# At what age did you discover masturbating?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 5, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492 "2009-11-05T23:59:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/21 "2009-11-06T11:25:54Z")

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Male.  
10 or 11.  
No and yes.

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**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/22 "2009-11-06T12:48:16Z")

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Male  
11  
No. It scared the shit out of me … “what just happened?”

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**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/23 "2009-11-06T14:14:27Z")

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Oh, man, this is going to require a little bit of splainin.

1. well, OK, this one’s easy: male
2. not sure… my mom has told me stories about me when I was very young (five? maybe younger?) in which I was definitely masturbating, but I wouldn’t say I \*discovered \*it then necessarily. I was taking a bath and sloshing the water back and forth, and I apparently asked Mom why the water made my pee-pee grow big. I consider that masturbation, but it wasn’t something that I continued. I don’t think I really took it up again until I was 12 or 13 maybe. I swiped a couple porno mags from my (now) stepdad’s housemate, and it began. Jesus, did I ever jerk off a lot back then…
3. first time, no, obviously not. Second time, yeah. I remember being fascinated that something actually came out.

ETA: I surprise myself sometimes what I’ll share under the cloak of invisibility the Internet offers!

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/24 "2009-11-06T14:22:47Z")

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> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#):
>
> Were you guys getting erections at age \<10? Perhaps a dumb question…

I think I had my first one around 6-7.

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**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/25 "2009-11-06T14:32:29Z")

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1. Male
2. 14
3. I knew about masturbation or “jerking off”, but it took me a long time to figure out how to do it. I had access to a giant stash of hardcore porn magazines and I looked at the pictures and read the stories, but for some reason the mechanics of jerking off weren’t obvious to me. One day, I read a story and finally got that the girl in the story wrapped her hand around his penis and pulled up and down. So I tried that and it worked splendiforously. Then all of a sudden it felt like I needed to pee like mad. It took about 30 seconds of holding it back to realize that perhaps this was the “cumming” that the stories always talked about. So I let go and covered myself in semen.

After that I did it four or five times a day for the next 10 years. I slowed down to once or twice a day when I started having sex regularly.

> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#):
>
> Were you guys getting erections at age \<10? Perhaps a dumb question…

Normal boys have erections from birth. In fact, it seems like it is erect more than it isn’t.

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**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/26 "2009-11-06T15:32:27Z")

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> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#):
>
> Were you guys getting erections at age \<10? Perhaps a dumb question…

As disclosed in the other thread, not I. First one that I remember was at age 10-obviously I’m wrong when I say this, but I thought you needed the hormones. First orgasm was in bed at age 13, via dry-humping-was simultaneously amazed and embarrassed about the slowly spreading stain (as in, knowing my mom would see it when she did the wash).

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**Author:** ![Rosie\_is\_Tired](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Rosie\_is\_Tired](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosie_is_Tired)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/27 "2009-11-06T15:43:17Z")

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Female

8

Not really, but I figured out what it was by 10.

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/28 "2009-11-06T15:48:01Z")

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> [@Rosie\_is\_Tired](#):
>
> Female
> 
> 8
> 
> Not really, but I figured out what it was by 10.

Great username for this thread.

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/29 "2009-11-06T15:53:03Z")

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1. Male.

2. Started masturbating to orgasm regularly at about six and a half years of age.

3. To quote **AHunter3** , “If, by that, you mean “did I have any clue that anyone else in the world had tried this and found it pleasant, as opposed to it being my own unique kinkiness”, no, I had no clue.” Same deal with me.

> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#):
>
> Were you guys getting erections at age \<10? Perhaps a dumb question…

For me, at least, an erection is a necessary precondition to orgasm.

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/30 "2009-11-06T16:59:22Z")

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1. Male
2. 12 (although I’d been fiddling with my dick absent-mindedly since probably around the time I gained motor control of my hands).
3. Nope, not a clue. And then I came and was _terrified_. This was one of the finer points of “the talk” that PappaHomie had apparently glossed over when he and I had “the talk.”

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/31 "2009-11-06T17:01:20Z")

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> [@elfkin477](#):
>
> Changing Bodies, Changing Lives … even told you how! Great book.

:eek:

What did it say?

[sub]I’ve never read such a book, nor will I ever. I would _think_ it would say something along the lines of “do whatever feels best and you’re comfortable with.”[/sub]

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/32 "2009-11-06T17:36:23Z")

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Not sure about my own number, but I’ve babysat for a lot of kids 4-5 y.o. and virtually all of the girls fiddled with themselves, though most of their parents broke them of the habit (often with hilarious nicknames for the practice e.g. ‘Playing with your bunny’).

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/33 "2009-11-06T17:41:24Z")

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> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> I would _think_ it would say something along the lines of “do whatever feels best and you’re comfortable with.”[/sub]

Nope, it started with “some girls masturbate by…” and explained the mechanics of it. This book is the jr version of Our Bodies, Ourselves, so they didn’t coyly mince words.

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**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/34 "2009-11-06T17:43:02Z")

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> [@Cat\_Fight](#):
>
> Not sure about my own number, but I’ve babysat for a lot of kids 4-5 y.o. and virtually all of the girls fiddled with themselves, though most of their parents broke them of the habit (often with hilarious nicknames for the practice e.g. ‘Playing with your bunny’).

We always just said “That’s private. Go to your room.” So she did, and she eventually learned to not do it in front of people. It’s a good thing I’m not one of those fathers who is afraid of his daughter becoming a sexual being, because she would return from her room drenched in sweat.

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**Author:** ![Mr\_Buttons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@Mr\_Buttons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Buttons)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/35 "2009-11-06T17:46:10Z")

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1. M
2. 13
3. I knew what I was doing, but scared the crap outta me the first time I got off. The pressure build up was rather extreme.

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**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/36 "2009-11-06T18:10:44Z")

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> [@Cat\_Fight](#):
>
> Not sure about my own number, but I’ve babysat for a lot of kids 4-5 y.o. and virtually all of the girls fiddled with themselves, though most of their parents broke them of the habit (often with hilarious nicknames for the practice e.g. ‘Playing with your bunny’).

So has this thread led anyone to reconsider the sexual capacity of even per-pubescent children? (in regard to pedophilia and all that)

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**Author:** ![Gesturing\_Mildly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@Gesturing\_Mildly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gesturing_Mildly)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/37 "2009-11-06T18:11:17Z")

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1. F
2. 3
3. I had no idea. I thought it was something new I’d invented.

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**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/38 "2009-11-06T19:15:17Z")

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> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#):
>
> So has this thread led anyone to reconsider the sexual capacity of even per-pubescent children? (in regard to pedophilia and all that)

Kids doing it that young aren’t doing it for consciously sexual reasons. It feels good, so they do it. Not, “Damn I haven’t gotten laid in weeks/months/years, I need some tension release.”

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**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/39 "2009-11-06T19:28:33Z")

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> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#):
>
> Kids doing it that young aren’t doing it for consciously sexual reasons. It feels good, so they do it. Not, “Damn I haven’t gotten laid in weeks/months/years, I need some tension release.”

Plus they’ve discovered what works. Masturbating. It doesn’t have to change how peopl feel about them or their capacity to have a sexual relationship with one another (or, god help us, adults).

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**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-age-did-you-discover-masturbating/516492/40 "2009-11-06T21:22:14Z")

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> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#):
>
> So has this thread led anyone to reconsider the sexual capacity of even per-pubescent children? (in regard to pedophilia and all that)

Hmm haven’t seen He Of Whom Thou Must Not Speakest since his Pit thread died…

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