became controversial at a 1910 meeting of the founders of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society to discuss "the harmful effects of masturbation" (Nunberg and Federn, 1962-1975). From this it was wrongly extrapolated that masturbation in adults is regressive and should be viewed as psychopathological. It should be stressed that masturbation in adults, within the framework of an object relation, is a normal expression of adult sexuality. Hence, it is to be distinguished from infantile autoerotism, which, if it persists into adulthood, is considered a sign of neurosis or perversion.

Franck Zigante

See also: Actual neurosis/defense neurosis; Alcoholism; Autoeroticism/alloeroticism; Castration complex; Drug addiction; Erythrophobia (fear of blushing); Female sexuality; "Heredity and the Aetiology of the Neuroses"; Jouissance (enjoyment); Latency period; Mastery, instinct for; Neurasthenia; Pregenital; Rite and ritual; "Some Psychical Consequences of the Anatomical Distinction between the Sexes"; Tics; Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality .

Bibliography

Brenot, Philippe. (1997).Éloge de la masturbation (Grain d'orage). Cadeilhan, France: Zulma.

Freud, Sigmund. (1905d). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. SE, 7: 123-243.

——. (1918b [1914]). From the history of an infantile neurosis. SE, 17: 1-122.

Lebovici, Serge, and Soulé, Michel. (1970). La connaissance de l'enfant par la psychanalyse. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Nunberg, Hermann, and Federn, Ernest. (1962-1975). Minutes of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. New York: International Universities Press.

Spitz, René A. (1964). Vers une réévaluation de l'autoérotisme. Psychiatrie de l'enfant, 7, 269-297.

Tissot, Samuel Auguste David. (1778). L'onanisme: Dissertation sur les maladies produites par la masturbation (5th ed.). Lausanne.

Further Reading

Arlow, Jacob. (1953). Masturbation and symptom formation. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 1,45-58.

Isay, Richard A., rep. (1980). Panel: Adult masturbation: Clinical perspectives. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 28, 637-652.

Reich, Annie. (1951). The discussion of 1912 on masturbation and our present-day views. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 6, 80-94.

mas·tur·bate / ˈmastərˌbāt/ • v. [intr.] stimulate one's own genitals for sexual pleasure. ∎  [tr.] stimulate the genitals of (someone) to give them sexual pleasure. DERIVATIVES: mas·tur·ba·tion / ˌmastərˈbāshən/ n. mas·tur·ba·tor n. mas·tur·ba·to·ry / -bəˌtôrē/ adj.

masturbation Self-stimulation by manipulation of the genital organs for pleasure, usually to orgasm. Once regarded as taboo, sinful or physically harmful, moderate masturbation is no longer considered abnormal.

masturbation (mas-ter-bay-shŏn) n. physical self-stimulation of the male or female external genital organs in order to produce sexual pleasure, which may result in orgasm.

masturbate XIX (earlier †mastuprate XVII). f. pp. stem of L. masturbārī, perh. alt. of *man(ū)stuprāre ‘defile with the hand’.

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