Self pleasuring. A big problem, or a bigger problem?

[Brian]

What do you all think about the act of self pleasuring, and how should one stop doing this. It seems as though it is a very addictive behavior. It is one that will often distract me from more important things. Recently I went a bit without performing this act, but more recently I failed and gave way to this behavior. Any suggestions?

[Dan]

I think self pleasuring is a good thing, not a bad one. It lets you discover more about you and your body. It helps you become sexually mature, and makes you feel more comfortable discussing intimacy with a future partner. It can become a problem if you become addicted to it, but it seems that most Ipower rangers have taken this self-pleasuring thing is bad to far. You guys sound like the christian pastors from the 70's who told people that their palms would get hairy or they would go blind if they do it to often.

[Brian]

No one said anything about blindness or hairy palms....I don't see how masturbation relates to sexual maturity, and I doubt most would willingly discuss their masturbation experiences with a spouse.

[Dan]

I wasn't saying you would talk about masturbation with your spouse, I'm saying you would learn about yourself and what you like, which in turn you can communicate to your spouse. I feel masturbating makes you more comfortable with your sexuality.

About the hair palms and such. I was referring to how I see a new thread almost daily about someone who is completely trying to stop masturbating, like being a sexual being is a bad thing. I understand that if you're doing it so much that you don't do anything productive during the day, that you need to cut back. And I've willingly talked to my significant others in the past about my masturbation habits, and they have told me about theirs, but I guess maybe that's because I'm really comfortable with my sexuality, and maybe that helps them feel comfortable discussing theirs with me then.

[Anthony Wells]

Not only do I totally agree with everything Dan has said, there are many other benefits to male masturbation. One of the biggest recent discoveries about male masturbation is how it reduces one's chances to get prostate cancer. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jul/17mas.htm Not only is this one great benefit, but there are a host of other benefits to partaking in your own sexuality. Please guys, do some research before making your comments.

[Brian]

I never masturbated to the point of lost productivity. I just think that if you are in this way developing a picture of your sexual personality, it becomes a very selfish picture. It's not that you're very "comfortable" with your sexuality. I am comfortable when I do not masturbate, because I believe it is not natural. So I then am also comfortable with my sexuality. I am also much more comfortable when I do not have a load of sexual cues in my environment, which is all too common today, so maybe we are just different people.

@ Anthony, ejaculation will decrease your risk of prostate cancer. The act of taking your wiener in your hand does not likely decrease the risk of prostate cancer. So since luckily as a young person you are not likely to have to deal with prostate cancer, you can wait to use your tool when you meet the right woman. These "host of other benefits" are highly normative and an argument can easily be made in the other direction based on "research," as you say. I would argue that the case for health can be better made for not masturbating as it pertains to energy levels and psychological health. SO if by us guys doing some research next time you mean to misinterpret a single fact from a .com URL, I think I will pass, thanks Anthony.

[Dan]

If you better know what pleases you, you will have a more satisfying sex life. That may be selfish, but in order to have your partner do things that you enjoy you have to open the line of communication on the topic. This creates open dialogue between BOTH partners and what they enjoy, thus, by doing something selfish you benefit both parties involved.

Why keep yourself from doing something that would be enjoyable if it doesn't have any negative impacts on your health or your surroundings?

[Brian]

You enjoy getting off, we don't need to make a scientific breakthrough here by touching our weiner.

[Deniability]

If you've got an itch, scratch it. Youknowwutimsayyin??

[Brian]

Thanks for contributing something useful to the discussion, knowwhatimsayin??

[SeekerScorpio]

But but but... most of the populace pressures their own personal beliefs upon other people.... why can't he?
I mean no one is stopping the Christians on this, why should this guy not do so? =/

[Lasse Hansen]

Wow, In my opinion its a very private act and to be honest it is something everyone eventually do time to time, and its not bad! You have the right to feel good when you feel down :)

[Brian]

@ vic, I do not know where you got the idea that masturbation is a natural part of adult sexuality. I think you likely just made that up...also, your mocking retort, insisting I had suggested someones genitals would fall off does not do much for your point. Your analogy makes no sense.....

@ Sekker. What do you mean by "no one is stopping the christians"? Should they be stopped?? lol I think anyone is entitled to thier beleif, and should be able to share it. I think that if our society was different, and consisted of less sexual explicit material and less sexual cues, everyone would view masturbation very differently.

@ Lasse. If getting smashed drunk makes you feel good when you are down, should you do it whenever you feel you need to?