# Masturbation: At what age did you realize that you didn't invent it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836 "2001-03-13T19:55:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/1 "2001-03-13T19:55:56Z")
You may as well state your gender also, since I’m curious if girls and boys are different in this regard. I’m male, and around age 14 (20 years ago) I pieced together that others must do it also when some kids called another one a “Jerk-Off” or implied that he was caught doing it. As a teen or in college, I don’t think I ever discussed masturbation with another guy since it seems like it would be a “gay” conversation (no offense intended). Guys just didn’t talk about it to each other. I’ve talked about it with my wife plenty of times and some girlfriends in the past. Anyhow, at what age did you realize you were not alone and what is your gender (did girls share info)? ---
**Author:** ![Ivan-Osokin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4491bb/32.png) [@Ivan-Osokin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivan-Osokin)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/2 "2001-03-13T21:33:10Z")
First off, I’m male. No. This “topic” wasn’t discussed among friends. I don’t know if all schools had one, but there was a guy at my high school basically known as “The guy that got caught jerking off.” You didn’t want to be that guy. You didn’t even want to admit to such a thing. Silly in retrospect, but that’s the way it was. “Hey, I didn’t invent this.” came about when I realized exactly what Judge Reinhold was up to in the bathroom during “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/3 "2001-03-13T23:33:12Z")
First of all, I most certainly DID invent it. I may not have been first, but I didn’t plagiarize. I first began to suspect that what I did was analogous to something that other folks had also done or did some time around 7th grade, but didn’t confirm this to my satisfaction for another couple of years. (male). ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/4 "2001-03-13T23:50:06Z")
I learned it long after I learned to read. Including such complex things as forum descriptions, believe it or not. Maybe I was just slow. Off to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![pezpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@pezpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezpunk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2001, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/5 "2001-03-13T23:57:14Z")
Well I guess that if what you guys are refering to as masturbation is that thing that I’ve been doing with my penis, duct tape, the neigbors riding lawnmower, and 5 qts of motor oil, then I suppose that I **just now** discovered I didn’t invent it! Now that we have that figured out, has anyone discovered how to get themselves unstuck? ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/6 "2001-03-14T00:29:34Z")
I know I didn’t invent it. I am, however, in the process of perfecting it. ---
**Author:** ![coming\_up\_for\_air](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@coming\_up\_for\_air](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coming_up_for_air)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/7 "2001-03-14T02:19:09Z")
At about age ten the term “circle jerk” kept popping up in boyscout jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/8 "2001-03-14T03:02:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eutychus55 \* > \*\*I know I didn’t invent it. > > I am, however, in the process of perfecting it. \*\* AHHHH!! TMI!!! Both hands on the keyboard, people! ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/9 "2001-03-14T03:28:25Z")
Age 6. I wanted to have my technique mastered by the time I hit puberty. Actually, it was around 11. ---
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/masturbation-at-what-age-did-you-realize-that-you-didnt-invent-it/57836/10 "2001-03-14T20:23:38Z")
Thinking back, I think I must have been more like 12 when I came . . . to the conclusion about others. Must have been before 7th grade.