# Should there be a stigma on masturbation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 6, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789 "2007-10-06T20:55:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/21 "2007-10-08T01:37:24Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] If there were no stigma attached to masturbation, doing it would be about as fulfilling as blowing your nose. In pornography, certain acts are HOTHOTHOT because they are stigmatized, not because they are especially pleasurable (Participate in a three-way or a Dirty Sanchez more than once to understand this point). [/QUOTE] I have to disagree. (Unless you’re talking about sneezing, which I’ve always quite enjoyed. Little spontaneous orgasms for the face, is how I often think of them. They’re not as mundane as yawning or coughing, to me at least, which is what I think you were getting at.) Yes, there’s certainly plenty to be said for the the turn-on factor of the forbidden and taboo. But I’m fairly confident that it is much more common for individuals to perceive masturbation as being pleasurable independent of any stigma, than it is for individuals to perceive masturbation as being pleasurable because the stigma. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/22 "2007-10-08T02:23:16Z")
Stigmata and masturbation? Kinky! Seriously, the only stigma attached to masturbation comes from religious bigots (Kellogg, etc.) who are too ashamed to admit they jerk off just like the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/23 "2007-10-08T05:47:16Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] If there were no stigma attached to masturbation, doing it would be about as fulfilling as blowing your nose. In pornography, certain acts are HOTHOTHOT because they are stigmatized, not because they are especially pleasurable (Participate in a three-way or a Dirty Sanchez more than once to understand this point). [/QUOTE] I can’t imagine any dude not jerking off at all because suddenly it’s OK. Do you really think people will stop if there were no stigma? To answer the OP, no I don’t think there should be a stigma on something that virtually every man and women does. I think this is one of the lamest stigmas out there. ---
**Author:** ![HitchSnag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19b73/32.png) [@HitchSnag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HitchSnag)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/24 "2007-10-09T00:21:04Z")
I thought this was settled by one of those surgeon generals. Can’t come up with the name. ---
**Author:** ![HitchSnag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19b73/32.png) [@HitchSnag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HitchSnag)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/25 "2007-10-09T00:22:27Z")
On the other hand, I’m sure that Iranian leader will tell you there are no masturbates over there. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/26 "2007-10-09T00:52:07Z")
[QUOTE=KGS] Stigmata and masturbation? [/QUOTE] That’s what I thought when I saw the title. I’m perfectly capable of wrapping my fingers around my dingus, I don’t need to fuck a hole in my hand. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/27 "2007-10-09T01:16:16Z")
[QUOTE=HitchSnag] I thought this was settled by one of those surgeon generals. Can’t come up with the name. [/QUOTE] You must be thinking of [Joycelyn Elders](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joycelyn_Elders) (already alluded to in Post #10 above), a.k.a. “that masturbation lady.” ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/28 "2007-10-09T01:35:23Z")
There should be no stigma associated with masturbation. There is however occasionally smegma associated with it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/29 "2007-10-09T04:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=Lakai] I can’t imagine any dude not jerking off at all because suddenly it’s OK. Do you really think people will stop if there were no stigma? [/QUOTE] No–they haven’t stopped blowing their noses, after all–but I think they’d enjoy it less. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/30 "2007-10-09T21:12:22Z")
No matter how many of us say there shouldn’t be a stigma attached to coming unscrewed, there definitely is. Major religious organizations still teach that it’s sinful. They tell boys it’s _wasteful_, like there’s some shortage of semen in the world. They even call it _self-pollution,_ as if the lads are going to poison themselves by polishing the flagpole. It’s bad science, with what we now know about the details of human reproduction. As for the theology, I’m going to let others argue how many of Onan’s seed can dance on the head of a pin. Several people here are much better at that stuff than I, and they even seem to enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/31 "2007-10-09T21:38:19Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Major religious organizations still teach that it’s sinful. [/QUOTE] Except when it features [hot, God-on-girl action](http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln482/Bernini-Teresa.jpg) (work-safe) ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/32 "2007-10-09T21:42:59Z")
[QUOTE=Manda JO] People who are obsessed with masturbation–and being public about it in a venue when that’s not appropriate (millitary’s different, obviously) suggests obsession–are socially censured because they seem like they never moved past the adolesent discovery of “whoa, that feels good”. [/QUOTE] Don’t let Schwartz fool you. Being public about masturbation is NOT appropriate even in the lowly ranks of the military, of which I have been a part since 1995. Sure it’s as prolific as it is in the civillian world, but it’s just as annoying (and sometimes angering) to hear people talk about beating their dicks and what not in the military. ---
**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:** [October 10, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/33 "2007-10-10T01:39:19Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Major religious organizations still teach that it’s sinful. [/QUOTE] Still? Which ones? > [@](#): > > They tell boys it’s _wasteful_, like there’s some shortage of semen in the world. Well, I guess it could be a waste of time or of energy or of lotion, if you do it too often. Serious question: has abstaing from you-know even been shown to have an effect (positive or negative) on the personality, mood, motivation, energy level, or anything else? ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/34 "2007-10-10T12:31:47Z")
[QUOTE=Cubsfan] Don’t let Schwartz fool you. Being public about masturbation is NOT appropriate even in the lowly ranks of the military, of which I have been a part since 1995. Sure it’s as prolific as it is in the civillian world, but it’s just as annoying (and sometimes angering) to hear people talk about beating their dicks and what not in the military. [/QUOTE] Just to clarify, I did not mean to speak for all of the troops, just my small corner of the Army. One reason it is a topic of conversation is that some of the meds we put people on can make males inorgasmic. If we didn’t ask, we wouldn’t know, and this could lead to a person losing one of his methods of dealing with combat stress. SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/35 "2007-10-10T13:42:53Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Still? Which ones? Well, I guess it could be a waste of time or of energy or of lotion, if you do it too often. Serious question: has abstaing from you-know even been shown to have an effect (positive or negative) on the personality, mood, motivation, energy level, or anything else? [/QUOTE] The Mormon church. [From a pamphlet](http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_boydkpacker.html#pub_349804379). > [@](#): > > “A young man should learn to rule his body. Like his temper, he should keep it always under complete control.” > > “This is a very sacred power. The Lord has commanded that you use it only with one to whom you are legally and lawfully wedded. He has decreed serious penalties indeed for the misuse of it.” > > “Do not tamper with your body. If you have already, cease to do it --now. Put it away and overcome it. The signal of worthy manhood is self-control.” > > “This power of creation affects your life several years before you should express if fully. You must always guard the power with many wisdom. You must wait until the time of your marriage to use it.” > > “During that waiting, what do you do with theses desires? My boy, you are to control them. You are forbidden to use them now in order that you may use them with worthiness and virtue and fullness of joy at the proper time in life.” > > “This little factory moves quietly into operation as a normal and expected pattern of growth and begins to produce the lifegiving substance. It will do so perhaps as long as you live. It works very slowly. That is the way it should be. For the most part, unless you tamper with it, you will hardly be aware that it is working at all.” > > “As you move closer to manhood, this little factory will sometimes produce an oversupply of this substance. The Lord has provided a way for that to be released. It will happen without any help or without any resistance from you.” > > “There is; however, something you should not do. Sometimes a young man does not understand. Perhaps he is encouraged by unwise or unworthy companions to tamper with that factory. He might fondle himself and open that release valve. This you shouldn’t do, for if you do that, the little factory will speed up. You will then be tempted again and again to release it. You can quickly be subjected to a habit, one that is not worthy, one that will leave you feeling depressed and feeling guilty. Resist that temptation. Do not be guilty of tampering or playing with this sacred power of creation. Keep it in reserve for the time when it can be righteously employed.” > > “The power to prevent such habits or to break them rests in your mind, not in your body. Don’t let that physical part of you take charge. Stay in control. Condition your body to do the will of your mid. To do this you must keep your mind on worthy thoughts.” > > “If you can control you thoughts, you can overcome habits, even degrading personal habits. If you can learn to master them, you will have a happy life.” > > “This power is ordained for the begetting of life and as a binding tie in the marriage covenant. It is not to be misused. It is not to be use prematurely. It is to be known between husband and wife and in no other way. If you misuse it, you will be sorry.” > > “Even those who have been drawn into wicked practices and are bound by almost unyielding habits can escape. If one of you seems trapped in that, escape. Go to your father or bishop, please. Your parents, your bishop, the servants of the Lord, the angels of heaven and the Lord himself will help redeem your from it. Young Latter-day Saint men, do not tamper with these powers, neither with yourself alone nor with one of your own kind.” - Church-wide pamphlet “For Young Men Only” 1976-2006 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/36 "2007-10-10T15:12:29Z")
Much of the impetus for stigmatizing male masturbation can be laid to degeneracy theory, I suspect, leavened with a heaping helping of sexual hysteria: My thread on the topic: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=405045&highlight=Kellogg](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=405045&highlight=Kellogg) Wiki’s page on Tissot, the originator of the theory: > **[Samuel-Auguste Tissot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel-Auguste_Tissot)** > > Samuel Auguste André David Tissot (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}French: \[tiso\]; 20 March 1728 – 13 June 1797) was a notable 18th-century Swiss physician. > A well-reputed Calvinist Protestant neurologist, physician, professor and Vatican adviser, Tissot practiced in the Swiss city of Lausanne. He wrote on the diseases of the poor, ... ---
**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:** [October 10, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/37 "2007-10-10T16:47:53Z")
[QUOTE=TokyoPlayer] The Mormon church. [From a pamphlet](http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_boydkpacker.html#pub_349804379). [/QUOTE] Yeah, that’s why I masturbate: because my unwise and unworthy companions encourage me to. “many wisdom”? “theses desires”? Yeesh. To be fair, I don’t know when or where that pamphlet was originally published, so I can’t take it as decisive evidence that it represents the current official teaching of the Mormon Church. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/38 "2007-10-10T18:21:32Z")
Yup, [sure is](http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.b3bc55cbf541229058520974e44916a0/?vgnextoid=ed462ce2b446c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=e6737befabc20110VgnVCM100000176f620a ____ &hideNav=1). > [@](#): > > One example: masturbation is considered by many in the world to be the harmless expression of an instinctive sex drive. Teach your children that the prophets have condemned it as a sin throughout the ages and that they can choose not to do it. Throughout childhood, boys and girls have touched their own genitals frequently to wash and to dress. This is a behavior that usually has the same meaning as keeping one’s feet warm in the winter, enjoying a swim on a hot day, or scratching an itch. We ought to be friendly to our bodies and appreciate the body’s marvelous range of senses. This innocent touching is not the kind of behavior warned against by prophets through the ages. The sin of masturbation occurs when a person stimulates his or her own sex organs for the purpose of sexual arousal. It is a perversion of the body’s passions. When we pervert these passions and intentionally use them for selfish, immoral purposes, we become carnal. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/39 "2007-10-11T00:48:19Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] If there were no stigma attached to masturbation, doing it would be about as fulfilling as blowing your nose. In pornography, certain acts are HOTHOTHOT because they are stigmatized, not because they are especially pleasurable (Participate in a three-way or a Dirty Sanchez more than once to understand this point). [/QUOTE] Masterbation is much more fullfilling to me than blowing my nose. I don’t think it has anything to do with a stigma - just proper manipulation of skin. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789/40 "2007-10-11T03:29:46Z")
No, but that guy last week on the subway still crossed a line. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-there-be-a-stigma-on-masturbation/421789.md?page=3)