A Brief History of Masturbation

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Some people who marry do so in part ‘to contain’, to quote St Paul. But, for various reasons, many people end up in a sexless marriage. Even if sex does take place, it may not be frequent or satisfying enough. Sex surveys are not the most reliable, but the top complaint about marriage on Google is lack of sex, with ‘sexless marriage’ entered into the search box eight times more often than ‘loveless marriage’. And then there are all those who are single, divorced, widowed, in prison, in quarantine, travelling, and so on. Many people in these groups have no choice but to resort to masturbation; but even within a fulfilling sexual relationship, masturbation is, if anything, more common still.

Masturbation (onanism) is the stimulation, often manual, of the genitals for sexual gratification. Masturbation is depicted in prehistoric cave paintings and has been observed in many animal species. In Egyptian myth, the god Atum created the universe by masturbating, and every year the pharaoh ritually masturbated into the Nile. In certain traditional societies, masturbation is a rite of passage into manhood, although there are some populations, notably in the Congo Basin, that lack a word for it and seem confused by the concept.

Alternative or divergent sexual practices such as masturbation and same-sex love are more common in periods of peace and prosperity. In poorer times when the population is in need of replacement, the spilling of semen is considered extravagant or wasteful. Although ejaculation is a rite of passage for young men of the Sambia tribe in New Guinea, it is brought about by fellatio so that the semen can be ingested instead of spilt.

The Greeks regarded masturbation as entirely normal, if more the province of the common man, since the elites had a duty to further the family line, and, beyond that, had slaves for their relief. But the Church took a very different view, rooted in an obscure passage of Genesis. When God killed Er, Er’s father Judah ordered his second son Onan to marry Er’s widow Tamar and ‘raise up seed’ to his brother (Chapter 12). But when he lied with Tamar, Onan spilt his semen on the ground—in the knowledge that fathering a son in his brother’s line would deprive him of the larger part of his inheritance. This displeased God, ‘wherefore he slew him also.’’

In his Medicinal Dictionary (1743), the physician Robert James, a friend of Samuel Johnson, wrote of masturbation that, ‘There is perhaps no sin productive of so many hideous consequences.’ In the Metaphysics of Morals (1797), the philosopher Immanuel Kant argued that ‘a man gives up his personality ... when he uses himself merely as a means for the gratification of an animal drive.’

In his influential treatise on education (1762), the Romantic trailblazer Jean-Jacques Rousseau advised that a tutor should not leave his pupil the slightest opportunity to engage in masturbation:

Therefore, watch carefully over the young man; he can protect himself from all other foes, but it is for you to protect him against himself. Never leave him night or day, or at least share his room; never let him go to bed till he is sleepy, and let him rise as soon as he wakes ... If once he acquires this dangerous supplement he is lost. From then on, body and soul will be enervated; he will carry to the grave the sad effects of this habit, the most fatal habit which a young man can be subjected to.

This seems to be a classic case of ‘do as I say, not as I do’. In his Confessions, Rousseau admitted to having discovered the delights of masturbation while travelling in Italy, returning ‘a different person from the one who had gone there’:

[There I] learnt of that dangerous means of cheating Nature, which leads young men of my temperament to various kinds of excesses, that eventually imperil their health, and sometimes their lives. This vice, which shame and timidity find so convenient, has a particular attraction for lively imaginations. It allows them to dispose, so to speak, of the whole female sex at their will, and to make any beauty who tempts them serve their pleasure without the need of first obtaining her consent.

In the nineteenth century, Jean-Etienne Dominique Esquirol, a psychiatrist and physician-in-chief at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, declared in his influential classification of mental disorders, Des maladies mentales [Concerning Mental Illnesses], that masturbation is ‘recognized in all countries as a cause of insanity’—and it was not until 1968, only a few years ahead of homosexuality, that masturbation finally fell out of the American classification of mental disorders.

We are, all of us, creatures of our time, and also of the time before. In 1972, the American Medical Association pronounced masturbation to be normal, but the guilt, shame, and stigma still live on. In 1994, the US Surgeon General, Joycelyn Elders, had to resign after opining, in the context of preventing young people from engaging in riskier forms of sexual activity, that masturbation ‘is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught’. More poignantly, in 2013, a 14-year-old American boy took his life after a classmate filmed him touching himself in the changing rooms.

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Benefits of Masturbation

Yes, masturbation can present a problem if it becomes distracting or distressing, undermines relationships, or is carried out in public. But, of course, it does not make people go mad, blind, or anything of the sort.

On the contrary, masturbation is associated with a number of important benefits.

1. Pleasure and convenience

Upon being challenged for masturbating in the marketplace, the philosopher Diogenes the Cynic (d. 323 BCE) replied, “If only it were so easy to soothe hunger by rubbing an empty belly.” According to Diogenes, the god Hermes, taking pity on his son Pan, sent him down the gift of masturbation, which Pan then taught to the shepherds. To masturbate, there is no need for special equipment, the intricacies of sex, or even a partner. Although it is often looked upon as the poor relative of sex, many couples engage in mutual masturbation, either alongside or instead of sex, to simplify, improve, or enrich their sexual lives and arrive more reliably at orgasm.

2. Fewer complications

Masturbation is safe as well as convenient. Unlike intercourse, it is very unlikely to lead to pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases such as human papilloma virus (HPV), chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, herpes, and HIV/AIDS, to say nothing of flu and coronavirus.

3. Stronger, more intimate relationships

Contrary to the popular perception, there is, at least in women, a positive correlation between frequency of masturbation and frequency of intercourse. People who masturbate more are more sexually driven, and mutual masturbation is likely to increase the frequency and variety of sexual contact. Both in the performance and in the observation, masturbation can teach lovers about each other’s pleasure centres, proclivities, and particularities. If one partner is more sexually driven than the other, which is often the case, masturbation can provide him or her with a balancing outlet.

4. Better reproductive health

In men, masturbation flushes out old sperm with low motility and reduces the risk of prostate cancer. If practiced some time before intercourse, it can delay orgasm in men suffering from premature ejaculation. In women, it increases the chances of conception by altering the conditions in the vagina, cervix, and uterus. It also protects against cervical infections by increasing the acidity of the cervical mucus and flushing out pathogens. In both women and men, it strengthens the muscles in the pelvic floor and genital area and contributes to extending the years of sexual activity.

5. Faster sleep

Masturbation can be thought of as a form of light exercise. Compared to regular exercise, it is more effective or efficient at reducing tension and releasing feel-good hormones. The muscles and blood vessels relax, improving blood flow and lowering heart rate and blood pressure. No surprise, then, that studies have found an inverse correlation between frequency of orgasm and death from coronary heart disease.

6. Improved cardiovascular fitness

Masturbation is, in effect, a form of light exercise. Compared to regular exercise, it is more effective or efficient at reducing tension and releasing feel-good hormones. The muscles and blood vessels relax, improving blood flow and lowering heart rate and blood pressure. No surprise, then, that studies have found an inverse correlation between frequency of orgasm and death from coronary heart disease.

7. Brighter mood and other psychological benefits

Masturbation reduces stress and releases feel-good hormones, which lift mood and reduce physical pain. It promotes better, more restorative sleep, locking in sleep’s myriad physical and psychological benefits. It enables younger people in particular to explore their sexual identity and regulate their sexual impulses, leading to a healthier and happier sexuality, along with greater self-awareness, self-control, and self-esteem. It offers an escape from the constraints and demands of reality, an outlet for the imagination in fantasy, and a medium for the memory in nostalgia.

And it culminates in a transcending experience that unites mind with body and life in death.

Read more in For Better For Worse: Essays on Sex, Love, Marriage, and More.