Masturbation Nation (Part One)

We all know we do it right? 

Often masturbation, especially if you’re not in a long term committed relationship where you know each other’s triggers and erogenous zones so well, is better than sex with a real person. You can do what you want, think of what you want and you know where the buttons are.

But what about masturbation in relationships?

What about masturbation with your partner lying by your side?

What if you catch your partner at it while you’re sleeping?

What if you’re caught at it while they were sleeping?

Masturbation and the law

Despite our relationship to masturbation being specifically defined by being alone, as a practise it is surprisingly dominated by rule of law.

You are not allowed to masturbate in public. 

This is interesting when you consider our practise of masturbating alone is different from observations relating to animal masturbation where masturbation occurs according to need, or (rather amusingly) boredom, without restriction. I make this statement simply because privacy in human masturbation is apparently so obvious, and yet it may be that our attitudes around privacy have stemmed from the law rather than natural practise.

Of course, there is a good reason for not allowing people to masturbate in public, and that is the risk of including a non-consenting individual in your activities. It is a form of protection, but how much this has influenced the secrecy around masturbation is unclear.

See part two tomorrow for other factors that contribute to secrecy in masturbation.