Masturbation#Male

The word masturbation was introduced in the 18th century, based on the Latin verb {{Lang|la|masturbari}}, alongside the slightly earlier onanism.

The Latin verb {{Lang|la|masturbari}} is of uncertain origin. Suggested derivations include an unattested word for penis, *mazdo, cognate with Greek μέζεα mézea 'genitals', or alternatively a corruption of an unattested *manu stuprare ("to defile with the hand"), by association with turbare 'to disturb'.{{cite book |last=Dally |first=Peter |title=The Fantasy Factor |year=1975 |page=135 |publisher=George Weidenfeld and Nicolson Limited |isbn=978-0-297-76945-3}}OED, s.v. [http://oed.com/view/Entry/114847 masturbation]{{subscription required}}

While masturbation is the formal word for this practice, many other expressions are in common use. Terms such as playing with oneself, pleasuring oneself and slang such as wanking,{{cite journal | last=Darby | first=Robert | title=A Post-Modernist Theory of Wanking: Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation. By Thomas Laqueur (New York: Zone Books, 2003. 501pp.) | journal=Journal of Social History | publisher=Oxford University Press (OUP) | volume=38 | issue=1 | date=1 September 2004 | issn=0022-4529 | doi=10.1353/jsh.2004.0083 | pages=205–210| s2cid=142231558 }} jerking off, jacking off, fapping{{cite web|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/fap|title=Fap Definition & Meaning|website=Dictionary.com|access-date=May 9, 2022}} and frigging are common. Self-abuse and self-pollution were common in early modern times and are still found in modern dictionaries. A large variety of other euphemisms and dysphemisms exist which describe masturbation. For a list of terms, see the entry for masturbate in Wiktionary.

Masturbation involves touching, pressing, rubbing, or massaging one's own genital area with the hands, fingers, or against an object such as a pillow; inserting fingers or an object into the vagina or anus (see anal masturbation); and stimulating the penis or vulva with an electric vibrator, which may also be inserted into the vagina or anus. It may also involve touching, rubbing, or pinching the nipples or other erogenous zones while masturbating. Both sexes sometimes apply lubricants to reduce friction.{{cite web|url=https://www.ippf.org/blogs/lube-5-great-reasons#:~:text=Lube%20can%20be%20used%20by%20anyone%2C%20for%20anything&text=It%20can%20and%20is%20used,also%20be%20used%20during%20masturbation.&text=Lube%20can%20be%20water%2D%2C%20oil,any%20sex%20toys%20you%20use.|title=5 great reasons to use lube the next time you're getting intimate|website=International Planned Parenthood Federation|date=10 May 2019|access-date=1 November 2021}}

File:Édouard-Henri Avril (22).jpg by Édouard-Henri Avril. It portrays a male masturbating by manually stimulating his own penis while sexually fantasizing.]]

Reading or viewing pornography, sexual fantasies, or other erotic stimuli may lead to a desire for sexual release such as by masturbation. Pornography is also used to assist with masturbation and to improve the experience of masturbating.{{cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/sexy-beast/2017/2/23/masturbation-matters-15-better-ways-get#media-gallery-media-1|title=Masturbation Matters: 15 Better Ways to Get Off|website=The Advocate|date=23 February 2017|access-date=1 November 2021|last1=Cleves|first1=Alexander}} Some people get sexual pleasure by inserting objects, such as urethral sounds, into the urethra (the tube through which urine and, in men, semen, flows),{{cite web | title=Go Ask Alice!: "Cock-stuffing" | website=goaskalice.columbia.edu | date=18 February 2005 | url=http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/3516.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050219153312/http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/3516.html | archive-date=19 February 2005 | url-status=dead | access-date=12 October 2019}} a practice known as urethral play or "sounding".{{cite web |last = Various authors |title = Urethral Sound |publisher = Body Modification Ezine |date = 21 April 2006 |url = http://wiki.bme.com/index.php?title=Urethral_Sound |access-date = 29 July 2006}} Other objects such as ball point pens and thermometers are sometimes used, although this practice can lead to injury or infection.{{cite journal |last1=McPartlin |first1=Daniel |last2=Klausner |first2=Adam P. |last3=Berry |first3=Tristan T. |last4=Mulcahy |first4=Maurice |title=Case report: A foreign body in the urethra |journal=International Journal of Surgery Case Reports |volume=4 |issue=11 |pages=1052–4 |date=9 September 2005 |doi=10.1016/j.ijscr.2013.07.017 |pmid=24055017 |pmc=3825963 | issn=2210-2612 }} Some people use sex machines to simulate intercourse.Leung, Isaac (2009). The Cultural Production of Sex Machines and the Contemporary Technosexual Practices. In Grenzfurthner, J. et al., eds. Do androids sleep with electric sheep? Critical perspectives on sexuality and pornography in science and social fiction. RE/SEARCH, {{ISBN|978-1-889307-23-7}}

Men and women may masturbate until they are close to orgasm, stop for a while to reduce excitement, and then resume masturbating. They may repeat this cycle multiple times. This "stop and go" build-up, known as "edging", can achieve even stronger orgasms.{{cite web|title=Sex Editorials |date=16 March 2004 |url=http://sexeditorials.com/masturbation/male/stop-and-go.html |access-date=15 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101205321/http://sexeditorials.com/masturbation/male/stop-and-go.html |archive-date= 1 January 2012 |df=dmy }} "The Stop-And-Go Masturbation Technique for Men and Women" Rarely, people quit stimulation just before orgasm to retain the heightened energy that normally comes down after orgasm.{{cite web|first=Margo|last=Woods|url=http://www.onehearttantra.com/uploads/1/0/7/4/10748619/amasturbation_self_love_tantra.pdf|title=Masturbation, Tantra and Self-love|access-date=27 August 2014|archive-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217040429/http://www.onehearttantra.com/uploads/1/0/7/4/10748619/amasturbation_self_love_tantra.pdf|url-status=dead}}

{{See also|Fingering (sexual act)}}

File:Klimt Mulher sentada.jpg's Woman seated with thighs apart (1916)]]

Manual stimulation for masturbation among females involves the stroking or rubbing of the vulva, especially the clitoris, with an index or middle finger, or both. Sometimes one or more fingers may be inserted into the vagina to stroke its frontal wall where the G-spot may be located.{{cite magazine |last = Keesling |first = Barbara |title = Beyond Orgasmatron |magazine = Psychology Today |date = November 1999|url = http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199911/beyond-orgasmatron |access-date = 29 July 2006}}

Masturbation aids such as a vibrator, dildo, or Ben Wa balls can also be used to stimulate the vagina and clitoris. Many women caress their breasts or stimulate a nipple with the free hand and anal stimulation is also enjoyed by some. Personal lubricant is sometimes used during masturbation, especially when penetration is involved, but this is not universal and many women find their natural lubrication sufficient.

Common positions for female masturbation include lying on one's back or face down, sitting, squatting, kneeling, or standing. In a bath or shower, a female may direct water via a handheld showerhead at her clitoris, vulva, or perineum. Lying face down one may use their hands, one may straddle a pillow, the corner or edge of the bed, a partner's leg or some scrunched-up clothing and "hump" the vulva and clitoris against it. Standing up, a chair, the corner of an item of furniture, or even a washing machine can be used to stimulate the clitoris through the labia and clothing. Some masturbate only using pressure applied to the clitoris without direct contact, for example by pressing the palm or ball of the hand against underwear or other clothing.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} In the 1920s, Havelock Ellis reported that turn-of-the-century seamstresses using treadle-operated sewing machines could achieve orgasm by sitting near the edge of their chairs.{{Bulleted list|Ellis, Havelock (1927), Studies in the Psychology of Sex (3rd edition), Volume I; Auto-Eroticism: A Study of the Spontaneous Manifestations of the Sexual Impulse; section I; "The Sewing-machine and the Bicycle:" quotes one Pouillet as saying "it is a well-recognized fact that to work a sewing-machine with the body in a certain position produces sexual excitement leading to the orgasm. The occurrence of the orgasm is indicated to the observer by the machine being worked for a few seconds with uncontrollable rapidity. This sound is said to be frequently heard in large French workrooms, and it is part of the duty of the superintendents of the rooms to make the girls sit properly."|{{Gutenberg|no=13610|name=Studies in the Psychology of Sex, v. I, by Havelock Ellis|bullet=none}}}}

Women can stimulate themselves sexually by crossing their legs tightly and clenching the muscles in their legs, creating pressure on the genitals. This can potentially be done in public without observers noticing. Thoughts, fantasies, and memories of previous instances of arousal and orgasm can produce sexual excitation. Some women can orgasm spontaneously by force of will alone, although this may not strictly qualify as masturbation as no physical stimulus is involved.{{cite web |last = Koedt |first = Anne |title = The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm |publisher = Chicago Women's Liberation Union |year = 1970 |url = https://www.cwluherstory.org/classic-feminist-writings-articles/myth-of-the-vaginal-orgasm |access-date = 18 November 2010}}{{cite web | title=The Kinsey Institute - Kinsey Study Data [Research Program] | website=kinseyinstitute.org | date=6 March 2011 | url=http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/ak-data.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110306155751/http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/ak-data.html | archive-date=6 March 2011 | url-status=dead | access-date=11 October 2019}}

Sex therapists will sometimes recommend that female patients take time to masturbate to orgasm, for example, to help improve sexual health and relationships, to help determine what is erotically pleasing to them, and because mutual masturbation can lead to more satisfying sexual relationships and added intimacy.

File:Egon Schiele 073.jpg's Selbstbefriedigung (1911)]]

The most common masturbation technique is to hold the penis with a loose fist and then move the hand up and down on the glans and the shaft of the penis.{{Cite book |last1=Crooks |first1=Robert L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MpRnPtmdRVwC&q=The+clitoral+glans+in+particular+is+highly+sensitive&pg=PA54 |title=Our Sexuality |last2=Baur |first2=Karla |date=2010-01-01 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-495-81294-4 |language=en}} This type of stimulation can result in orgasm and ejaculation. The hand motion and the speed of the action may vary throughout the masturbation session. Some men may use their free hand to fondle their scrotum and testicles, the perineum, and other body parts, or may place both hands directly on the penis. Common positions include standing, sitting, lying on one's back or lying face down, squatting, or kneeling. In some cases, to avoid friction and irritation or to enhance sexual sensation, men prefer to use a personal lubricant or saliva. Men may also rub or massage different areas of their glans, like its ventral surface, the left and right sides, the rounded rim, known as the corona, and around the frenulum.{{Cite journal |last1=Schober |first1=Justine M. |last2=Meyer-Bahlburg |first2=Heino F. L. |last3=Dolezal |first3=Curtis |date=2009 |title=Self-ratings of genital anatomy, sexual sensitivity and function in men using the 'Self-Assessment of Genital Anatomy and Sexual Function, Male' questionnaire |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19245445/ |journal=BJU International |volume=103 |issue=8 |pages=1096–1103 |doi=10.1111/j.1464-410X.2008.08166.x |issn=1464-410X |pmid=19245445|s2cid=38304794 }} Some men lie face down in prone position and gently rub their penis against a comfortable surface, such as a mattress or pillow, a technique known as prone masturbation.{{cite web|author=Kinsey Confidential|title=Prone masturbation a threat?|url=http://www.idsnews.com/article/2015/10/prone-masturbation-a-threat-probably-not|website=Indiana Daily Student|access-date=30 March 2017}}

Prostate massage is one other technique used for sexual stimulation, often to reach orgasm. The prostate is sometimes referred to as the "male G-spot" or P-spot.{{cite web | first=Naveed | last=Saleh | title=Hitting the P-Spot | website=Psychology Today | date=16 October 2014 | url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-red-light-district/201410/hitting-the-p-spot | access-date=26 April 2020}} Some men can achieve orgasm through stimulation of the prostate gland, by stimulating it using a well-lubricated finger or dildo inserted through the anus into the rectum. Men who report the sensation of prostate stimulation often give descriptions similar to females' accounts of G-spot stimulation.{{cite book |first=Martha |last= Rosenthal| title = Human Sexuality: From Cells to Society | publisher =Cengage Learning|year = 2012|pages=133–135|access-date = May 18, 2014| isbn = 978-0-618-75571-4|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=d58z5hgQ2gsC&pg=PT153}}{{cite book |last=Ladas |first=AK |author2=Whipple, B |author3=Perry, JD |title=The G spot and other discoveries about human sexuality |publisher=Holt, Rinehart, and Winston |location=New York |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-440-13040-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/gspototherrecent00lada }} In some men, prostate stimulation might produce more intense orgasms than penile stimulation. Stimulating the prostate from outside, via pressure on the perineum, can be pleasurable as well.{{Cite journal |last1=Shafik |first1=Ahmed |last2=Shafik |first2=Ali A |last3=Shafik |first3=Ismail A |last4=Sibai |first4=Olfat El |date=2008 |title=Percutaneous Perineal Electrostimulation Induces Erection: Clinical Significance in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury and Erectile Dysfunction |journal=The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=40–43 |doi=10.1080/10790268.2008.11753979 |issn=1079-0268 |pmc=2435023 |pmid=18533410 |quote="Approximately one third to one half of the penis is embedded in the pelvis and can be felt through the scrotum and in the perineum. The main arteries and nerves enter the penis through this perineal part of the penis, which seems to represent a highly sensitive area."}} Anal masturbation without any prostate stimulation, with fingers or otherwise, is also a technique that some men enjoy. The muscles of the anus contract during orgasm, thus the presence of an object holding the sphincter open can strengthen the sensation of the contractions and intensify orgasm.{{cite web|author=Sinclair Intimacy Institute|url=http://health.discovery.com/centers/sex/sexpedia/analsex.html |title=Discovery: Health |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020613200634/http://health.discovery.com/centers/sex/sexpedia/analsex.html |archive-date=2002-06-13 }}

Some men keep their hands stationary while pumping into them with pelvic thrusts to simulate the motions of sexual intercourse. The nipples are erogenous zones and vigorous stimulation of them during masturbation can result in enhanced sexual arousal.{{Cite journal |last1=Levin |first1=Roy |last2=Meston |first2=Cindy |date=2006 |title=Nipple/Breast stimulation and sexual arousal in young men and women |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16681470/ |journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=450–454 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2006.00230.x |issn=1743-6095 |pmid=16681470}} Others may also use vibrators and other sexual devices for sexual stimulation. The device can be used to stimulate the penis and other areas, like the scrotum, the perineum or the anus.{{Cite journal |last1=Rullo |first1=Jordan E. |last2=Lorenz |first2=Tierney |last3=Ziegelmann |first3=Matthew J. |last4=Meihofer |first4=Laura |last5=Herbenick |first5=Debra |last6=Faubion |first6=Stephanie S. |date=2018 |title=Genital vibration for sexual function and enhancement: a review of evidence |journal=Sexual and Relationship Therapy: Journal of the British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=263–274 |doi=10.1080/14681994.2017.1419557 |issn=1468-1994 |pmc=7678782 |pmid=33223960 |quote="Vibrator use for male genitalia primarily focuses on the penis as the target for vibratory stimulation. However, vibratory stimulation of other sexual organs including the testicles or scrotum, perineum, and anus has been described as well"}} Other sexual toys for men are artificial vaginas, like fleshlights or other simulacrums.{{Cite journal |last1=Döring |first1=N. |last2=Pöschl |first2=S. |date=2018-07-01 |title=Sex toys, sex dolls, sex robots: Our under-researched bed-fellows |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S115813601830080X |journal=Sexologies |series=Sexualité et nouvelles technologies Sexuality and new technologies |language=en |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=e51–e55 |doi=10.1016/j.sexol.2018.05.009 |s2cid=150027875 |issn=1158-1360}} In a bath or shower, a male may direct water via a handheld showerhead at his frenulum, testicles, or perineum. A somewhat controversial ejaculation control technique is to put intense pressure on the perineum, about halfway between the scrotum and the anus, just before ejaculating. This can, however, redirect semen into the bladder (referred to as retrograde ejaculation).{{Cite web |date=2020-10-19 |title=What happens when you block sperm from coming out? |url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-happens-when-you-block-sperm-from-coming-out |access-date=2022-12-16 |website=www.medicalnewstoday.com |language=en}}

{{See also|Non-penetrative sex}}

Mutual masturbation involves two or more people who either masturbate at the same time or sexually stimulate each other, usually with the hands. It can be practiced by people of any sexual orientation, and can be part of other sexual activity. It may be used as foreplay, or as an alternative to sexual penetration.{{cite book |vauthors=Bruess CE, Schroeder E|title=Sexuality Education Theory And Practice|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers|isbn=978-1-4496-4928-9|year=2013|page=151|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WWFW6-kkAVoC&pg=PA151}} When used as an alternative to penile-vaginal penetration, the goal may be to preserve virginity or to avoid risk of pregnancy.See here [https://books.google.com/books?id=6qNCeI2AcY4C&pg=PT11] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC&pg=PA48 pages 47–49] for views on what constitutes virginity loss and therefore sexual intercourse or other sexual activity; source discusses how gay and lesbian individuals define virginity loss, and how the majority of researchers and heterosexuals define virginity loss/"technical virginity" by whether or not a person has engaged in penile-vaginal sex. {{Cite book |author=Laura M. Carpenter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXXZn_qSoDoC |title=Virginity Lost: An Intimate Portrait of First Sexual Experiences |publisher=NYU Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8147-1652-6 |pages=295 pages |access-date=9 October 2011}}{{Cite book|author1=Bryan Strong |author2=Christine DeVault |author3=Theodore F. Cohen |title=The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationship in a Changing Society| publisher = Cengage Learning|year = 2010|access-date=8 October 2011 |page = 186| isbn = 978-0-534-62425-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjvoSOMB5JMC&pg=PA186|quote=Most people agree that we maintain virginity as long as we refrain from sexual (vaginal) intercourse. ...But occasionally we hear people speak of 'technical virginity' ... Other research, especially research looking into virginity loss, reports that 35% of virgins, defined as people who have never engaged in vaginal intercourse, have nonetheless engaged in one or more other forms of heterosexual activity (e.g. oral sex, anal sex, or mutual masturbation). ... Data indicate that 'a very significant proportion of teens ha[ve] had experience with oral sex, even if they haven't had sexual intercourse, and may think of themselves as virgins'.}}

Forms of mutual masturbation include:

• Non-contact mutual masturbation – Two people masturbating in the presence of each other but not touching.
• Contact mutual masturbation – One person touching another person to masturbate. The other person may do the same during or after.
• Non-contact group – More than two people masturbating in the presence of each other in a group but not touching each other.
• Contact group – More than two people physically touching each other to masturbate as a group.
• Mutual masturbation foreplay – The manual stimulation of each other's genitals where the session eventually leads to sexual intercourse.{{cite web | title = Mutual Masturbation | date = 12 June 2006 | access-date = 7 August 2010 | url = http://advancedmasturbation.com/mutual | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160522234752/http://advancedmasturbation.com/mutual/ | archive-date = 22 May 2016 | df = dmy-all }} — A biographical collection of data for a sociological repository on the topic of mutual masturbating to study changes on the activity over time.
• Remote mutual masturbation – Some mutual masturbation occurs between individuals in different locations, facilitated by internet enabled devices, sometimes referred to as teledildonics.

Frequency of masturbation is determined by many factors, e.g., one's resistance to sexual tension, hormone levels influencing sexual arousal, sexual habits, peer influences, health and one's attitude to masturbation formed by culture; E. Heiby and J. Becker examined the latter.{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/BF01542263|last1=Heiby|first1=Elaine|last2=Becker |first2=James D.|date=April 1980|title=Effect of filmed modeling on the self-reported frequency of masturbation|journal=Arch. Sex. Behav.|volume=9|issue=2|pages=115–21|pmid=7396686|s2cid=25846450}} Medical causes have also been associated with masturbation, wherein masturbation is not cause, but effect,{{cite journal |last1=De Alwis |first1=AC |last2=Senaratne |first2=AM |last3=De Silva |first3=SM |last4=Rodrigo |first4=VS |title=Bladder calculus presenting as excessive masturbation |journal=Ceylon Med. J. |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=121–2 |date=September 2006 |pmid=17315592 |doi=10.4038/cmj.v51i3.1258 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal | last1=Ozmen | first1=Mine | last2=Erdogan | first2=Ayten | last3=Duvenci | first3=Sirin | last4=Ozyurt | first4=Emin | last5=Ozkara | first5=Cigdem | title=Excessive masturbation after epilepsy surgery | journal=Epilepsy & Behavior | volume=5 | issue=1 | year=2004 | issn=1525-5050 | doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2003.10.009 | pmid=14751219 | pages=133–136| s2cid=39640813 }}{{cite journal | last1=Lopez-Meza | first1=Elmer | last2=Corona-Vasquez | first2=Teresa | last3=Ruano-Calderon | first3=Luis A. | last4=Ramirez-Bermudez | first4=Jesus | title=Severe impulsiveness as the primary manifestation of multiple sclerosis in a young female | journal=Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences | volume=59 | issue=6 | year=2005 | issn=1323-1316 | doi=10.1111/j.1440-1819.2005.01446.x | pmid=16401253 | pages=739–742| s2cid=20468990 | doi-access=free }} with the exception of inserting foreign objects into the urinary bladder.

Different studies have found that masturbation is frequent in humans. Alfred Kinsey's 1950s studies on the US population have shown that 92% of men and 62% of women have masturbated during their lifespan. Similar results have been found in a 2007 British national probability survey. It was found that, among individuals aged 16 to 44, 95% of men and 71% of women masturbated at some point in their lives. 73% of men and 37% of women reported masturbating in the four weeks before their interview, while 53% of men and 18% of women reported masturbating in the previous seven days.{{cite journal | last1=Gerressu | first1=Makeda | last2=Mercer | first2=Catherine H. | last3=Graham | first3=Cynthia A. | last4=Wellings | first4=Kaye | last5=Johnson | first5=Anne M. | title=Prevalence of Masturbation and Associated Factors in a British National Probability Survey | journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior | volume=37 | issue=2 | date=2007-02-27 | issn=0004-0002 | doi=10.1007/s10508-006-9123-6 | pmid=17333329 | pages=266–278| s2cid=7372754 | url=http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/4767 }}

The Merck Manual says that 97% of men and 80% of women have masturbated and that, generally speaking, males masturbate more than females.{{cite web|url=http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/mental_health_disorders/sexuality/overview_of_sexuality.html|title=Overview of Sexuality|first=George R.|last=Brown, MD|website=Merck Manuals Consumer Version|access-date=26 July 2015|archive-date=20 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220055106/http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/mental_health_disorders/sexuality/overview_of_sexuality.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web | first=George R. | last=Brown | title=Overview of Sexuality - Special Subjects | website=Merck Manuals Professional Edition | url=https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/special-subjects/sexuality/overview-of-sexuality | access-date=17 September 2021 | date=April 2021}}{{cite web | last=Brown | first=George R. | title=Overview of Sexuality | website=MSD Manual Consumer Version | date=3 July 2023 | url=https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/special-subjects/sexuality/overview-of-sexuality#Changing-Attitudes-about-Sex-and-Sexuality_v53074011 | access-date=23 January 2025}} It states that almost half of the population reported to have masturbated in the past four weeks.{{cite web | last=Brown | first=George R. | title=Overview of Sexuality | website=Merck Manuals Professional Edition | date=4 July 2023 | url=https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/special-subjects/sexuality/overview-of-sexuality | access-date=19 January 2024}}

Masturbation is considered normal when performed by children,{{cite book|first1=Gail B.|last1=Slap, MD|first2=Laura Jean|last2=Cataldo, RN, Ed.D.|editor-first=Jacqueline L.|editor-last=Longe|title=The Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy Through Adolescence|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PQ-7cQAACAAJ|volume=4|date=7 June 2011|publisher=Cengage Gale|isbn=978-1-4144-8641-3|page=1404|edition=Second|chapter=Masturbation|oclc=712621295|location=Detroit, Mich.}}{{cite book|first1=Drew C.|last1=Messer|first2=C. Eugene|last2=Walker|editor-first1=Thomas H.|editor-last1=Ollendick|editor-first2=Carolyn S.|editor-last2=Schroeder|title=Encyclopedia of Clinical Child and Pediatric Psychology|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_7SBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA359|date=6 December 2012|orig-year=2003|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4615-0107-7|page=359|chapter=Masturbation|oclc=913623298|location=Boston, MA}} Note: Messer's and Walker's article cannot be protected by copyright.{{cite journal|last1=Hansen|first1=J.K.|last2=Balslev|first2=T.|date=November 2009|orig-year=2008|title=Hand activities in infantile masturbation: a video analysis of 13 cases|journal=European Journal of Paediatric Neurology|volume=13|issue=6|pages=508–10|doi=10.1016/j.ejpn.2008.10.007|issn=1090-3798|pmid=19010071|quote=Infantile masturbation is considered a variant of normal behaviour.}} even in early infancy.{{cite web | editor-last=Laule, MD | editor-first=Sara | title=Masturbation and Young Children - Michigan Medicine | website=CS Mott Children's Hospital, University of Michigan Health | url=https://www.mottchildren.org/posts/your-child/masturbation-and-young-children | date=November 2020 | access-date=4 May 2022}}{{cite book | last1=Jacoby | first1=David B. | last2=Youngson | first2=Robert M. | author3=Marshall Cavendish Corporation | title=Encyclopedia of Family Health | publisher=Marshall Cavendish | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-7614-7486-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VUA8DQCONgUC&pg=PA1162 | access-date=5 May 2022 | edition=3 | volume=9 | page=1162}} In 2009, the Sheffield NHS Health Trust issued a pamphlet called "Pleasure" which discussed the health benefits of masturbation. This was done in response to data and experience from the other EU member states to reduce teen pregnancy and STIs (STDs), and to promote healthy habits.

According to the New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry (1st ed.), "Masturbation and sexual play are common well before puberty. Sexual behaviour in young children is common, and should only be regarded as a sign of sexual abuse when it is out of context and is inappropriate."{{cite book | editor-last1=Gelder | editor-first1=Michael G. | editor-first2=Juan J. | editor-last2=López-Ibor | editor-first3=Nancy | editor-last3=Andreasen | last=Yule | first=William | title=New Oxford textbook of psychiatry | publisher=Oxford University Press | publication-place=Oxford | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-19-852818-0 | oclc=45697867 | chapter=2.5.1.1 Developmental psychology through infancy, childhood, and adolescence}}

In the book Human Sexuality: Diversity in Contemporary America, by Strong, Devault and Sayad, the authors point out, "A baby boy may laugh in his crib while playing with his erect penis". "Baby girls sometimes move their bodies rhythmically, almost violently, appearing to experience orgasm."{{cite book | last1=Strong | first1=Bryan | last2=Yarber | first2=William | last3=DeVault | first3=Christine | last4=Sayad | first4=Barbara | title=Human Sexuality: Diversity in Contemporary America | publisher=McGraw-Hill Companies, Incorporated | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-07-312911-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QijYAAAAMAAJ | access-date=6 March 2022 | page=280}} Italian gynecologists Giorgio Giorgi and Marco Siccardi observed via ultrasound a female fetus possibly masturbating and having what appeared to be an orgasm.{{cite journal |last1=Giorgi|first1=Giorgio|last2=Siccardi|first2=Marco |title=Ultrasonographic observation of a female fetus' sexual behavior in utero |journal=Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. |volume=175 |issue=3 Pt 1 |page=753 |date=September 1996 |pmid=8828451|doi=10.1053/ob.1996.v175.aob17503a10|doi-access=free }}

Popular belief asserts that individuals of either sex who are not in sexually active relationships tend to masturbate more frequently than those who are; however, much of the time this is not true as masturbation alone or with a partner is often a feature of a relationship. Contrary to this belief, several studies reveal a positive correlation between the frequency of masturbation and the frequency of intercourse. A study has reported a significantly higher rate of masturbation in gay men and women who were in a relationship.{{cite journal | last1=Heilborn | first1=Maria Luiza | last2=Cabral | first2=Cristiane S. | title=Sexual practices in youth: analysis of lifetime sexual trajectory and last sexual intercourse | journal=Cadernos de Saúde Pública | volume=22 | issue=7 | year=2006 | issn=0102-311X | doi=10.1590/s0102-311x2006000700011 | pmid=16791346 | pages=1471–1481| doi-access=free }}{{cite journal | last1=Menon | first1=Anuradha | last2= McAllister-Williams | first2=R. Hamish | last3=Watson | first3=Stuart | title=Increased libido associated with quetiapine | journal=Journal of Psychopharmacology | volume=20 | issue=1 | date=2005-10-04 | issn=0269-8811 | doi=10.1177/0269881106059732 | pmid=16354735 | pages=125–127| s2cid=33333941 }}{{cite journal | last1=Burleson | first1=Mary H | last2=Trevathan | first2=Wenda R | last3=Gregory | first3=W.Larry | title=Sexual behavior in lesbian and heterosexual women: relations with menstrual cycle phase and partner availability | journal=Psychoneuroendocrinology | volume=27 | issue=4 | year=2002 | issn=0306-4530 | doi=10.1016/s0306-4530(01)00066-x | pmid=11912001 | pages=489–503| s2cid=24519130 }}

Coon and Mitterer stated: "Approximately 70 percent of married women and men masturbate at least occasionally."{{cite book|last1=Coon|first1=Dennis|last2=Mitterer|first2=John O.|title=Psychology: Modules for Active Learning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eOnKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA406|date=1 January 2014|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-305-16173-3|page=406}}{{cite book|last1=Coon|first1=Dennis|last2=Mitterer|first2=John O.|last3=Martini|first3=Tanya S.|title=Psychology: Modules for Active Learning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oPS5DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA407|date=5 December 2016|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-337-51708-9|page=407}}{{cite book | last1=Coon | first1=Dennis | last2=Mitterer | first2=John O. | last3=Martini | first3=Tanya S. | title=Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior | publisher=Cengage Learning | year=2021 | edition=16 | isbn=978-0-357-37149-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6OUXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA360 | access-date=2022-03-05 | page=360}}

Mitterer, Coon and Martini wrote in 2015: "Do more men masturbate than women? Yes. While 89 percent of women reported that they had masturbated at some time, the figure was 95 percent for men. (Some cynics add, 'And the other 5 percent lied!')"{{cite book | last1=Mitterer | first1=John O. | last2=Coon | first2=Dennis | last3=Martini | first3=Tanya | title=Psychology: A Modular Approach | publisher=Nelson Education Limited | year=2015 | isbn=978-0-17-650345-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQgUogEACAAJ | language=en | access-date=2022-03-05 | page=424 | quote=Do more men masturbate than women? Yes. While 89 percent of women reported that they had masturbated at some time, the figure was 95 percent for men. (Some cynics add, “And the other 5 percent lied!”)}}

Female masturbation alters conditions in the vagina, cervix and uterus, in ways that can alter the chances of conception from intercourse, depending on the timing of the masturbation. A female's orgasm between one minute before and 45 minutes after insemination favors the chances of sperm reaching her egg. If, for example, she has had intercourse with more than one male, such an orgasm can increase the likelihood of a pregnancy by one of them.{{cite book |last = Baker |first = Robin |title = Sperm Wars: The Science of Sex |publisher = Diane Books Publishing Company |date=June 1996 |isbn = 978-0-7881-6004-2}}{{cite journal |last = Baker |first = Robin R. |author2=Bellis, Mark A. |date=November 1993 |title = Human sperm competition: Ejaculate manipulation by females and a function for the female orgasm |journal = Animal Behaviour |volume = 46 |issue = 5 |pages = 87, 23p |doi = 10.1006/anbe.1993.1272|s2cid = 53165064 }} Female masturbation can also provide protection against cervical infections by increasing the acidity of the cervical mucus and by moving debris out of the cervix.

In males, masturbation flushes out old sperm with low motility from the male's genital tract. The next ejaculation then contains proportionally more fresh sperm, which have higher chances of achieving conception during intercourse. If more than one male has intercourse with a female, the sperm with the highest motility will compete more effectively.{{cite thesis |author = Thomsen, Ruth |title = Sperm Competition and the Function of Masturbation in Japanese Macaques |publisher = Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München |date=October 2000 |url = http://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/105/|type = Text.PhDThesis }}{{cite journal |last = Baker |first = Robin R. |author2=Bellis, Mark A. |date=November 1993 |title = Human sperm competition: Ejaculate adjustment by males and the function of masturbation |journal = Animal Behaviour |volume = 46 |issue = 5 |pages = 861, 25p |doi = 10.1006/anbe.1993.1271|s2cid = 53201940 }}{{cite journal |last = Shackelford |first = Todd K. |author2=Goetz, Aaron T. |date=February 2007 |title = Adaptation to Sperm Competition in Humans |journal = Current Directions in Psychological Science |volume = 16 |issue = 1 |pages = 47–50 |url = http://toddkshackelford.com/downloads/Shackelford-Goetz-CD-2007.pdf |doi = 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00473.x|s2cid = 6179167 }}

The American Medical Association declared masturbation to be normal by consensus in 1972.{{cite journal|last1=Planned Parenthood Federation of America|author-link1=Planned Parenthood|date=March 2003|title=Masturbation: From myth to sexual health|journal=Contemporary Sexuality|volume=37|issue=3|page=v|issn=1094-5725|oclc=37229308|quote=Finally, the American medical community pronounced masturbation as normal in 1972 American Medical Association publication, Human Sexuality (Rowan, 2000).}} It does not deplete one's body of energy{{cite web|author=McKinley Health Center|url=http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/Handouts/pdfs/masturbation.pdf |title=Masturbation: Questions and Answers |publisher=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |date=2 April 2008 |access-date=9 June 2017 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151228181238/http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/Handouts/pdfs/masturbation.pdf |archive-date=28 December 2015 |df=dmy-all }} or cause premature ejaculation.{{cite book|last1=Strassberg|first1=Donald S.|last3=Perelman|first3=Michael A.|last2=Mackaronis|first2=Julia E.|year=2015|chapter=Sexual dysfunctions|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VoEZBAAAQBAJ&q=editions:n7U-Dq0ClTsC&pg=PA442|editor1-last=Blaney|editor1-first=Paul H.|editor3-last=Millon|editor3-first=Theodore|editor2-last=Krueger|editor2-first=Robert F.|edition=Third|title=Oxford textbook of psychopathology|location=NY|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=441–442|isbn=978-0-19-981177-9|oclc=879552995}} The medical consensus is that masturbation is a medically healthy and psychologically normal habit.{{cite book|last1=Coon|first1=Dennis|last2=Mitterer|first2=John O.|title=Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior|edition=14|chapter=11. Gender and Sexuality|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-4jCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA363|year=2014|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-305-54500-7|page=363|quote=Is there any way that masturbation can cause harm? Seventy years ago, a child might have been told that masturbation would cause insanity, acne, sterility, or other such nonsense. "Self-abuse," as it was then called, has enjoyed a long and unfortunate history of religious and medical disapproval (Caroll, 2013). The modern view is that masturbation is a normal sexual behavior (Hogarth & Ingham, 2009). Enlightened parents are well aware of this fact. Still, many children are punished or made to feel guilty for touching their genitals. This is unfortunate because masturbation itself is harmless. Typically, its only negative effects are feelings of fear, guilt, or anxiety that arise from learning to think of masturbation as "bad" or "wrong." In an age when people are urged to practice "safer sex," masturbation remains the safest sex of all.}}{{cite journal|last=Sigel|first=Lisa Z.|date=Summer 2004|title=Masturbation: The History of the Great Terror. By Jean Stengers and Anne Van Neck. Translated by Kathryn Hoffmann (New York: Palgrave, 2001. ix plus 232 pp.)|journal=Journal of Social History|volume=37|issue=4|pages=1065–1066|issn=0022-4529|quote=Stengers and Van Neck follow the illness to its fairly abrupt demise; they liken the shift to finally seeing the emperor without clothes as doctors began to doubt masturbation as a cause of illness at the turn of the twentieth century. Once doubt set in, scientists began to accumulate statistics about the practice, finding that a large minority and then a large majority of people masturbated. The implications were clear: if most people masturbated and did not experience insanity, debility, and early death, then masturbation could not be held accountable to the etiology that had been assigned it. Masturbation quickly lost its hold over the medical community, and parents followed in making masturbation an ordinary part of first childhood and then human sexuality.|jstor=3790078|doi=10.1353/jsh.2004.0065|s2cid=141801392|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal|last=Wood|first=Kate|date=March 2005|title=Masturbation as a Means of Achieving Sexual Health by Walter Bockting; Eli Coleman|journal=Culture, Health & Sexuality|volume=7|issue=2|pages=182–184|jstor=4005453|issn=1369-1058|quote=In the collection's introductory chapter, Eli Coleman describes how Kinsey's research half a century ago was the first in a series of studies to challenge widely prevalent cultural myths relating to the 'harmful' effects of masturbation, revealing the practice to be both common and non-pathological. Subsequent research, outlined by Coleman in this chapter, has shown masturbation to be linked to healthy sexual development, sexual well-being in relationships, self-esteem and bodily integrity (an important sexual right). As such, the promotion and de-stigmatization of the practice continue to be important strategies within sexology for the achievement of healthy sexual development and well-being.

The collection concludes with two surveys among US college students. The first of these was based on limited quantitative questions relating to masturbation. The findings suggest that masturbation is not a substitute for sexual intercourse, as has often been posited, but is associated with increased sexual interest and greater number of partners. The second of these surveys asks whether masturbation could be useful in treating low sexual desire, by examining the relationship between masturbation, libido and sexual fantasy.}} According to the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, "It is considered abnormal only when it inhibits partner-oriented behavior, is done in public, or is sufficiently compulsive to cause distress."{{cite web|url=http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/psychiatric-disorders/sexuality,-gender-dysphoria,-and-paraphilias/overview-of-sexual-behavior|title=Overview of Sexuality|author=George R. Brown, MD|date=July 2019|work=Merck Manuals Professional Version|access-date=4 March 2020|archive-date=24 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224004746/http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/psychiatric-disorders/sexuality,-gender-dysphoria,-and-paraphilias/overview-of-sexual-behavior|url-status=dead}}

Solo masturbation is a sexual activity that is nearly free of risk of sexually transmitted infection.{{Cite web |url=https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens/sex/masturbation/masturbation-good-you |title=Is Masturbation Good For You? |website=www.plannedparenthood.org |language=en |access-date=2019-04-28}} With two or more participants, the risk of sexually transmitted infection, while not eliminated, remains lower than with most forms of penetrative sex. Support for such a view and for making masturbation part of the American sex education curriculum led to the dismissal of US Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders during the Clinton administration.

Masturbation among adolescents contributes to their developing a sense of mastery over sexual impulses, and it has a role in the physical and emotional development of prepubescents and pubescents.{{cite book|first=Parul|last=Datta|title=Pediatric Nursing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Um1_7gM-E1wC&pg=PA189|publisher=Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers|year=2007|access-date=27 August 2011|page=189|isbn=978-81-8061-970-0}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Sex therapists sometimes recommend that female patients take time to masturbate to orgasm; for example, to help improve sexual health and relationships, to help determine what is erotically pleasing to them, and because mutual masturbation can lead to more satisfying sexual relationships and added intimacy.{{cite web |last = Shuman |first = Tracy |title = Your Guide to Masturbation |publisher = WebMD, Inc./The Cleveland Clinic Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology |date = February 2006 |url = http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/guide/masturbation-guide |access-date = 29 July 2006}}{{cite web |last = Knowles |first = Jon |title = Masturbation — From Stigma to Sexual Health |publisher = Katharine Dexter McCormick Library/Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. |date = November 2002 |url = https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/5513/9611/7867/masturbation_11-02.pdf |access-date = 29 July 2006}} Encyclopedia Britannica mentions the use of masturbation inside sex therapy.{{cite web |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/masturbation|title= Masturbation|author= ((The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica))|date= 9 January 2014|website= Encyclopædia Britannica|publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|access-date= 11 September 2019}} So does Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia, also.{{cite book | editor-last=Bullough | editor-first=Vern L. | editor-last2=Bullough | editor-first2=Bonnie | title=Human Sexuality: An Encyclopedia | publisher=Taylor & Francis | publication-place=New York London | date=1994 | isbn=978-0-8240-7972-7 | first=Julian W. |last=Slowinski |url=http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/SEN/CH23.HTM#b1-TAOISM%20AND%20SEX |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021216190909/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/SEN/CH23.HTM |archive-date=16 December 2002 | chapter=Therapy: Sex Therapy | page=577}} Britannica also calls the idea that masturbation is physically harmful a "myth", and states that there is no evidence that it is an immature behavior.{{cite web | first=Paul Henry | last=Gebhard | title=human sexual activity - Definition, Types, Examples, & Facts | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/human-sexual-activity | access-date=11 July 2020 | date=17 April 2019}}

Mutual masturbation enables partners in a couple to reveal the "map to [their] pleasure centers", learning how they enjoy being touched. When intercourse is inconvenient or impractical, mutual masturbation affords couples the opportunity to obtain sexual release as often as desired.

It is held in many mental health circles that masturbation can relieve depression and lead to a higher sense of self-esteem.{{cite book | first=Ken R. | last=Wells | editor-last1=Krapp | editor-first1=Kristine M. | editor-last2=Wilson | editor-first2=Jeffrey | editor3=Gale Group | title=The Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy Through Adolescence | publisher=Thomson Gale | series=Gale virtual reference library | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-7876-9427-2 | chapter=Masturbation | page=1148 | volume=3}} When one partner in a relationship wants more sex than the other, masturbation can provide a balancing effect and promote a more harmonious relationship.{{cite web |first1=Chris|last1=Daniels|first2=Jes|last2=Levatter|title = Masturbation key to healthy, functional sexual relationships |date = 19 April 2007 |url = http://badgerherald.com/oped/2007/04/19/masturbation-key-to/ | website=The Badger Herald, Daily campus newspaper | location=Madison, Wisconsin, US |publisher=Badger Herald, Inc. |access-date = 1 July 2007}}

In 2003, an Australian research team led by Graham Giles of The Cancer Council Australia{{cite journal | last1=Giles | first1=G.G. | last2=Severi | first2=G. | last3=English | first3=D.R. | last4=McCredie | first4=M.R.E. | last5=Borland | first5=R. | last6=Boyle | first6=P. | last7=Hopper | first7=J.L. | title=Sexual factors and prostate cancer | journal=BJU International | publisher=Wiley | volume=92 | issue=3 | date=23 July 2003 | issn=1464-4096 | doi=10.1046/j.1464-410x.2003.04319.x | pages=211–216 | pmid=12887469| s2cid=29430415 | doi-access=free }} found that males who masturbated frequently had a lower probability of developing prostate cancer, although they could not demonstrate a direct causation. A 2008 study concluded that frequent ejaculation between the ages of 20 and 40 was correlated with higher risk of developing prostate cancer, while frequent ejaculation in the sixth decade of life was found to be correlated with a lower risk.{{cite journal | first1=Polyxeni|last1=Dimitropoulou | first2=Douglas|last2=Easton | first3=Richard|last3=Pocock | first4=David P.|last4=Dearnaley | first5=Michelle|last5=Guy | first6=Steven|last6=Edwards | first7=Lynne|last7=O'Brien | first8=Amanda|last8=Hall | first9=Rosemary|last9=Wilkinson | first10=Rosalind|last10=Eeles |author-link10=Rosalind Eeles| first11=Kenneth R.|last11=Muir | first12=Artitaya|last12=Lophatananon |date=11 November 2008 | title=Sexual activity and prostate cancer risk in men diagnosed at a younger age | journal=BJU International | volume=103 | issue=2 | pages=178–185 | doi=10.1111/j.1464-410X.2008.08030.x | pmid=19016689|s2cid=6339070 | doi-access=free }} However, a larger 2016 study found that regular ejaculation markedly reduced prostate cancer risk in all age groups.{{cite journal |title= Ejaculation Frequency and Risk of Prostate Cancer: Updated Results with an Additional Decade of Follow-up |vauthors=Rider JR, Wilson KM, Sinnott JA, Kelly RS, Mucci LA, Giovannucci EL |date=2016 |journal= European Urology |volume= 70 |issue= 6 |pages= 974–982 |doi= 10.1016/j.eururo.2016.03.027 |pmid= 27033442 |pmc= 5040619 }}

A study published in 1997 found an inverse association between death from coronary heart disease and frequency of orgasm, even given the risk that myocardial ischaemia and myocardial infarction can be triggered by sexual activity. Its authors stated: "The association between frequency of orgasm and all cause mortality was also examined using the midpoint of each response category recorded as number of orgasms per year. The age adjusted odds ratio for an increase of 100 orgasms per year was 0.64 (0.44 to 0.95)." That is, a difference in mortality appeared between any two subjects when one subject ejaculated at around two times per week more than the other. Assuming a broad range average of between three and five ejaculations per week for healthy males, this would mean five to seven ejaculations per week. This is consistent with a 2003 paper that found the strength of these correlations increased with increasing frequency of ejaculation.{{cite journal | last1 = Smith | first1 = George Davey | last2 =Frankel | first2= Stephen | last3= Yarnell | first3= John | title=Sex and death: are they related? Findings from the Caerphilly cohort study | journal=BMJ | volume=315 | issue=7123 | date=1997-12-20 | issn=0959-8138 | doi=10.1136/bmj.315.7123.1641 | pmid = 9448525 | pages=1641–1644| pmc=2128033 }}

A 2008 study at Tabriz Medical University found that ejaculation reduces swollen nasal blood vessels, freeing the airway for normal breathing. The mechanism is through stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system and is long-lasting. The study author suggests: "It can be done [from] time-to-time to alleviate the congestion and the patient can adjust the number of intercourses or masturbations depending on the severity of the symptoms."{{cite web | first = David | last = Robson | title=Masturbation could bring hay fever relief for men | website=New Scientist | date = April 2008 | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16872-masturbation-could-bring-hay-fever-relief-for-men.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news | access-date= 30 August 2009}}

Sexual climax leaves an individual in a relaxed and contented state, frequently followed by drowsiness and sleep.{{cite web|last=Sutherland|first=Tammy|title=Six healthy reasons to masturbate|url=http://www.besthealthmag.ca/get-healthy/girlfriends-guide/6-healthy-reasons-to-masturbate|website=Best Health Magazine|publisher=Reader's Digest Magazines (Canada)|access-date=4 July 2013|quote="Just as people fall into a deep sleep after sex with a partner, because blood pressure is lowered and relaxation is increased through the release of endorphins, masturbation is a good sleeping pill," says Golden. "It is relied on by many as a nightly occurrence."|date=2015-06-08}}{{cite web|first1=Kathleen|last1=Doheny|first2=Marina|last2=Katz|title=Five Things You Didn't Know About Masturbation |url=http://women.webmd.com/features/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-masturbation?page=2 |website=WebMD |access-date=4 July 2013 |quote=Masturbation can help you relax. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515072737/http://women.webmd.com/features/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-masturbation?page=2 |archive-date=15 May 2013 }}{{cite web|last=Wenner|first=Melinda|title=Why do guys get sleepy after sex?|url=http://scienceline.org/2006/09/ask-wenner-sex/|publisher=NYU Journalism (New York University)|access-date=4 July 2013|year=2006|quote=The bottom line is this: there are many potential biochemical and evolutionary reasons for post-sex sleepiness, some direct and some indirect}}

Some professionals consider masturbation equivalent to a cardiovascular workout.{{cite journal |first1=Benjamin |last1=Graber |first2=Scott |last2=Balogh |first3=Denis |last3=Fitzpatrick |first4=Shelton |last4=Hendricks

| title = Cardiovascular changes associated with sexual arousal and orgasm in men

| journal = Sexual Abuse

| volume = 4

| issue = 2

| pages = 151–165

|date=June 1991

| doi = 10.1007/BF00851611

|s2cid=198916412 |issn=1079-0632

}} Though research remains scant, those suffering from cardiovascular disorders, particularly those recovering from heart attacks, should resume physical activity gradually and with the frequency and rigor which their physical status will allow. This limitation can serve as encouragement to follow through with physical therapy sessions to help improve endurance. In general, sex slightly increases energy consumption.{{cite news|first=Kevin Charles|last=Redmon |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/02/01/bad_news_sex_doesnt_burn_that_many_calories_partner/ |title=Bad news: Sex doesn't burn that many calories |work=Salon.com |date=1 February 2013 |access-date=27 August 2014}}{{cite journal|first=Krista|last=Casazza |display-authors=etal |title=Myths, Presumptions, and Facts about Obesity |date=31 January 2013 |journal=N. Engl. J. Med. |volume=368 |issue=5 |pages=446–454 |doi=10.1056/NEJMsa1208051|pmid=23363498 |pmc=3606061 }}

Masturbation is generally safe,{{Cite web |title=Is Masturbation Healthy? |url=https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sex-pleasure-and-sexual-dysfunction/masturbation/masturbation-healthy |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=www.plannedparenthood.org |language=en}} and complications are rare. When issues do occur, they are generally due to methodology{{Cite web |title=Foreign Objects in the Rectum - Digestive Disorders |url=https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/digestive-disorders/anal-and-rectal-disorders/foreign-objects-in-the-rectum |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=Merck Manuals Consumer Version |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal |last1=Moon |first1=Seung Jin |last2=Kim |first2=Dai Hee |last3=Chung |first3=Jae Hoon |last4=Jo |first4=Jung Ki |last5=Son |first5=Young Woo |last6=Choi |first6=Hong Yong |last7=Moon |first7=Hong Sang |title=Unusual Foreign Bodies in the Urinary Bladder and Urethra Due to Autoerotism. |journal=International Neurourology Journal |date=2010 |language=English |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=186–189 |doi=10.5213/inj.2010.14.3.186 |issn=2093-4777 |pmc=2998407 |pmid=21179338}} or underlying psychiatric illness.

Those who insert objects as aids to masturbation risk them becoming stuck (either due to size, technique, or anatomy; including rectal foreign bodies and urethral foreign bodies), causing damage. Such risks can effect both men and women, with a multitude of case reports available, including that of a female who pierced her urethra after inserting two pencils during masturbation,{{cite journal|last=Wegner|first=HE|author2=Franke M |author3=Schick V. |date=May 1997|title=Endoscopic removal of intravesical pencils using percutaneous nephrolithotomy sheath and forceps|journal=Journal of Urology|issue=5|volume=157|page=1842|pmid=9112540|url=http://www.masturbationhorror.com/women.shtml|doi=10.1016/s0022-5347(01)64878-x}} and the case of a male who required extensive treatment after inserting a pair of headphones into his bladder.{{Cite journal |last1=Saputra |first1=Haviv Muris |last2=Kloping |first2=Yudhistira Pradnyan |last3=Renaldo |first3=Johan |last4=Hakim |first4=Lukman |date=2022-05-01 |title=An earphone wire inside the urinary bladder: A case report and comprehensive literature review of genitourinary polyembolokoilamania |journal=Radiology Case Reports |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=1457–1463 |doi=10.1016/j.radcr.2022.01.080 |issn=1930-0433 |pmc=8899127 |pmid=35265240}}

A male whose penis is bluntly traumatized during intercourse or masturbation may, rarely, sustain a penile fracture,{{cite web | first= Richard A. | last = Santucci | title=Penile Fracture and Trauma: Background, History of the Procedure, Epidemiology | website=Medscape Reference | date=2018-06-06 | url=https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/456305-overview | access-date=2018-10-28}}{{Cite journal

| last3 = Benslama

| last4 = Amine | first1 = R.

| last2 = Sfaxi | first2 = M. | first3 = R.

| last6 = Mouelli | first4 = D.

| last7 = Chebil

| last8 = Zmerli

| last5 = Ayed

| last1 = El Atat | first5 = M. | first6 = B. | first7 = M. | first8 = S.

| title = Fracture of the penis: management and long-term results of surgical treatment. Experience in 300 cases

| journal = Journal of Trauma

| volume = 64

| issue = 1

| pages = 121–125

| date=Jan 2008 | issn = 0022-5282

| pmid = 18188109

| doi = 10.1097/TA.0b013e31803428b3

}}{{Cite journal| last1 = Asgari | first1 = S.| last2 = Roshani | first2 = A.| last3 = Falahatkar | first3 = S.| last4 = Mokhtari | first4 = G.| last5 = Pourreza | first5 = F.| title = MP-21.01: Report on the early and late complications of 169 penile fractures| journal = Urology| volume = 70| issue = 3| pages = 160–161| year = 2007| doi = 10.1016/j.urology.2007.06.119 }} develop Peyronie's disease,{{cite journal |vauthors=Fitkin J, Ho GT |title=Peyronie's disease: current management |journal=Am. Fam. Physician |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=549–52, 554 |date=August 1999 |pmid=10465229 |url=http://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/0801/p549.html}} or induce hard flaccid syndrome. In these cases, any energetic manipulation of the penis can cause discomfort or further damage.

A small percentage of males experience postorgasmic illness syndrome (POIS), which can cause severe muscle pain throughout the body and other symptoms immediately following ejaculation, whether due to masturbation or partnered sex. The symptoms last for up to a week.{{cite book | title=Handbook of Sexual Dysfunction | publisher=Taylor & Francis |veditors=Balon R, Segraves RT | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-8247-5826-4}}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oH64CAAAQBAJ&q=Post-orgasmic+illness+syndrome&pg=PA75 | title=ABC of Sexual Health | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | year=2015 | page=75 | isbn=978-1-118-66556-5 | editor=Wylie KR | access-date=21 October 2015}}{{cite encyclopedia | title=Postorgasmic illness syndrome | encyclopedia=Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD) | publisher=National Institutes of Health | access-date=30 July 2015 |year=2015 |url=https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/gard/10809/postorgasmic-illness-syndrome/resources/1 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305193016/https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/gard/10809/postorgasmic-illness-syndrome/resources/1 |url-status=dead}} Some doctors speculate that the frequency of POIS "in the population may be greater than has been reported in the academic literature",{{cite journal |title=Postorgasm illness syndrome--a spectrum of illnesses |vauthors=Ashby J, Goldmeier D |journal=J. Sex. Med. |date=May 2010 |volume=7 |issue=5 |pages=1976–81 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.01707.x |pmid=20214722}} and that many cases are undiagnosed.{{cite journal |url=https://www.statusplus.net/issm/saopaulo2014/presentations/082.pdf |title=Post-Orgasmic Illness Syndrome | author=McMahon CG |journal=16th World Meeting on Sexual Medicine |date=October 2014 |access-date=11 August 2015 | archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110554/https://www.statusplus.net/issm/saopaulo2014/presentations/082.pdf |url-status=dead}}

Compulsive masturbation and other compulsive behaviors can be signs of an emotional problem, which may need to be addressed by a mental health specialist.{{cite web|url=http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/ohe/library/Sexhealth/articles/masturbating.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820190232/http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/ohe/library/Sexhealth/articles/masturbating.htm|archive-date=20 August 2010 |author=Office of Health Education|publisher=University of Pennsylvania|title=Masturbation|access-date=29 May 2011}} As with any "nervous habit", it is more helpful to consider the causes of compulsive behavior, rather than try to repress masturbation.{{cite web |url=http://www.chmed.com/behavioral-care/child-development/masturbation/ |author=Children's Medical Office of North Andover, P.C. |title=Masturbation in Early Childhood |website=Chmed.com |access-date=29 May 2011 |archive-date=5 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210405024213/https://www.chmed.com/behavioral-care/child-development/masturbation/ |url-status=dead}}

Alongside many other factors—such as medical evidence, age-inappropriate sexual knowledge, sexualized play and precocious or seductive behavior—excessive masturbation may be an indicator of sexual abuse.{{cite book|first=John E. B.|last=Myers|title=Myers on Evidence in Child, Domestic and Elder Abuse Cases, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-krZZF9dl-sC&q=excessive+masturbation&pg=PA385 |quote=Jon Conte and his colleagues were interested to learn what factors are important to mental health professionals who regularly evaluate children for sexual abuse. The evaluators were asked to rank the importance of forty-one indicators of sexual abuse. The following indicators were thought important by more than ninety percent of evaluators: medical evidence of abuse, age-inappropriate sexual knowledge, sexualized play during the interview, precocious or seductive behavior, excessive masturbation, child's description is consistent over time, child's description reveals pressure or coercion.|publisher=Aspen Publishers|year=2005|access-date=27 August 2011|page=385|isbn=978-0-7355-5668-3}}{{cite book|first=Kathleen|last=Coulborn Faller|title=Understanding and Assessing Child Sexual Maltreatment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkT2wTGTUAoC&q=%22excessive+masturbation%22&pg=PA39 |quote=Six different types of sexual behavior that signal possible sexual abuse will be described in this section: (a) excessive masturbation, (b) sexual interaction with peers, (c) sexual aggression toward younger or more naive children, (d) sexual accosting of older people or adults, (e) seductive behavior, and (f) promiscuity.|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=2003|access-date=27 August 2011|page=39|isbn=978-0-7619-1996-4}}

According to DSM-5-TR, "Delayed ejaculation is associated with highly frequent masturbation, use of masturbation techniques not easily duplicated by a partner, and marked disparities between sexual fantasies during masturbation and the reality of sex with a partner."{{cite book | author=American Psychiatric Association | title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR(tm)) | publisher=American Psychiatric Association Publishing | series=G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series | year=2022 | isbn=978-0-89042-576-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PIGizgEACAAJ | chapter=Sexual Dysfunctions | page=479 }}

{{Main|History of masturbation}}

File:Crátera ática de columnas (M.A.N. 1999-99-65) 02.jpg, dating to {{circa}} 560–550 BC, showing a satyr masturbating, a common scene in many ancient Greek pottery paintings]]

The sexual stimulation of one's own genitals has been interpreted variously by different religions, the subject of legislation, social controversy, activism, as well as intellectual study in sexology. Social views regarding masturbation taboo have varied greatly in different cultures, and over history.

There are depictions of male and female masturbation in prehistoric rock paintings around the world. From the earliest records, the ancient Sumerians had very relaxed attitudes toward sex.{{cite book|last=Dening|first=Sarah|date=1996|chapter=Chapter 3: Sex in Ancient Civilizations|title=The Mythology of Sex|chapter-url=http://www.ishtartemple.org/myth.htm|location=London, England|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-02-861207-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mythologyofsexan0000deni}} The Sumerians widely believed that masturbation enhanced sexual potency, both for men and for women, and they frequently engaged in it, both alone and with their partners. Men would often use puru-oil, a special oil probably mixed with pulverized iron ore intended to enhance friction. Masturbation was also an act of creation and, in Sumerian mythology, the god Enki was believed to have created the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by masturbating and ejaculating into their empty riverbeds.{{citation|last=Leick|first=Gwendolyn|title=Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1-134-92074-7|location=New York City, New York|page=32|orig-year=1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKoWblE4pd0C&pg=PA64}} The ancient Egyptians also regarded masturbation by a deity as an act of creation; the god Atum was believed to have created the universe by masturbating to ejaculation.{{cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Richard H. |date=2003 |title=The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames and Hudson |pages=17–18, 99 |isbn=0500051208}}

The ancient Greeks also regarded masturbation as a normal and healthy substitute for other forms of sexual pleasure.{{cite book|last=Rosenfeld|first=Jennie|title=Talmudic Re-readings: Toward a Modern Orthodox Sexual Ethic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4e6TnaciudcC&pg=PA133|year=2008|isbn=978-0-549-43458-0|page=133}} Most information about masturbation in ancient Greece comes from surviving works of ancient Greek comedy and pottery.{{cite book|last=Stafford|first=Emma|date=2011|chapter=Clutching the chickpea: private pleasures of the bad boyfriend|title=Sociable Man: Essays on Ancient Greek Social Behaviour in Honour of Nick Fisher|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EflODgAAQBAJ&q=satyrs+masturbation&pg=PA359|editor1-last=Lambert|editor1-first=S. D.|location=Swansea, Wales|publisher=Classical Press of Wales|isbn=978-1-910589-21-2|pages=337–364}} Masturbation is frequently referenced in the surviving comedies of Aristophanes, which are the most important sources of information on ancient Greek views on the subject. In ancient Greek pottery, satyrs are often depicted masturbating.{{cite book|last=March|first=Jennifer R.|date=2014|orig-year=1996|chapter=Satyrs and Silens|title=Dictionary of Classical Mythology|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5jwAwAAQBAJ&q=satyr+faun+mythology&pg=PA436|location=Oxford, England and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=978-1-78297-635-6|pages=435–436}} According to the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by the third-century AD biographer Diogenes Laërtius, Diogenes of Sinope, the fourth-century BC Cynic philosopher, often masturbated in public, which was considered scandalous.{{cite book|first=James|last=Miller|title=Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche|url=https://archive.org/details/examinedlive_mill_2011_000_10579125|url-access=registration|date=4 January 2011|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-1-4299-5716-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/examinedlive_mill_2011_000_10579125/page/n93 80]}}{{cite book|last=Allen|first=Robert H.|date=2006|title=The Classical Origins of Modern Homophobia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y_q2BQAAQBAJ&q=Diogenes+of+SInope+masturbation&pg=PA152|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|publisher=MacFarland & Company|isbn=978-0-7864-2349-1|page=152}}{{cite book|last=Calhoun|first=Alison|date=2015|title=Montaigne and the Lives of the Philosophers: Life Writing and Transversality in the Essais|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0LxBQAAQBAJ&q=Diogenes+of+SInope+masturbation&pg=PA60|location=Newark, Delaware|publisher=University of Delaware Press|isbn=978-1-61149-480-8|page=60}} When people confronted him over this, he would say, "If only it were as easy to banish hunger by rubbing my belly."

Among non-western perspectives on the matter, some teachers and practitioners of Traditional Chinese medicine, Taoist meditative and martial arts say that masturbation can cause a lowered energy level of the yang in men, but causes no harm to women with yin, even going further to introduce masturbating tools for women in books.{{cite web|url=https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/2402850#home|title=[갓 쓴 양반들의 性 담론 ③] 자위행위|date=27 July 2005 }} Within the African Congo Basin, the Aka, Ngandu, Lesi, Brbs, and Ituri ethnic groups all lack a word for masturbation in their languages and are confused by the concept of masturbation.{{cite web|first1=Barry S.|last1=Hewlett|first2=Bonnie L.|last2=Hewlett|url=http://jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kiroku/asm_normal/abstracts/pdf/31-3/107-125.pdf |title=SEX AND SEARCHING FOR CHILDREN AMONG AKA FORAGERS AND NGANDU FARMERS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. (African Study Monographs, 31(3): 107-125, October 2010) |website=Jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp |access-date=9 June 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429134925/http://jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kiroku/asm_normal/abstracts/pdf/31-3/107-125.pdf|archive-date=April 29, 2023}}

Onanism is a hybrid term which combines the proper noun, Onan, with the suffix, -ism.{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Onanism|title=Onanism | Search Online Etymology Dictionary|website=Etymonline.com|access-date=23 March 2022}} Notions of self-pollution, impurity and uncleanness were increasingly associated with various other sexual vices and crimes of the body (such as fornication, sodomy, adultery, incest and obscene language); in reaction to the 17th-century libertine culture, middle-class moralists increasingly campaigned for a reformation of manners and a stricter regulation of the body. Paradoxically, a crime that was secret and private became a popular and fashionable topic. Moreover, writers tended to focus more on the perceived links with mental and physical illnesses that were deemed to be associated with the sense of moral outrage. Attention increasingly shifted to the prevention and cure of this illness which perilously sapped men of their virility.See Traité contre l'impureté (1707) and The Nature of Uncleanness (1708); Ian McCormick ed. Sexual Outcasts: Onanism. Vol. 4. (London and New York: Routledge, 2000). pp. 1-10.

The first use of the word "onanism" to consistently and specifically refer to masturbation is a pamphlet first distributed in London in 1716, titled "Onania, or the Heinous Sin of self-Pollution, And All Its Frightful Consequences, In Both Sexes, Considered: With Spiritual and Physical Advice To Those Who Have Already Injured Themselves By This Abominable Practice." The Online Etymology Dictionary, however, claims the earliest known use of onanism occurred in 1727. In 1743–1745, the British physician Robert James published A Medicinal Dictionary, in which he described masturbation as being "productive of the most deplorable and generally incurable disorders" and stated that "there is perhaps no sin productive of so many hideous consequences".{{sfn|Stengers|van Neck|2001|pp=56–57}} One of the many horrified by the descriptions of malady in Onania was the notable Swiss physician Samuel-Auguste Tissot. In 1760, he published L'Onanisme, his own comprehensive medical treatise on the purported ill-effects of masturbation. Though Tissot's ideas are now considered conjectural at best, his treatise was presented as a scholarly, scientific work in a time when experimental physiology was practically nonexistent.{{sfn|Stengers|van Neck|2001|p=74}}

Immanuel Kant regarded masturbation as a violation of the moral law. In The Metaphysics of Morals (1797), he made the a posteriori argument that "such an unnatural use of one's sexual attribute" strikes "everyone upon his thinking of it" as "a violation of one's duty to himself", and suggested that it was regarded as immoral even to give it its proper name (unlike the case of the similarly undutiful act of suicide). He went on, however, to acknowledge that "it is not so easy to produce a rational demonstration of the inadmissibility of that unnatural use", but ultimately concluded that its immorality lay in the fact that "a man gives up his personality … when he uses himself merely as a means for the gratification of an animal drive".{{cite book|last=Kant|first=Emmanuel|title=The Metaphysics of Morals|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-56673-5|page=179|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJcrTG6tJsAC&pg=PA179|editor-first=Mary J.|editor-last=Gregor|access-date=28 December 2013|date=18 April 1996}} His arguments were rejected as flawed by ethicists of the 20th and 21st centuries.{{cite book | last1=Buckle | first1=Stephen | editor-last1=Singer | editor-first1=Peter | title=A Companion to Ethics | publisher=Wiley | series=Blackwell Companions to Philosophy | year=2013 | orig-year=1991 | isbn=978-1-118-72496-5 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBtBmeL3ICcC&pg=PT205 | access-date=2 January 2024 | pages=171–174 | chapter=Natural Law}}{{cite book | last=Arroyo | first=Christopher | title=Kant's Ethics and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate - An Introduction | publisher=Springer International Publishing | year=2017 | isbn=978-3-319-55733-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EAQkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 | access-date=30 March 2023 | page=131}}

By 1838, Jean Esquirol had declared in his Des Maladies Mentales that masturbation was "recognized in all countries as a cause of insanity".{{cite journal | last=Hare | first=E. H. | title=Masturbatory Insanity: the History of an Idea | journal=Journal of Mental Science | volume=108 | issue=452 | date=1962 | issn=0368-315X | doi=10.1192/bjp.108.452.1 | pages=1–25}}William Dufty (1975) Sugar Blues, pages 65,6 The medical literature of the time also described more invasive procedures including electric shock treatment, infibulation, restraining devices like chastity belts and straitjackets, cauterization or – as a last resort – wholesale surgical excision of the genitals.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} Medical attitudes toward masturbation began to change towards the end of the 19th century when H. Havelock Ellis, in his seminal 1897 work Studies in the Psychology of Sex, questioned Tissot's premises.{{cite book|first1=Jean |last1=Stengers |first2=Anne |last2=van Neck|title=Masturbation: the history of a great terror |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Wi_E6htSoAC&pg=PA133|isbn=978-0-312-22443-1 | year=2001 | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan | pages=132–133}}

In 1905, Sigmund Freud addressed masturbation in his Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality and associated it with addictive substances. He described the masturbation of infants at the period when the infant is nursing, at four years of age, and at puberty. At the same time, the supposed medical condition of hysteria—from the Greek hystera or uterus—was being treated by what would now be described as medically administered or medically prescribed masturbation for women. In 1910, the meetings of the Vienna psychoanalytic circle discussed the moral or health effects of masturbation,{{cite journal | last=Bennett | first=David | title=Burghers, Burglars, and Masturbators: The Sovereign Spender in the Age of Consumerism | journal=New Literary History | volume=30 | issue=2 | year=1999 | issn=1080-661X | doi=10.1353/nlh.1999.0018 | pages=269–294| s2cid=144501464 }} but its publication on the matter was suppressed. "Concerning Specific Forms of Masturbation" is a 1922 essay by another Austrian, the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. In the seven and a half page essay Reich accepts the prevalent notions on the roles of unconscious fantasy and the subsequent emerging guilt feelings which he saw as originating from the act itself.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

By 1930, F. W. W. Griffin, editor of The Scouter, had written in a book for Rover Scouts stating that the temptation to masturbate was "a quite natural stage of development" and, citing Ellis' work, held that "the effort to achieve complete abstinence was a very serious error." The work of sexologist Alfred Kinsey during the 1940s and 1950s, most notably the Kinsey Reports, insisted that masturbation was an instinctive behavior for both males and females. In 1961 The Encyclopedia of Sexual Behavior edited by Albert Ellis and Albert Abarbanel declared that masturbation is normal and healthy at any age.{{cite book | first1=Lester W. | last1=Dearborn | editor-last1=Ellis | editor-first1=Albert | editor-last2=Abarbanel | editor-first2=Albert | title=The encyclopedia of sexual behavior | publisher=Hawthorn Books | publication-place=New York | year=1961 | oclc=259681 | chapter=Autoerotism | page=209 | language=en}} In the US, masturbation has not been a diagnosable condition since DSM II (1968).{{cite book|first=David J.|last=Ley| author-link=David J. Ley |title=The Myth of Sex Addiction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YlBQ8G56X7YC&pg=PA12|date=10 July 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-1305-0|page=12}} Circumcision was sometimes used as a prevention for masturbation, with some mainstream pediatric manuals in English-speaking countries continuing to recommend it as a deterrent against masturbation into the 1950s,{{cite journal| last= Darby |first=Robert |title=The Masturbation Taboo and the Rise of Routine Male Circumcision: A Review of the Historiography|journal=Journal of Social History|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=Spring 2003|volume=36|issue=3|pages=737–757 |doi=10.1353/jsh.2003.0047|s2cid=72536074|jstor=3790737}}{{rp|p=752}} and a 1970 edition of the standard US urology textbook said "Parents readily ... adopt measures which may avert masturbation. Circumcision is usually advised on these grounds."{{rp|p=750}}{{cite book|title=Urology|editor1-first=Meredith F.|editor1-last=Campbell|editor2-first=J.|editor2-last=Hartwell Harrison|edition=3rd|chapter=The Male Genital Tract and the Female Urethra|date=1970|volume=2|page=1836}}

In the 20th century (1962) the idea of "masturbatory insanity" has been attributed to irrational and unscientific hypotheses.{{cite journal | last=Zachar | first=Peter | last2=Kendler | first2=Kenneth S. | title=Masturbatory insanity: the history of an idea, revisited | journal=Psychological Medicine | volume=53 | issue=9 | date=2023 | issn=0033-2917 | doi=10.1017/S0033291723001435 | pages=3777–3782}}

Thomas Szasz stated in 1973 the shift in scientific consensus:{{cite journal|last=Patton|first=Michael S.|date=June 1985|title=Masturbation from Judaism to Victorianism|journal=Journal of Religion and Health|volume=24|issue=2|pages=133–146|issn=0022-4197|doi=10.1007/BF01532257|quote=Social change in attitudes toward masturbation has occurred at the professional level only since 1960 and at the popular level since 1970. [133] ... onanism and masturbation erroneously became synonymous... [134] ... there is no legislation in the Bible pertaining to masturbation. [135]|pmid=24306073|s2cid=39066052}}{{cite news|first=Jack|last=Boulware |url=http://www.salon.com/2000/05/09/masturbate/ |title=Sex educator says most people masturbate |work=Salon.com |date=9 May 2000 |access-date=27 August 2014}} apud {{cite web|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/masturba1.htm |title=Masturbation: Current medical opinions |publisher=Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance |access-date=27 August 2014}}Ornella Moscucci, "Male masturbation and the offending prepuce," at: {{cite web|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/history/moscucci/ |title=Circumcision Information and Resource Pages |access-date=3 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010806194356/http://www.cirp.org/library/history/moscucci/ |archive-date= 6 August 2001 }} (It is an excerpt from "Sexualities in Victorian Britain.") apud [http://www.religioustolerance.org/masturba1.htm Masturbation: Current medical opinions] Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. New URL: http://sites.google.com/site/completebaby/repression "Masturbation: the primary sexual activity of mankind. In the nineteenth century, it was a disease; in the twentieth, it's a cure."{{cite book |last1=Szasz|first1=Thomas S.|author-link1=Thomas Szasz|title=The Second Sin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1us9AAAAIAAJ|access-date=30 June 2011|year=1974|orig-year=1973|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd|location=London|isbn=978-0-7100-7757-8|page=10|chapter=Sex|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1us9AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Masturbation:+the+primary+sexual+activity+of+mankind.+In+the+nineteenth+century+it+was+a+disease;+in+the+twentieth,+it%27s+a+cure.%22+%22second+sin%22&pg=PA10|quote=Masturbation: the primary sexual activity of mankind. In the nineteenth century it was a disease; in the twentieth, it's a cure.}}

Dörner and others wrote in their now classic book (1978): "Self-satisfaction is therefore a priceless good for the success of sexual pleasure, but also for other partnership and sexual relationships: for only if I can offer something to myself can I also offer it to someone else. ... Not self-satisfaction, but feelings closely correlated with it need among others help through counseling, respectively therapy!"{{cite book|first1=Klaus|last1=Dörner|first2=Ursula|last2=Plog|first3=Christine|last3=Teller|first4=Frank|last4=Wendt|title=Manual de psihiatrie socială și psihoterapie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0h25CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA116|year=2014|publisher=Trei|isbn=978-606-719-248-3|page=116|language=ro}} Cf. {{cite book|first1=Klaus|last1=Dörner|first2=Ursula|last2=Plog|first3=Christine|last3=Teller|first4=Frank|last4=Wendt|title=Irren ist menschlich: Lehrbuch der Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YB9tAAAACAAJ|year=2002|orig-year=1978|publisher=Psychiatrie-Verlag|isbn=978-3-88414-333-9|language=de}}

In the 1980s, Michel Foucault was arguing masturbation taboo was "rape by the parents of the sexual activity of their children". However, in 1994, when the surgeon general of the United States, Joycelyn Elders, said that it should be mentioned in school sex education curricula, as a side note, that masturbation is safe and healthy, she was forced to resign,{{cite web|first1=Jeff|last1=Jelq|url=http://www.jackinworld.com/library/articles/elders.html |title=JackinLibrary: Joycelyn Elders |website=Jackinworld.com |access-date=25 August 2014}} with opponents asserting that she was promoting the teaching of how to masturbate.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Thomas W. Laqueur stated: "Less clinical, less overtly political, the solitary vice of the imagination and of fantasy that had so terrified Rousseau had been transformed into a virtue: self-pleasuring was the path to self-knowledge, self-discovery, and spiritual well-being."{{cite book | last=Laqueur | first=Thomas Walter | title=Solitary Sex | publisher=Zone Books | publication-place=New York | date=2003 | isbn=1-890951-32-3 | page=78 | quote=Less clinical, less overtly political, the solitary vice of the imagination and of fantasy that had so terrified Rousseau had been transformed into a virtue: self-pleasuring was the path to self-knowledge, self-discovery, and spiritual well-being.}}

Both practices and cultural views of masturbation have continued to evolve in the 21st century, partly because the contemporary lifeworld is increasingly technical.{{according to whom|date=January 2018}} For example, digital photographs or live video may be used to share masturbatory experiences either in a broadcast format (possibly in exchange of money, as with performances by webcam models), or between members of a long-distance relationship. Teledildonics is a growing field. Masturbation has been depicted as a complicated part of "Love in the 21st Century" in the Channel 4 drama of the same name.{{cite web | title=Love in the 21st Century - Episode Guide - Channel 4 | website=channel4.com | date=2009-06-16 | url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/love-in-the-21st-century/episode-guide/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616081408/https://www.channel4.com/programmes/love-in-the-21st-century/episode-guide/ | archive-date=2009-06-16 | url-status=dead | access-date=2018-10-28}}

Even though many medical professionals and scientists have found large amounts of evidence that masturbating is healthy{{cite book |title=The Merck Manual of Diagnosis & Therapy |publisher=Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., A Subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-911910-19-3 |editor1-last=Porter |editor1-first=Robert S. |edition=19th |location=Whitehouse Station, NJ |chapter=Chapter 165. Sexuality and Sexual Disorders |access-date=19 June 2014 |editor2-last=Kaplan |editor2-first=Justin L. |chapter-url=http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/mental_health_disorders/sexuality/overview_of_sexuality.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220055106/http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/mental_health_disorders/sexuality/overview_of_sexuality.html |archive-date=20 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal |last=Shpancer |first=Noah |date=29 September 2010 |title=The Masturbation Gap. The pained history of self pleasure |url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/insight-therapy/201009/the-masturbation-gap |journal=Psychology Today |access-date=27 June 2013 |quote=The publication of Kinsey's and Masters and Johnson's research revealed that masturbation was both common and harmless. Many studies have since confirmed this basic truth, revealing in addition that masturbation is neither a substitute for "real" sex nor a facilitator of risky sex.}} and commonly practiced by males and females, stigma on the topic still persists today. In November 2013, Matthew Burdette committed suicide after a fellow student secretly made a video of him masturbating in a restroom stall, and published it.{{cite news|first=Peter|last=Scowen|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/we-need-to-talk-about-masturbation-the-last-great-sexual-taboo/article19678627/|title=We need to talk about masturbation, the last great sexual taboo|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=21 October 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/americas/boy-scout-14-took-own-life-after-being-mercilessly-bullied-over-viral-sex-act-video-30436799.html|title=Matthew Burdette: Boy Scout, 14, took his own life after being 'bullied' over 'viral video'|work=Irish Independent|access-date=17 February 2016}}{{cite news|first=Peter|last=Scowen|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/bullying-shame-suicide-why-is-masturbation-still-stigmatized/article19730945/|title=Bullying, shame, suicide – why is masturbation still stigmatized?|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=21 October 2015}}

In an article published by the nonprofit organization Planned Parenthood Federation of America, it was reported: "Proving that these ancient stigmas against masturbation are still alive and felt by women and men, researchers in 1994 found that half of the adult women and men who masturbate feel guilty about it (Laumann, et al., 1994. p.85). Another study in 2000 found that adolescent young men are still frequently afraid to admit that they masturbate (Halpern, et al., 2000, 327)."

In the UK in 2009, a leaflet was issued by the National Health Service in Sheffield carrying the slogan, "an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away". It also says: "Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes' physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?" This leaflet has been circulated to parents, teachers and youth workers and is meant to update sex education by telling older school students about the benefits of enjoyable sex. Its authors have said that for too long, experts have concentrated on the need for "safe sex" and committed relationships while ignoring the principal reason that many people have sex. The leaflet is entitled Pleasure. Instead of promoting teenage sex, it could encourage young people to delay losing their virginity until they are certain they will enjoy the experience, said one of its authors.{{cite news | last=Nikkhah | first=Roya | title=NHS tells school children of their 'right' to 'an orgasm a day' | website=Telegraph.co.uk | date=12 July 2009 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/5806691/NHS-tells-school-children-of-their-right-to-an-orgasm-a-day.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/5806691/NHS-tells-school-children-of-their-right-to-an-orgasm-a-day.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | access-date=12 October 2019}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news | journal=The Sunday Times | last=Grimston | first=Jack | title=Pupils told: Sex every day keeps the GP away - Times Online | date=12 July 2009 | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6689953.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716180443/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article6689953.ece | archive-date=16 July 2009 | url-status=unfit | access-date=12 October 2019}}

The Spanish region of Extremadura launched a program in 2009 to encourage "sexual self-exploration and the discovery of self-pleasure" in people aged from 14 to 17. The €14,000 campaign includes leaflets, flyers, a "fanzine", and workshops for the young in which they receive instruction on masturbation techniques along with advice on contraception and self-respect. The initiative, whose slogan is, "Pleasure is in your own hands" has angered local right-wing politicians and challenged traditional Roman Catholic views. Officials from the neighboring region of Andalucia have expressed an interest in copying the program.{{cite news

|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/12/spain-sex-education

|title=Spanish region takes hands-on approach to sex education

|first=Giles|last=Tremlett

|date=12 November 2009

|publisher=Guardian News and Media

|access-date=12 November 2009

| location=London

}}

The text book Palliative care nursing: quality care to the end of life states, "Terminally ill people are likely no different from the general population regarding their masturbation habits. Palliative care practitioners should routinely ask their patients if anything interferes in their ability to masturbate and then work with the patient to correct the problem if it is identified."{{cite book|last1=Matzo|first1=Marianne |title=Palliative care nursing: quality care to the end of life|year=2006|publisher=Springer Publishing|isbn=978-0-8261-5791-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTexGiX5bqoC&pg=PA70|first2=Deborah|last2=Witt Sherman|access-date=26 May 2010|page=70}}

The sex-positive movement argues for a supportive environment for masturbation.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

A 2016 review paper says that safe masturbation, in moderation (not excessive), is beneficial for heart health, and decreases risk of major adverse cardiovascular diseases.{{Cite journal |last1=Stein |first1=Ricardo |last2=Sardinha |first2=Aline |last3=Araújo |first3=Claudio Gil S. |date=2016-04-01 |title=Sexual Activity and Heart Patients: A Contemporary Perspective |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0828282X15015019 |journal=Canadian Journal of Cardiology |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=410–420 |doi=10.1016/j.cjca.2015.10.010 |pmid=26690295 |issn=0828-282X}}

A 2019 research paper says that masturbation, in moderation, can improve sleep quality, especially when one or more orgasms occur during the activity.{{Cite journal |last1=Lastella |first1=Michele |last2=O'Mullan |first2=Catherine |last3=Paterson |first3=Jessica L. |last4=Reynolds |first4=Amy C. |date=2019 |title=Sex and Sleep: Perceptions of Sex as a Sleep Promoting Behavior in the General Adult Population |doi-access=free |journal=Frontiers in Public Health |volume=7 |page=33 |doi=10.3389/fpubh.2019.00033 |pmid=30886838 |issn=2296-2565|pmc=6409294 }}

Male masturbation may be used as a method to obtain semen for third party reproductive procedures such as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilisation which may involve the use of either partner or donor sperm.{{cite web |date=14 April 2009 |title=Donor insemination – how does it work? |url=http://www.hfea.gov.uk/fertility-treatment-options-donor-insemination.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008094517/http://www.hfea.gov.uk/fertility-treatment-options-donor-insemination.html |archive-date=8 October 2014 |access-date=27 August 2014 |website=Hfea.gov.uk |df=dmy-all}}{{cite web |date=20 July 2012 |title=Sperm donation Definition – Tests and Procedures |url=http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/sperm-donation/basics/definition/prc-20009520 |access-date=27 August 2014 |publisher=Mayo Clinic}}

At a sperm bank or fertility clinic, a special room or cabin may be set aside so that semen may be produced by male masturbation for use in fertility treatments such as artificial insemination. Most semen used for sperm donation, and all semen donated through a sperm bank by sperm donors, is produced in this way. The facility at a sperm bank used for this purpose is known as a masturbatorium (US) or men's production room (UK). A bed or couch is usually provided for the man, and pornographic films or other material may be made available.{{cite web |author=OHasan |title=What Does Sperm Donation Involve? |url=https://web.stanford.edu/class/siw198q/websites/reprotech/New%20Ways%20of%20Making%20Babies/spermint.htm |access-date=27 August 2014 |website=Web.stanford.edu}}

The prosecution of masturbation has varied at different times, from complete illegality to virtually unlimited acceptance. In a 17th-century law code for the Puritan colony of New Haven, Connecticut, blasphemers, homosexuals and masturbators were eligible for the death penalty.{{cite book

| last = James

| first = Lawrence

| author-link = Lawrence James

| title = The Rise and Fall of the British Empire

| publisher = St. Martin's Griffin

|date=15 September 1997

| page = 41

| isbn = 978-0-312-16985-5 }} The context is a discussion of the social habits of the early North American colonists.

Often, masturbation in the sight of others is prosecuted under a general law such as public indecency, though some laws make specific mention of masturbation. In the UK, masturbating in public is illegal under Section 28 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847. The penalty may be up to 14 days in prison, depending on a range of circumstantial factors.{{Cite news|title=Masturbation laws around the world: the penal code|journal=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/blog/2013/sep/19/masturbation-laws-world-penal-code|access-date=19 September 2013|date=2013-09-19}} In the US, laws vary from state to state. In 2010, the Supreme Court of Alabama upheld a state law criminalizing the distribution of sex-toys.{{cite web|url = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/al-supreme-court/1521695.html|title = 1568 MONTGOMERY HIGHWAY INC v. CITY OF HOOVER|date = 5 March 2010|access-date = 20 May 2014}} In the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, masturbating in public is a class 3 misdemeanor. In 2013, a male found masturbating openly on a beach in Sweden was cleared of charges of sexual assault, the court finding that his activities had not been directed towards any specific person.{{cite news|last=Withnall|first=Adam|title=Swedish court rules that it is 'okay' to masturbate in public|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/swedish-court-rules-that-it-is-okay-to-masturbate-in-public-8826589.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/swedish-court-rules-that-it-is-okay-to-masturbate-in-public-8826589.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=19 September 2013|location=London|date=19 September 2013}}

In many jurisdictions, masturbation by one person of another is considered digital penetration which may be illegal in some cases, such as when the other person is a minor.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

There is debate whether masturbation should be promoted in correctional institutions. Restrictions on pornography, used to accompany masturbation, are common in American correctional facilities. Connecticut Department of Corrections officials say that these restrictions are intended to avoid a hostile work environment for correctional officers.{{cite news|title=Connecticut Prisoners Express Anger Over Porn Ban|author=Eaton-Robb, Pat|date=8 October 2011|url=https://www.theday.com/article/20111008/NWS12/111009702|agency=Associated Press}} Other researchers argue allowing masturbation could help prisoners restrict their sexual urges to their imaginations rather than engaging in prison rape or other non-masturbatory sexual activity that could pose sexually transmitted infection or other health risks.{{cite magazine|title=Free Willy|author=Johns, David Merritt|date=10 January 2012|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/01/should_prison_inmates_have_the_right_to_masturbate_.single.html|magazine=Slate}}

{{Main|Religious views on masturbation}}

{{See also|Religion and sexuality|Judaism and masturbation|Islam and masturbation|Mormonism and masturbation}}

File:Khajurahosculpture.jpg relief at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India features a couple in a sexual embrace with a male and a female masturbating to either side.]]

Religions vary broadly in their views of masturbation, from considering it completely impermissible (for example in most forms of Christianity, most forms of Islam, and some sects of Judaism){{cite web

|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm#2352

|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church

|access-date=8 October 2007

|quote=Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action."The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose". For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of "the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved".

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007174325/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm

|archive-date= 7 October 2007

|df=dmy

}} to encouraging and refining it (as, for example, in some Dharmic, Neotantra, and Taoist sexual practices).

The 1858 schoolboys' novel Eric, or, Little by Little was a tract against masturbation, but it did not mention the subject except extremely obliquely as "Kibroth-Hattaavah", a place mentioned in the Old Testament where those that lusted after meat were buried.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

In October 1972, an important censorship case was held in Australia, leading to the banning of Philip Roth's novel Portnoy's Complaint in that country due to its masturbation references. The censorship led to public outcry at the time.{{cite magazine |date=August 2006 |title=Don Chipp: larrikin, censor, and party founder |url=http://www.crikey.com.au/2006/08/29/don-chipp-larrikin-censor-and-party-founder/ |magazine=Crikey}}

Further portrayals and references to masturbation have occurred throughout literature, and the practice itself has even contributed to the production of literature among certain writers, such as Wolfe, Balzac, Flaubert and John Cheever.{{Cite journal |last=Currey |first=Mason |date=30 April 2013 |title=Daily Rituals |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2013/daily_rituals/balzac_and_sex_how_the_french_novelist_used_masturbation_to_fuel_his_writing.html |journal=Slate |access-date=10 May 2013}}

Perhaps the most famous fictional depiction of masturbation occurs in the "Nausicaa" episode of Ulysses by James Joyce. Here, the novel's protagonist Bloom brings himself to covert climax during a public fireworks display after being aroused by a young female's exhibitionism.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

In popular music, there are various songs that deal with masturbation. Some of the earliest examples are "My Ding-a-Ling" by Chuck Berry and "Mary Ann with the Shaky Hand" and "Pictures of Lily" by The Who.{{cite magazine|first=Pete|last=Townshend |author-link=Pete Townshend |title=Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy |version=Printed article |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=9 December 1971 |url=http://home.roadrunner.com/~dmcguire/meatybeaty.html |access-date=9 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123083202/http://home.roadrunner.com/~dmcguire/meatybeaty.html |archive-date=23 January 2009 |df=dmy }} "Merely a ditty about masturbation and the importance of it to a young man. I was really diggin' at my folks who, when catching me at it, would talk in loud voices in the corridor outside my room. 'Why can't he go with girls like other boys?'"

More recent popular songs include "Love Myself" by Hailee Steinfeld, "Rosie" by Jackson Browne, "Una luna de miel en la mano" by Virus, "I Touch Myself" by the Divinyls, "Very Busy People" by The Limousines, "Dancing with Myself" by Billy Idol, "Everyday I Die" by Gary Numan, "You're Makin' Me High" by Toni Braxton, "Holding My Own" by The Darkness, "Nickelodeon Girls" by Pink Guy, "Vibe On" by Dannii Minogue, "Orgasm Addict" by the Buzzcocks, "Spank Thru" and "Paper Cuts" by Nirvana, "Captain Jack" and "The Stranger" by Billy Joel, "Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes, "Longview" by Green Day, "M+Ms" by Blink-182, "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too" by Say Anything, "Touch of My Hand" by Britney Spears, "Fingers" and "U + Ur Hand" by P!nk,{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/pink-the-outspoken-pop-star-on-fame-and-growing-up-471290.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/pink-the-outspoken-pop-star-on-fame-and-growing-up-471290.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title= Pink: The outspoken pop star on fame and growing up|last=McLean|first=Craig|date=25 March 2006|work=The Independent|access-date=16 March 2010 | location=London}} "So Happy I Could Die" by Lady Gaga, "Masturbating Jimmy" by The Tiger Lillies, "When Life Gets Boring" by Gob, "Daybed" by FKA Twigs, "Get a Grip" by Semisonic, and "Darling Nikki" by Prince, and "Masturbation" by Dadaroma. The 1983 recording "She Bop" by Cyndi Lauper was one of the first fifteen songs ever required to carry a Parental Advisory sticker for sexual content.{{cite web|url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/playing_god/treating-dandruff-by-decapitation.htm|title=Treating Dandruff by Decapitation — Playing God|last=Macdonald|first=Cameron|date=23 January 2006|website=Stylus Magazine|access-date=22 April 2009|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000120/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/playing_god/treating-dandruff-by-decapitation.htm|url-status=dead}} In a 1993 interview on The Howard Stern Show, Lauper claimed she recorded the vocal track in the nude.{{cite web|url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Cyndi-Lauper/biography |title=Cyndi Lauper Biography |website=Monsters and Critics |access-date=8 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010045614/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/Cyndi-Lauper/biography/ |archive-date=10 October 2013 }} The song "Masturbates" by rock group Mindless Self Indulgence also deals with the concept of auto-erotic activity in a punk framework.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

In Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), the song "Every Sperm Is Sacred" is a satire of Catholic teachings on reproduction that forbid masturbation (and contraception) by artificial means. In Talking Cock by comedian Richard Herring, the sketch is used to ridicule those who condemn masturbation (and sex) for any purpose other than procreation.{{cite book |last=Herring |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pImpYNhh4J0C |title=Talking Cock: A Celebration of Man and His Manhood |date=2004 |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |isbn=978-1-56025-608-3 |page=109}}

In American Pie (1999), Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) discovers Jim's (Jason Biggs) pornography collection and, while sitting on his bed half-naked, masturbates to it. In American Reunion (2012), Noah (Eugene Levy) attempts to explain the potential joys and difficulties of Jim explaining masturbation to his future son.{{cite news |title=All of the Embarrassing Sex Moments in the American Pie Movies, Ranked |url=https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/06/all-of-the-embarassing-sex-moments-in-the-american-pie-movies-ranked/jims-dad-talks-about-the-torch |access-date=September 3, 2019 |work=Complex}}

In the Seinfeld episode "The Contest",{{cite news |title='Seinfeld,' Four: It's Real and It's Spectacular |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/16/AR2005051600756.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=17 May 2005 |first=Jen |last=Chaney}} the show's main characters enter into a contest to see who can go the longest without masturbating. Because Seinfeld{{'}}s network, NBC, did not think masturbation was a suitable topic for prime-time television, the word is never used. Instead, the subject is described using a series of euphemisms. "Master of my domain" became a part of the American lexicon from this episode.

Another NBC show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, had a character known as the Masturbating Bear, a costume of a bear with a diaper covering its genitals. The Masturbating Bear would touch his diaper to simulate masturbation. Prior to leaving Late Night to become host of The Tonight Show, Conan O'Brien originally retired the character due to concerns about its appropriateness in an earlier time slot.{{cite web |url=http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2009/05/the-masturbating-bear-is-coming-back/ |title=The masturbating bear is coming back!!! |website=Warmingglow.uproxx.com |access-date=8 November 2013 |date=2009-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201173918/http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2009/05/the-masturbating-bear-is-coming-back/ |archive-date=1 February 2014 |url-status=dead }} The Masturbating Bear, however, made his Tonight Show debut during the final days of Conan O'Brien's tenure as host of the Tonight Show. It was clear by then that Conan O'Brien was being removed from the show and he spent his last shows pushing the envelope with skits that typically would not be appropriate for the Tonight Show, one of which was the Masturbating Bear.{{cite web |last=Stableford |first=Dylan |url=http://www.thewrap.com/tv/column-post/conan-finally-unleashes-masturbating-bear-video-13333 |title=Conan Finally Unleashes 'Masturbating Bear' (Video) |website=Thewrap.com |date=21 January 2010 |access-date=29 May 2011 |archive-date=7 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607152001/http://www.thewrap.com/tv/column-post/conan-finally-unleashes-masturbating-bear-video-13333 |url-status=dead }} After much debate on whether or not he would be able to be used on Conan O'Brien's new TBS show, Conan, the Masturbating Bear made an appearance on the first episode.{{cite web |url=http://teamcoco.com/video/masturbating-bear-gets-new-job |title=Conan: Masturbating Bear Gets a New Job |website=Tbs.com |access-date=29 May 2011 |archive-date=4 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104170423/http://teamcoco.com/video/masturbating-bear-gets-new-job |url-status=dead }}

In March 2007, the UK broadcaster Channel 4 was to air a season of television programs about masturbation, called Wank Week. (Wank is a Briticism for masturbate.) The series came under public attack from senior television figures and was pulled amid claims of declining editorial standards and controversy over the channel's public service broadcasting credentials.

Depictions of male and female masturbation are common in pornography, including gay pornography. Am Abend (1910), one of the earliest pornographic films that have been collected at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction,{{cite book|first=Jon|last=Lewis|title=Hollywood V. Hard Core: How the Struggle Over Censorship Created the Modern Film Industry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4OBepfVJOeEC&pg=PA196|date=September 2002|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-5143-5|page=196}}{{cite book|first=Janet|last=Staiger|title=Bad Women: The Regulation of Female Sexuality in Early American Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oiO7ybA9PMkC&pg=PA15|year=1995|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-1-4529-0267-8|page=15}} starts with a female masturbation scene. Solo performances in gay pornography have been described in 1985 as "either or both active (tense, upright) and/or passive (supine, exposed, languid, available)", whereas female solo performances are said to be "exclusively passive (supine, spread, seated, squatted, orifices offered, etc.)".{{cite journal | journal=Jump Cut | issue=30 | date = March 1985 | pages=30–35| last=Waugh | first=Tom | title=Men's pornography gay vs. straight | url=http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC30folder/PornWaugh.html | access-date=12 October 2019}} Solo pornography recognized with AVN Awards include the All Alone series"[http://avnawards.avn.com/past/winners/2010 2010 Winners] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20131207095914/http://avnawards.avn.com/past/winners/2010 |date=7 December 2013 }}", AVN Awards, URL accessed 25 November 2012. and All Natural: Glamour Solos.[http://business.avn.com/articles/video/AVN-Announces-the-2012-AVN-Award-Winners-461715.html AVN – AVN Announces the 2012 AVN Award Winners] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120629195808/http://business.avn.com/articles/video/AVN-Announces-the-2012-AVN-Award-Winners-461715.html |date=29 June 2012 }}. Retrieved 9 April 2012.

{{Main|Masturbation in animals}}

File:Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) (6011903243).jpg masturbating]]

Masturbatory behavior has been documented in a very wide range of species. Individuals of some species have been known to create tools for masturbation purposes.

Many animals, both male and female, masturbate, both when partners are available and otherwise.{{cite book |author= Watson, P. F. |title= Artificial breeding of non-domestic animals: (the proceedings of a symposium held at the Zoological Society of London on 7 and 8 September 1977) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=kY8sZ7h4AEMC |access-date= 9 February 2013 |year= 1978 |publisher= Academic Press for the Zoological Society of London |isbn= 978-0126133431}}{{cite book |author= Balcombe, Jonathan P. |author-link=Jonathan Balcombe |title= The Exultant Ark: A Pictorial Tour of Animal Pleasure |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tz9mSyTWh0oC&pg=PA89 |year= 2011 |publisher= University of California Press |isbn= 978-0520260245 |pages= 89–}} For example, it has been observed in cats,{{cite journal | last1 = Schwartz | first1 = S | year = 1999 | title = Use of cyproheptadine to control urine spraying and masturbation in a cat | journal = Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association | volume = 214 | issue = 3| pages = 369–71 | doi = 10.2460/javma.1999.214.03.369 | pmid = 10023399 }} dogs,{{cite book |title= Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=K-IfAQAAIAAJ |year= 1931 |publisher= American Veterinary Medical Association.}}{{cite book |author= Müller, Georg Alfred |title= Diseases of the dog and their treatment |url= https://archive.org/details/cu31924001017528 |year= 1897 |publisher= W.H. Hoskins |pages= [https://archive.org/details/cu31924001017528/page/n192 183]–}} male Cape ground squirrels,{{Cite journal | last1 = Waterman | first1 = J. M. | editor1-last = Briffa | editor1-first = Mark | title = The Adaptive Function of Masturbation in a Promiscuous African Ground Squirrel | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0013060 | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 5 | issue = 9 | pages = e13060 | year = 2010 | pmid = 20927404| pmc =2946931 | bibcode = 2010PLoSO...513060W | doi-access = free}} male deer,{{cite journal | last1 = Marchinton | first1 = R. Larry | last2 = Moore | first2 = W. Gerald | year = 1971 | title = Auto-Erotic Behavior in Male White-Tailed Deer | journal = Journal of Mammalogy | volume = 52 | issue = 3| pages = 616–617 | doi=10.2307/1378600| jstor = 1378600 }}{{cite book |author= Leonard Lee Rue III |title= The Deer of North America |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ni6Hbqm04vIC&q=masturbating |access-date= 8 September 2013 |year= 2004 |publisher= Globe Pequot Press |isbn= 978-1592284658}}{{cite book |author= Leonard Lee Rue, III |title= The Deer Hunter's Illustrated Dictionary: Full Explanations of More Than 600 Terms and Phrases Used by Deer Hunters Past and Present |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NEmiQq2PgOEC&q=masturbating |year= 2001 |publisher= Globe Pequot Press |isbn= 978-1585743490}} rhinoceroses,{{cite book|author1=R. Eric Miller|author2=Murray E. Fowler|title=Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=llBcBAAAQBAJ&q=masturbation|year=2014|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-1455773992}} boars,{{cite journal | last1 = Shipley | first1 = Clifford F | year = 1999 | title = Breeding soundness examination of the boar | url = https://aasv.org/shap/issues/v7n3/v7n3p117.html | journal = Journal of Swine Health and Production | volume = 7 | issue = 3 | pages = 117–120 | access-date = 2018-02-15 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180216025103/https://aasv.org/shap/issues/v7n3/v7n3p117.html | archive-date = 2018-02-16 | url-status = dead }} male monkeys,{{cite book |author= A. F. Dixson |title= Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and Humans |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SY-PyKNQglIC&q=masturbation |year=2012 |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0199544646}}{{cite book |author1= Jean-Baptiste Leca |author2= Michael A. Huffman |author3= Paul L. Vasey |title= The Monkeys of Stormy Mountain: 60 Years of Primatological Research on the Japanese Macaques of Arashiyama |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp29DCCjiMUC&q=masturbation |access-date= 8 September 2013 |year=2012 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 978-0521761857}} cetaceans,{{Cite book |last=Würsig |first=Bernd |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sex_in_Cetaceans/mfjYEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA164&printsec=frontcover |title=Sex in Cetaceans: Morphology, Behavior, and the Evolution of Sexual Strategies |last2=Orbach |first2=Dara N. |date=2023-09-25 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-031-35651-3 |language=en}} and otters.{{cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/life-and-culture/erry-2018/12/975be66fd14638/twitter-responds-to-the-death.html|title=Twitter responds to the death of Eddie, the slam dunking, self-pleasuring, Oregon Zoo sea otter|website=The Oregonian|date=21 December 2018 }}

{{portal|Human sexuality}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• Adult video arcade
• Cum shot
• Die große Nacht im Eimer
• Jugum penis, archaic anti-masturbation device
• National Masturbation Day
• Nocturnal emission
• Phone sex
• Self-love
• Sex doll
• Sex magic
• Sexual assistance
• Venus Butterfly

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=DeMartino|first=Manfred F. |title=Human Autoerotic Practices |publisher=Human Sciences Press |location=New York |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-87705-373-6 }}
• {{cite book |last=Dodson|first=Betty|title=Liberating Masturbation: A Meditation on Self Love |publisher=Bodysex Designs |location= |year=1974 |asin=B001TNSX4C}}
• {{cite web | last=Fox | first=Douglas | title=Masturbating may protect against prostate cancer | website=New Scientist | date=16 July 2003 | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3942-masturbating-may-protect-against-prostate-cancer/}}
• {{cite web | last=Herbenick | first=Debby | title=Guys, 4 Reasons Why Masturbation Is Good For You | website=The Trent | date=24 November 2014 | url=https://www.thetrentonline.com/guys-4-reasons-masturbation-good/ }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Hurlbert|first1=David Farley |first2=Karen Elizabeth|last2=Whittaker | year = 1991 | title = The Role of Masturbation in Marital and Sexual Satisfaction: A Comparative Study of Female Masturbators and Nonmasturbators | journal = Journal of Sex Education & Therapy | volume = 17 | issue = 4| pages = 272–282 |doi=10.1080/01614576.1991.11074029 }}
• {{cite book |last=Marcus|first=Irwin M. |title=Masturbation: From Infancy to Senescence |publisher=International Universities Press |location=New York |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-8236-3150-6 }}
• {{cite book |last=Theobald|first=Stephanie |title= Sex Drive |publisher=Unbound Press |location= London |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-78352-681-9 }}
• {{cite book|first1=Drew C.|last1=Messer|first2=C. Eugene|last2=Walker|editor-first1=Thomas H.|editor-last1=Ollendick|editor-first2=Carolyn S.|editor-last2=Schroeder|title=Encyclopedia of Clinical Child and Pediatric Psychology|chapter-url=http://members.home.nl/icnl/messerandwalker.pdf|date=6 December 2012|orig-year=2003|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4615-0107-7|pages=359–360|chapter=Masturbation|oclc=913623298|location=Boston, MA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404005646/http://members.home.nl/icnl/messerandwalker.pdf|archive-date=4 April 2020}}

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• {{youTube|dgKsMG27qAs|Masturbation PSA. Masturbation Is A Personal Choice}} (University of Guelph students enrolled in FRHD 4200 Issues in Human Sexuality created Public Service Announcement (PSA) on the health benefits of masturbation).
• {{youTube|2dguohRrxzg|Masturbation PSA. Masturbation – There Is No Shame In Loving Yourself.Group 5.mov}} (University of Guelph students enrolled in FRHD 4200 Issues in Human Sexuality created Public Service Announcement (PSA) on the health benefits of masturbation).

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