# Why the stigma about masturbation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 29, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857 "2004-10-29T15:19:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/21 "2004-10-29T19:22:31Z")
Not that I hold this opinion personally, mind you, but there are a few basic ideas behind it: 1. Simple survival: This is also where the initial prohibitions against homosexuality come into play: If you’re going to expend the sexual effort, there should be a result that benefits the community, specifically, making that community bigger. See _Desert, Jews in the._ 2. Distraction: Masturbation (and, by extension, homosexuality) is simply an expression of lust; it is a desire to achieve gratification solely for its own purpose- it is an act that specifically and purposely eliminates the possibility of procreation and is therefore base because it subverts God’s purpose in creating the procreative act. As an aside, I don’t believe that any church looks at sex or other pleasures as “competition,” and I don’t think that the purpose of any religion is to enslave the masses. While certain groups of people espousing one version or another of ANY religion might exploit that for their own ends, I think that God will look much less kindly on those people than on a guy who “spills his seed upon the ground,” or the female equivalent thereof. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/22 "2004-10-29T21:47:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 35 years of wanking, and still going strong! 😃 Yeah, I accomplished 35 years worth too. It took me about a year. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/23 "2004-10-29T22:11:21Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > By masturbating, you lessen the sex drive, and therefore decrease chances of reproducing. Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/24 "2004-10-29T22:29:02Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > The Bible may or may not have something to say about this depending on how you interpret this passage: It seems to me that GOD was displeased not with masturbation but with the method of birth control called the withdrawal. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/25 "2004-10-29T22:40:45Z")
Or, in the latin, _coitus interruptus blasphemus_ ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/26 "2004-10-29T22:56:55Z")
\< sings\> Every sperm is sacred, every sperm is great, If a sperm is wasted, God gets quite irate \< /sings\> Whats with you people…this should have been the second post in this thread! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mrunlucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@mrunlucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrunlucky)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/27 "2004-10-29T23:03:37Z")
\< sings \>Every sperm is useful/ Every sperm is fine/ God needs everybody’s/ Mine, and mine, and mine Let the pagans spill theirs/ O’er mountain, hill and plain/ God shall strike them down for/ Each sperm that’s spilt in vain\ I can’t even believe I’m quoting Monty Python, but it has to be done. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/28 "2004-10-29T23:22:51Z")
> [@](#): > > And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him. > And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. > 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. > And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also. > > – Genesis 38: 7-10 (KJV) > [@ouryL](#): > > It seems to me that GOD was displeased not with masturbation but with the method of birth control called the withdrawal. The fact that he openly disobeyed and defied an order from the Almighty was also a big factor in why he was smited. As for the OP, perhaps it’s because some people find the whole procedure icky? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/29 "2004-10-29T23:34:55Z")
> [@Elenia28](#): > > But not for women. > > I agree with \*\*Maastricht \*\* (had to copy and paste \*that \* name!), I think it’s a form of control. What is so hard about my name? It is spelled just like it is pronounced. 😉 When **duffer** is right, the Church would condemn any form of sex that can’t lead to offspring within the “official” family. And that does seem to be the case. . It is interesting, as **Elenia28** remarked, that the church on the whole is silent on female masturbation. If my theory of control is right, female masturbation wouldn’t be an issue precisely because many women aren’t interested in masturbating, so they canot be made feel guilty about something they just don’t do. Instead, women are/were kept in line because they had to worry about their sexual reputation (even more then their actual behavior). A reputation is a very fragile thing, easily damaged by even such innocent behaviour as talking to a guy or looking at him too long. (which is something every girl \*will \* do). The fear of being called a “slut” keeps women divided and subdued in much the same way as men can be kept in line by condemning masturbation and sexual thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/30 "2004-10-30T00:11:30Z")
> [@Elenia28](#): > > But not for women. > > I agree with \*\*Maastricht \*\* (had to copy and paste \*that \* name!), I think it’s a form of control. I think if more teens were encouraged to masturbate, they might be getting into sexual relationships less casually, as well as knowing what a healthy sexual relationship is when they do have one. All I know is that mrAru and I agree on one thing about any possible Arulettes, not that it seems likely we will ever acquire one :rolleyes: When she hits menarch, she will be escorted to a good OB/GYN, and he/she/it will be told to go ahead and issue any form of birth control the sprog wants, and to treat her medical requirements with all the discretion she asks for. mrAru and I don’t need the details, we will pay for what ever she needs. She will be given as much information about sexuality as she asks and treated as an adult with respect. At home, she will be given access to any onformation she wants to get privately on her ocmputer [chatrooms to be monitored, but if she wants to surf porn sites, that is up to her, I have a number of good sex-information non-porn sites bookmarked just in case 😃 And if she wants to experiment, I want her to bring the boy home and experiment where we know she wont be in a car in a dark alley or any other sort of physical danger. I always thought open honesty and respect should be part of every parent/child relationship. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/31 "2004-10-30T01:19:21Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Bullshit. Nope, [George Carlin] It’s…no…Bullshit![/George Carlin] Let’s see if I can phrase that better. When a man masturbates, the immediate desire for sex decreases, not the overall sex drive. Poorly worded before, sorry. However, if you take masturbation out of it, the drive for sex becomes much more pronounced and the chances of finding a partner are increased. That’s probably still not the best way to put it, but I trust you understand what I mean. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/32 "2004-10-30T10:08:27Z")
Somewhere at the back of my legs I seem to remember reading that the practice of circumcision in Judaism - in addition to Abraham’s covenant with the man upstairs - was an attempt to hinder masturbation, since it’s easier and maybe more tempting if you have more, er, material to play with. The same might also be true in Islam and any other religion which has specific rules about it. It’s a bit late for me to find out first-hand (so to speak) and I am certainly not going to ask any of my mates, especially as I haven’t a clue who is and who isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/33 "2004-10-30T11:07:32Z")
I always figured it had to do with not wanting to waste sperm. If you believe that every cell in a dude’s product is half of a potential “life,” then you don’t want to just flush that down the toilet. Think of all the great composers and artists and heart surgeons you’re killing! \ Though I suppose that wouldn’t explain the stigma against female masturbation. In that case, though, a woman is being sinful if she doesn’t have unprotected sex with a man every month from the beginning of her period to menopause. Think of all those poor little egg cells, totally wasted. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/34 "2004-10-30T11:21:48Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Somewhere at the back of my legs I seem to remember reading that the practice of circumcision in Judaism - in addition to Abraham’s covenant with the man upstairs - was an attempt to hinder masturbation, since it’s easier and maybe more tempting if you have more, er, material to play with. The same might also be true in Islam and any other religion which has specific rules about it. There’s a far more prosaic explanation for circumcision being common in middle eastern cultures. For peoples living in a hot dusty environment, without modern sanitation, it was a preventative health measure. In the same way as eg Mesopotamian cultural and ethical codes found their way into later religious teachings, so did circumcision. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/35 "2004-10-30T13:30:40Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > There’s a far more prosaic explanation for circumcision being common in middle eastern cultures. For peoples living in a hot dusty environment, without modern sanitation, it was a preventative health measure. In the same way as eg Mesopotamian cultural and ethical codes found their way into later religious teachings, so did circumcision. Well, aye: that’s the usual excuse. But I’m afraid I don’t buy it. I find it hard to fathom how a society chose to prevent a bit of smegma build-up by whapping off the foreskin rather than by the rather simpler method of **“washing your knob every now and then”**. They didn’t elect to prevent ear wax by lopping ears off, did they? ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/36 "2004-10-30T13:39:46Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > It is interesting, as **Elenia28** remarked, that the church on the whole is silent on female masturbation. If my theory of control is right, female masturbation wouldn’t be an issue precisely because many women aren’t interested in masturbating… Who told you that one? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/37 "2004-10-30T13:56:28Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Well, aye: that’s the usual excuse. But I’m afraid I don’t buy it. I find it hard to fathom how a society chose to prevent a bit of smegma build-up by whapping off the foreskin rather than by the rather simpler method of **“washing your knob every now and then”**. They didn’t elect to prevent ear wax by lopping ears off, did they? If you’re living in a desert, you don’t necessarily have enough water for a daily genital wash. And it’s not just about smegma - get caught in a sandstorm, and dust gets _everywhere_. And if you’ve got no tight-woven synthetic fibres, that really does mean every single crevice. Scratches & abrasions…infections…no penicillin…goodbye appendage. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/38 "2004-10-30T14:10:02Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > 35 years of wanking, and still going strong! 😃 When come back, bring pie. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/39 "2004-10-30T14:25:23Z")
If you ask me, and you must realize that you did, even if by accident… Religion developed largely as an explanation of the world around. Religion is really the earliest science. Anyhow, a major part of early religion was fertility. As religion developed, as things tend to develop out of chaos, into organized religion, fertility became one of the primary rites of the organized religious people, from the ancients onward. As religion became bureaucraticized (Roman Catholic Chuch comes to mind), the goal is controlling fertility - a very primal religious instinct. Some religions have this “thing” about masturbation and sexuality in general, demonizing it because, obviously, it is religious, and should thus come under the control of the religious state (aka, marriage). Other religions (the ones I like) see sex and masturbation and other fertility rites as part of daily life. ---
**Author:** ![Israfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/87869e/32.png) [@Israfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Israfel)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857/40 "2004-10-30T14:28:24Z")
It seems to me that the negative take of masturbation is a result of the negative take on promiscuous sex. To say that an action is immoral and then to fantasize about freely engaging in that action may seem to some as a case of ignoring the spirit of the law. This idea of “purifying” one’s mind is present in several religions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-stigma-about-masturbation/271857.md?page=3)