There is zero stigma on masturbation in Japan, but you still find people prefer it to sneezing. Maybe someone is doing it wrong?
Lucky he wasn’t hit by a train, then. That would have been an embarrassing way to go.
Re: Dr. Elders’ comments: what she said was, masturbation should be “part of what we teach” about sexuality in schools. I interpret this as a recommendation of masturbation as an alternative to too-early sex. I don’t have a problem with that, but apparently some religions do.
I remember her comments well, because they elicited a discussion between me and two colleagues, both of whom were very religious (yes, one of them was a Mormon). These two men, both college graduates, believed the majority of Americans thought masturbation to be wrong, and were in favor of legal measures against masturbating in private.
I was flabbergasted.
I realize people like that don’t represent the mainstream. But they are out there. So it’s definitely true that some religions are pretty down on it.
I remember reading another LDS pamphlet on the subject, which recommended aversion-therapy techniques to avoid masturbating: i.e., when you get the urge, imagine you’re lying in a vat of worms. It also suggested that a boy’s hands be tied to the bedposts before going off to sleep (but only for extreme cases).
Guaranteed to work, and may not even turn the kid into a serial killer.
I don’t get the business about wanking being a sin. It seems to me, that the human body is harwired to seek sexual pleasure. If you can get it by harming nobody, and going solo is OK for you, what’s the big deal? It isn’t as iff you can exhaust your reproductive capability, or mess up your body. Of course, Freud thought that losing semen somehow weakened the body-how did such an erudite man come by this belief?
Mmm…worms…that’s pretty hot.
A lot of sin is about fun-denial. It distracts from the worshipping of God, and stuff.
haD A GreAt aNSWEr TO tHe oP, bUt I sTiLl fInD iT qUiTe hArd (pUn iNTenDed?) tO TyPe oNe-hAndEd. gUeSs it’LL hAVe tO wAit.
We were told if we had a “problem” with masturbation, then we should wear multiple layers of clothes, for example, to give us more time to come up with time to resist the temptation.
Before you can go on a mission, you have to go and confess any sexual sins, including masturbation. That’s embarrassing, having to go in and tell some 50-year-old guy that you jerk off.
Sexual sins are seen as more offensive than other sins by the Mormon church. (Other than murder.) You can rob someone, or beat them up, steal their life savings and kick their dog, and you can ask forgiveness to God on your own, but handle that woody yourself, and you have to have the bishop get you out of hell.
Fraud? No problem. Just pray and you’ll be fine. Run someone over in a truck, landing them in a hospital? God is just a breath away.
But slip your hand under your girlfriend’s bra and now you need an appointment with the Lord’s anointed to clear up that evil, nasty sin.
I was a Mormon for longer than I’ve been out but I still don’t understand that shit.
Interesting. This might explain an argument these same aforementioned two men got into once. Although they both thought that exposing children to sex and nudity in movies and TV was wrong, the non-Mormon (a Protestant) thought that exposing children to violence on TV and in movies was bad. But the Mormon disagreed strongly – he actually thought it was good for young kids to see war movies and the like.
FWIW, I think I understand the motivations behind such a moral structure: while not everybody robs and steals, everybody has sexual desires. So an institution that regulates sexual acts has power over everybody. (I admit that my interpretation ascribes less than pure motives to such an institution).
Some interesting points from Wiki:
JUDAISM:
Masturbation is not explicitly prohibited in the Hebrew Bible. The Talmud, however, forbids male masturbation, as it leads to unnecessary spilling of semen, or the impure thoughts of women other than the man’s lawful wife… The Talmud (ibid) likens the act to murder and idolatry.
TAOISM:
Some teachers and practitioners of Traditional Chinese medicine, Taoist meditative and martial arts say that masturbation can cause a lowered energy level in men…Taoists strongly discouraged female masturbation.
ISLAM:
Scholars of Islam do not generally approve of masturbation, except in extenuating circumstances…Masturbation is totally forbidden in the Shi’a sect.
ROMAN CATHOLICISM:
The Church views sexual expression between a man and a woman in the context of marriage to be a sacred, even sacramental act. Consequently, all other sexual activity including masturbation, homosexual acts, acts of sodomy and sex outside of marriage and the use of artificial contraception as morally disordered as they frustrate the intention of God “written” in the design of the human body.
PROTESTANTISM:
Protestantism has no uniform position on the issue of masturbation… By conservative denominations, it is often viewed as an act of self-indulgence and a sin of the flesh. Protestants however often view it as within the range of normal sexual behavior.
BUDDHISM:
Like all religions, Buddhism takes a strong ethical stand in human affairs and sexual behavior in particular. Most laypeople may consider excessive focus on sexual pleasure to be an attachment, and not following the middle path.
HINDUISM:
Masturbation is not specifically mentioned in any of the religious scriptures; however, many conservative Hindus see it as impure and addictive, while seeing it as a distraction from prayer and the pursuit of their vocations. Most of these views come from the Islamic and Christian colonisation of the Indian subcontinent. Hindu religion itself doesn’t interfere in an individual’s personal sex life.
WICCA:
However nothing in Wiccan philosophy prohibits masturbation.
SECULAR HUMANISN:
Most secular humanists believe that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, masturbation does no harm in this world. Secular humanism therefore considers masturbation, when done in private or in the company of consenting adults, morally irrelevant and up to the individual.
No doubt you are frequently accused of cynicism…
Are we related somehow?
Are you a celtic mutt too?
A lot. Like katholick- by this one it’s called salef- rape… Now, that’s a good one. isn’t it?
selfrape- sorry.
Googling “Jehovah Masturbation” got me this gem 
“The natural use of the female”? Good Gawd.
Scots-Irish on my mother’s side.
If you’re a man, positive. If you’re a woman, negative. Well, according to “Seinfeld,” that works for sex…I’ll assume masturbation as well.