It was written by the songwriting team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg along with Christine Amphlett and Mark McEntee of the Divinyls.

[3] It was released in November 1990 by Virgin Records as the lead single from the band's fourth album, Divinyls (1991), and deals with the subjects of eroticism and female masturbation.

Alex Henderson from AllMusic described the song as "infectious,"[17] while editor Adrian Zupp called it a "lascivious headline-grabber.

"[18] A reviewer from Billboard stated that it's a "modern rock smash," noting lead singer Christina Amphlett's video appearance as "eye-catching.

"[19] James Muretich from Calgary Herald joked, "One gathers she's not talking about scratching her nose".

It's a song about female obsession, gratification, frustration and masturbation which, apparently, Mike Read played on Round Table and then got extremely embarrassed by.

"[22] Alan Jones from Music Week commented, "'I Touch Myself' has already been a number one single in their native Australia, and is now in the US Top 10.

"[23] Caroline Sullivan from Smash Hits called it "one of pop's finer nanoseconds" in her review of the DiVINYLS album.

[26] In June 2014, Connie Mitchell, Deborah Conway, Kate Ceberano, Katie Noonan, Little Pattie, Megan Washington, Olivia Newton-John, Sarah Blasko, Sarah McLeod and Suze DeMarchi released a version of "I Touch Myself", with each providing her own interpretation and distinct style to the song.

[28] In 2016, the I Touch Myself Project partnered with Berlei to create the Chrissy Bra, which reminds women to examine their breasts for anomalies when dressing, and a Chrissy Post-Surgery Bra, designed specifically for women who have undergone breast-cancer surgery.

It became Instagram's most retweeted post, most widely discussed campaign and most watched video during International Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The song has been featured in the 1997 comedy film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, as a cover version by Scala & Kolacny Brothers during the first episode of the second season of Sex Education[58] and is mentioned in the Friends episode "The One Where Monica Sings".

An a cappella version sung by a female choir figured prominently in the first episode of the 2023 comic mystery TV series Deadloch.