Masturbation

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.

[citation needed] 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.

[33] 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.

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.

"[63] 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".

[55][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88] 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.

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.

[101] A 2008 study at Tabriz Medical University found that ejaculation reduces swollen nasal blood vessels, freeing the airway for normal breathing.

[115] A male whose penis is bluntly traumatized during intercourse or masturbation may, rarely, sustain a penile fracture,[110][116][117] develop Peyronie's disease,[9][118] or induce hard flaccid syndrome.

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.

"[113] 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.

[139] 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."

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.

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".

[145][146] 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] 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.

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] 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."

[citation needed] 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.

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.

[157] Even though many medical professionals and scientists have found large amounts of evidence that masturbating is healthy[55][81][84][85][86][87][88][80][150] and commonly practiced by males and females, stigma on the topic still persists today.

"[32] 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.

[citation needed] 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.

[170] 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.

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.

[178] 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,[179] "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,"Masturbation" by Dadaroma.

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.

[186] 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.

Am Abend (1910), one of the earliest pornographic films that have been collected at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction,[188][189] starts with a female masturbation scene.