Masturbation

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Bad Ass

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I was reading up on some of the health benefits of masturbation in a medical magazine thing, and there are no negative effects of it. I'm sure you all know that, but here is where I raise a question:

Why is masturbation such a taboo? Nobody wants anyone to know they do it, and they try to steer conversation away from it. If a parent brings it up, it is really awkward. Why? There are health benefits to it ( men and women (ctrl +f health benefits) ). I'm not saying to "share your favorite techniques" or anything gross (heh look at me i'm such a hypocrite), but just discuss on why it is looked down upon in society.
 
Well, the tabooness stems largely from the fact that religions have used the concept of "sexuality/sexual pleasure = evil" to control the masses since medieval times, and masturbation was a part of that.

It also has connotations of "not being attractive enough to get sex with another person".
 
Same old, same old sex-negative cultural attitudes, reinforced with a healthy dose of religion and uptight people. Masturbation is rather important to the well being of society.
 
actually, MrIndigo, a couple of Sisters once told me that they believe sex / sexual pleasure to be so good that people should save it for someone who they will be with for the rest of their lives.

i personally don't see anything wrong with masturbation tho.
 
junior said:
actually, MrIndigo, a couple of Sisters once told me that they believe sex / sexual pleasure to be so good that people should save it for someone who they will be with for the rest of their lives.
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It's not that the religious individuals believe it, but that the religious culture in general has used it to control people. Also, if it was really so good, it wouldn't matter who you did it with because it doesn't get worse if you go between multiple people.
 
Bad Ass said:
Why is masturbation such a taboo?
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I don't know. It is notable that it's one of the few remaining taboo subjects, and pretty much the only one relating to sex. Talk about sex, talk about homosexuality, talk about BDSM, but don't talk about masturbation.

I suspect there are a number of factors at work. One being that there are religious views that masturbation is always a sin (the Catholic Church being just one that preaches this). Another I suspect being that masturbation is often percieved as being done instead of sex, and by implication being done by those unable to "get laid". A man will announce that they had sex because that's seen as successful; a man won't announce he wanked off because there's no bragging rights.
 
Basically the views from society frowns upon masturbation and sex in general because of religion, traditional viewpoints, peers, and because of the notion that one is to feel guilty or ashamed if they masturbate.

Now of course society has been progressing quickly since most people now realize that masturbation is perfectly normal and okay to do. More and more the people that look down on masturbation are getting out numbered by people that are accepting of it.

Masturbation is considered a social taboo because it is something extremely personal and private to do. You probably wouldn't tell your peers about some really personal secrets, so why would you discuss this? Generally the best bets are your good friends and maybe a parent you can trust.

Masturbation is also considered to be a "last resort" option in which if a person can't find anyone to have sex with they resort to this. Obviously people are wising up to the fact that even people who have sex regularly usually masturbate as well. Of course, even when people around you know this, they would still rather pretend they didn't instead of facing the truth (eg: A boy asks a question about masturbation in religion class, everyone laughs and makes fun of him about it despite the fact that many of them do it too).

As for the parents question, I'm going to use my own household as an example. My parents aren't religious or anything, but they still believe that I am a virgin. I don't want them to know that I had sex because they hate my ex-gf and it would just create more drama. As for masturbation, my dad caught me looking at porn on the computer and I was banned from it for a while and it was kind of humiliating to know that everyone in your family thinks you're some kind of pervert. I can talk about finding love and relationships with my mom mostly, but not my dad. I don't think I'd ever talk to them about sex again because of what happened in the past and other reasons that I'd rather not share.

I do know of some households that are completely comfortable talking about sex, but mine isn't one of them. I guess it all depends on experiences as well as parenting methods.
 
junior said:
actually, MrIndigo, a couple of Sisters once told me that they believe sex / sexual pleasure to be so good that people should save it for someone who they will be with for the rest of their lives.

i personally don't see anything wrong with masturbation tho.
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sister earthworm?

edit ala: you could have said the porn was on there when you got on and your mom was on the computer last, that way your dad would have felt uncomfortable.
 
you're all wrong except for ala

it's not because of religion or whatever, it's because it is a highly personal and "passionate" thing to do
 
Nowadays, I think youth have largely moved away from seeing masturbation as a religious taboo, and more as a cultural taboo. The connotation of masturbation, as others have said, is that you're not attractive enough, or don't have enough 'game' to achieve sex with a partner. Many insults to other men center around their perceived masturbatory habits ("you're a wank", "go play with yourself", etc), just as other insults revolve around a man's inability or lack of desire to mate with a female ("you're a (BAN ME PLEASE)").
 
You have to give love to receive love, that's why I whack off constantly.
 
Magic Toaster said:
You've never talked about a boyfriend/girlfriend before?
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What Blightbringer refers to may be relevant actually. When it comes to sex and relationship, one person - the partner - already by necessity knows. When it comes to masturbation no-one else necessarily knows. The jump from no-one knowing to one person knowing, as happens if you talk about your masturbation, is perhaps far greater than that from one person knowing to two people knowing, as happens if you talk about your sex.
 
I just want to respond to this;

Bad Ass said:
I was reading up on some of the health benefits of masturbation in a medical magazine thing, and there are no negative effects of it.
Click to expand...

That's not entirely true. Excessive masturbation can result in the body NEEDING that kind of stimulation to reach orgasm. This can result in difficulty climaxing when another person is responsible for your pleasure.

I believe it's also been linked to premature ejaculation if you train your body to orgasm extremely quickly when you masturbate.

However the word "excessive" is key here - if it's done within reason, then you're right, there are no negative effects.

As for why people don't discuss it, could it possibly be that it's perceived as gross because it's just one man doing it? Most guys would gladly discuss a female masturbating but not a male, as well as straight couples having sex - however, gay sex and masturbation aren't exactly brought up often in conversation.

Perhaps this is due to there being no female in the picture? I know I, for one, would be fine with hearing "Aaron had sex with Girl Y", but "Aaron masturbated last night" would disturb me a little bit.

Or it could possibly just be side effect of the tiresome "LOL PENIS" attitude, which I wish would just die, already. XKCD sums up my opinion nicely

penises-1.png
 
My friend justified Male Masturbation this way (for those who do not have sex regularly):

Testicles need to unload semen every so often.
You either do this by having a wet dream or by Masturbating.
Which seems like the more practical solution?
 
that's not true. for some people it's against their religion to do it.
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I know Muslims that jack off.
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Religious or not, everybody masturbates. Actually, most muslims do masturbate. The excuse usually is ''I want to avoid a bigger sin (sexual intercourse before marriage)''
 
I don't see how religion has to do with it. If you yell PENIS PENIS PENIS in the middle of a crowd, people will flinch and give you weird looks, no matter if they are atheist or Buddhist or whatever..

There is still a taboo on genitals in general in public.

If you are talking about conversation with you friends, I guess it has to do with the whole "you can't get a girl to have sex so you have to use you're hand" stigma.
 
Insomniac makes a great point. Why is there a general taboo on genitals? I'm pretty sure 99% of adults have had sex at one point in their lives. And speaking of this, why is porn so terrible?
 
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