# Is masturbation a physical need or something else? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 4, 2007, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760 "2007-02-04T07:07:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/21 "2007-02-04T17:15:47Z")
[QUOTE=Magiver] I’m sure I’m not the first person to wonder how this plays out in social/political context of it. Repress the natural male need for sex and what do you get? Add social/religious factors and you’ve got an explosive situation. Make love to yourself, not war. [/QUOTE] Someone already thought of it. [http://www](http://www). masturbateforpeace. com/ Although you need to be careful. [http://www](http://www). masturbationhorror. com/ ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/22 "2007-02-04T17:41:46Z")
[QUOTE=dahfisheroo] I’m going to have to politely disagree with you. I am a 37 year old female, and if for some reason, I don’t have sex for 3-4 days, I’ll have a wet dream. If I don’t have sex for a very long while (this happened more than 17 years ago,) eventually the dreams will start to taper off, I presume because my body is adjusting to the fact of no sex. If I were to masturbate in that situation, I probably wouldn’t have wet dreams, or at least not as often. [/QUOTE] It’s different for each person. Some people will become extremely agitated without frequent social outlets, while others (such as myself) would be perfectly content without them. Likewise, some people will experience wet dreams without frequent sexual outlets (such as yourself), while others do not. My citations in my last post noted studies in which some men went two years or more without ejaculation whatsoever, but each man is different and there are few studies into what causes wet dreams in women. Al evidence points to it being something that differs individual by individual. The fact that women’s “nocturnal emissions” aren’t well understood just complicates matters further. They might be far more common than anyone realizes, after all, since if a woman experiences the physical effects of an orgasm while sleeping without remembering it, there’s no evidence left behind. The same cannot be said of men. They may not remember any such “wet dream” but wake up with clear evidence of ejaculation, and so the experience is better documented and (somewhat) better understood. While you make an interesting anecdote about your experiences with erotic dreams, no sweeping generalizations can be made from that. It’s very clear that not everyone has the same experience, pointing to it being something that differs on an individual basis, like many other aspects of sexuality. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/23 "2007-02-04T21:40:19Z")
[The Master Speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_195b.html): [QUOTE=Cecil Adams] Prostate problems usually don’t become chronic until you’re well past 40, but here’s something else you can worry about in the meantime. At least one researcher has suggested that pressure in the gonads during sex can cause a back-up of sperm into the prostate, which in turn can lead to prostate cancer–further proof that everything fun in this world is bad for you. Presumably a lengthy bout of non-orgasmic sex, in which the pressure never gets relieved, would make cancer even more likely. Sounds grim, but look on the bright side: it offers a valuable addition to the frustrated male’s arsenal of can’t-miss makeout lines. Now, in addition to “I’m leaving tomorrow on a suicide mission” and “Hey, they might drop The Bomb tomorrow,” there’s “Cheezit, honey, you want me to get cancer?” Try it, Chas, and maybe next time you’ll get past first base. [/QUOTE] Presumably _could_ apply to masturbation, too. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/24 "2007-02-04T21:41:57Z")
I love the Google Ad – for _The Second Coming!_ ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@Evil\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Joe)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/25 "2007-02-04T21:59:41Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] With that said, I ceed the floor. [/QUOTE] Gen 38:9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled [it] on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. Gen 38:10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also. I wouldn’t do that, God might kill you! ---
**Author:** ![komb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4da419/32.png) [@komb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komb)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/26 "2007-02-05T00:36:07Z")
Masurbation has always been normal. Preachers have always been abnormal. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@Evil\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Joe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/27 "2007-02-05T06:04:08Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Joe] Gen 38:9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled [it] on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. Gen 38:10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also. I wouldn’t do that, God might kill you! [/QUOTE] Come on I don’t even get a groan for my joke? Get it - ceed is seed? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/28 "2007-02-05T15:28:08Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Joe] Come on I don’t even get a groan for my joke? Get it - ceed is seed? 😛 [/QUOTE] I’ll give you a Beavis chuckle for using the word “groan”—will that do? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/29 "2007-02-05T16:01:26Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] True, but I don’t think it can be shown that nocturnal emission occurs because of excretory pressure, as much as it does from auto-erotic stimulation from dreams. They don’t call 'em “wet dreams” for nothing. [/QUOTE] I don’t think this is as clear cut as you make it seem. Is ejaculation caused by an erotic dream, or an erotic dream caused by ejaculation? I know I’ve dreamt of dinosaurs shaking the earth to wake up and find a crew tearing down the building next door, or of fire alarms to wake to my alarm clock. The dreams, long though they may _seem_, incorporate stimuli happening in the waking world, and are even sometimes caused by them. Time works differently when you dream. It could very well be that the long delicious encounter with Heidi Klum in your dream was in an outside reality a 2 second blip of a dream that happened at the moment your pipes entered self-cleaning mode. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/30 "2007-02-05T17:21:02Z")
Excellent point, **WhyNot**. The “wet dream” aspect could very well be an explanation that the mind comes up with upon noticing the physical processes that are going on. Taking into account that plenty of so-called “wet dreams” aren’t particularly erotic in nature and many men will have nocturnal emissions without accompanying dreams, the line gets even fuzzier. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/31 "2007-02-05T17:37:04Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] Masturbation though, has always seemed somehow different. If I dont jerk off, I get upset. The chickens become restless. I become noticeably pent-up and frustrated. I am 22 and this has been going on since puberty. This tends to support the “bodily need” argument, yet I have gone months at a time without masturbation with no ill effects after an initial period of discomfort. [/QUOTE] This _could be_ evidence that masturbation is not so much a need as it is a habit or addiction. Smokers, for example, get upset, restless, and frustrated if they don’t smoke. Does this mean that tobacco is a need? For that matter, is the SDMB a need? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/32 "2007-02-05T17:41:10Z")
[QUOTE=CaerieD] Excellent point, **WhyNot**. The “wet dream” aspect could very well be an explanation that the mind comes up with upon noticing the physical processes that are going on. Taking into account that plenty of so-called “wet dreams” aren’t particularly erotic in nature and many men will have nocturnal emissions without accompanying dreams, the line gets even fuzzier. [/QUOTE] Not too fuzzy though, [the Master sez “nocturnal orgasms are often accompanied by erotic dreams”](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_061.html) That some are not does not disprove a link between erotic dreams and nocturnal emissions. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760/33 "2007-02-05T18:06:26Z")
Masturbation is an art form, and as such, should be protected as freedom of expression under s. 19 of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and under various national constitutions, such as s. 2(b) of Canada’s Charter, and the 1st amendment to the USA’s Constitution. _[looks around]What?[/looks around]_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-masturbation-a-physical-need-or-something-else/390760.md?page=1)