Masturbation myths: Fact or fiction?

Hands up all those of you who have heard these statements before;

Masturbation:

Most of us now recognize that the above were just myths but as teens we may well have believed them. Of course if they were true then half the world's population would be blind dwarfs with acne and hairy palms because surveys suggest that over 80% of women and 99% of men masturbate or have masturbated at sometime in their lives.

Many of the sexual myths that survive today have deep roots. For example, around the turn of the century, many adults were so against masturbation that they forced girls to wear gloves made of a wire wool substance at night and would put powder on their genitals that made them painful to touch. Boys were often forced to wear chastity belts at night so that an erection would cause pain. Sex was not meant to be pleasurable, it was only for making babies. Self-gratification was seen as the lowest form of pleasure back in those days and the foundation for that belief had been laid thousands of years before.

Okay, so I know we, thankfully, don't torture our kids in order to curb what is a natural instinct but masturbation is still seen as wrong by many people. Many of us still feel uncomfortable masturbating into adulthood because of what we were taught or told in those early years by our parents or peers. Those fears still persist even if we logically know that many are unfounded.

Even between adults many masturbation myths abound. Ever heard the one about how only losers masturbate as they can't get the real thing? Or the one that states that couples never masturbate? In both cases neither is true. Many people masturbate for many reasons the most common ones being:

There are many, many more reasons why people masturbate, the above are just the most common ones. To be fair there are also people that do not masturbate either for religious or moral reasons. There is absolutely nothing wrong with abstaining from masturbation on any grounds. The act of masturbation by its very definition is about pleasure. If doing it makes you feel guilty or doesn't give you pleasure then please don't feel that you have to do it.

Some people maintain the belief that if you masturbate you will no longer be a virgin. This is another falsehood. Masturbation will not take away your virginity. A virgin, by definition, is someone who has not had sexual intercourse. Masturbation isn't sexual intercourse. If you insert your fingers or other objects into your vagina, you may disrupt your hymen (the membrane that stretches across the opening and is typically broken during first-time sex). But if you have not had sex, then you are still a virgin. There are many ways a woman can break her hymen accidentally without having sex, and none of them take away her virginity.

Married/cohabiting couples never masturbate is yet another common myth. In fact the reverse is often true. Mutual masturbation can often add to intimacy in a relationship and open channels of communication between a couple. Many people feel that they are failing in some way if they discover their partner is masturbating. This again is just not true in most cases. Often in a relationship one partner has a higher sex drive than the other, sometimes one partner may work away. If it worries or concerns you try and talk to your partner about why they feel they have to masturbate. You may just be surprised by the answers.

Pregnant woman shouldn't masturbate is another. There is no medical evidence to suggest that this will harm the child or Mother in anyway. New studies are showing that an orgasm can be a natural way to induce labor in the later stages of a pregnancy. This research is still in it's infancy but many nurses have long recognized this fact. There was a thought that orgasm could lead to premature labor and delivery, however new studies are now finding this is not always the case. Masturbation is a natural stress reliever and can therefore benefit a pregnant woman in the latter part of pregnancy when perhaps penetrative sex becomes more difficult to achieve. HOWEVER, if you do have a history of premature labor, it is always best to check with your physician.

Masturbation is, in fact, probably the safest form of sex that anyone can practice. Remember you can't get pregnant or any STD's from masturbating but you can learn a lot about your own sexuality and body. The only time masturbation could present a real problem is if it becomes an obsession.

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