Importance of masturbation

[Jthompson]

Does anyone else feel like masturbating is just not only feels good, but important as a dude? I feel like it should be seen as less something weird, or even taboo, but talked about like it’s eating lunch or something.

[Nnoki]

I mean, I know guys who don't masturbate and do just fine
I don't think it can be called as "Important", because it isn't vital. Not at least for everyone
I support it being treated like it is now, I won't go everywhere talking about how I masturbated 2 hours ago to certain video; being compared on how I'll talk on how good was the salad I had for lunch on certain place.

It is normal, yes.
Most guys do it, yes.
Should be treated like a taboo, no.
Should be treated with discretion but not make it seem as wrong, absolutely.
At least that's what I think

[Adamant]

Well its certainly talked about here!
Its not like we talk about other bodily functions. I have never been asked the last time I picked my nose!
With friends maybe OK but much more private than just chatting about it on the bus.

[mick01]

My friends and brothers talk about it pretty openly like we're talking about eating lunch but outside of that group it's not discussed. I think it's kind of a personal thing and should only be talked about or acknowledged with those close to you.

[Gazebo]

“Hey Jim did ya beat your meat yet today?”
“Nah but I did it twice yesterday, Tom.”
“Outstanding work my guy!”

It’s a taboo subject because average people don’t want to hear about how and when you fondle your genitals.

[THE_D3_4D_3Y_35]

It actually is important, it's not just for the fun of it. You need to cum eventually and if you don't wank you most probably will have wet dreams and do it during your sleep which I imagine is not too fun and messy. It also releases tension and is helping to fall asleep.

[jamie_n5]

I think that masturbation is a perfectly natural and healthy thing to do. It can be openly talked about if you so choose to do so.

[ska8er]

Its also necessary to clean out ur pipes.

[Maxbreak]

I read somewhere it could have an effect on a boy's prostate

[breaux]

“Hey Jim did ya beat your meat yet today?”
“Nah but I did it twice yesterday, Tom.”
“Outstanding work my guy!”

It’s a taboo subject because average people don’t want to hear about how and when you fondle your genitals.
This.

[ShineintheDark]

Sex is pretty taboo in society and so by extension so is masturbation. There's no real need to make it widely discussed per se but in the context of sex education and puberty talks, it could certainly do with more open discussion.

[JQL---]

That's a personal decision

[ska8er]

I read somewhere it could have an effect on a boy's prostate

Its relieves a congested prostate to guys
who r prone to urinary infections.


:tree::usflag:

[Hermes]

It's certainly not a need in the same way that breathing or food and water are. Your body can cope if you don't do it. Yes, you may get wet dreams when you otherwise wouldn't do but some people like them and the mess will wash out of sheets and underwear just fine with normal laundering.

On the other hand, as well as being very enjoyable most guys find that after they cum they are relaxed and maybe slightly sleepy. If it is last thing at night that's perfect for sleeping. They also find, if they haven't cum for a while that they are horny to the point of being distracted from things they should be doing and also feeling a bit on edge. Then, as someone pointed out above, regular ejaculation has been found to be good for your prostate.

So, given the advantages it is no surprise most guys like to do it, and I also think most guys know that most other guys do it and that it isn't something weird.

It is caught up in the whole thing about anything sexual, though, in that we do it in private and don't talk about it freely in public i.e. to people who are simply acquaintances rather than close friends, unless we can do so semi-anonymously.

How much would you want to change that, though? If your mum had to go away on business or to visit someone for a day or two and your dad came down to breakfast and announced that he a fantastic wank the previous night would think it was great that he was so open or would you think it a bit weird.

You can choose to talk about it with people you know well enough to know they would react positively.

[citycanuck]

I think it'd be great if it was something that didn't have this sort of stigma attached to it, somehow like you're less of a man if you masturbate instead of having sex. It's like the worst-kept "secret" among guys - we all know we do it so there shouldn't be anything bad or shameful about it or being able to talk about it. I know a few guys with whom I can comfortably talk about it with, so I guess I'm sort of lucky that way.

[Anomaly6]

I do it but dont tell anyone I did.. Some days I dont get to do it but it's nice because it makes me feel good!

[Hermes]

I think it'd be great if it was something that didn't have this sort of stigma attached to it, somehow like you're less of a man if you masturbate instead of having sex...

That's a slightly different thing from what I was thinking about in my previous answer but it certainly is an attitude I have come across with other guys wanting you to think they get so much sex, because they're such studs of course, that they don't need to masturbate any more.

Realistically, that is probably wishful thinking every bit as much as the 14 y/o with a 10" dick. Not everyone does, but most guys like to cum every day - how many both have a g/f (of b/f) and see them every day and get a chance to do something sexual each time? It might happen once you're older and start to live together but probably not before then.

Masturbation is the first way many of us first experience the pleasure of orgasm and it the thing that remains available whatever else happens. Sometimes we may be single, other times attached and even then she may not be in the mood on any given day. It's important not to think of masturbation as second rate or just a substitute for sex - it is enjoyable in its own right, helps stabilise our moods, almost all guys love to do it and the best thing to do is work on making it as good as possible.

[kayin]

I think masturbation is something for boys to learn about sex

[pauly]

I hate to throw a new suggestion into this thread.

But some, if not most, religions frown on masturbation. It's to do with the waste of sperm being forbidden.

However, in the world of most of us, it is enjoyable, stimulating physically and mentally...but some would say it's not absolutely essential.

[Falcons_11]

It's a safe alternative to intercourse.

[Hermes]

...But some, if not most, religions frown on masturbation. It's to do with the waste of sperm being forbidden.
I don't know about most religions but it may also depend if you mean a religion or a sect/branch of that religion. Taking Christianity as an example the Roman Catholic branch of the religion has different ideas in this area from the majoity of protestants, for example the Church of England or Lutheran churches.

I am pretty sure the idea that wasting sperm is a sin came about before anybody really understood how things actually work. Then you need to know what you mean by wasted. Do you mean didn't fuse with the egg to create a xygote? Or do you just mean were not in the race to get to the egg? And while, by either definition, the sperm you ejaculate at the end of masturbating are wasted they would also be wasted if you were to ejaculate them in a wet dream or even if you managed to avoid ejaculating them at all.

Sperm are like butterflies in that they spend the larger part of their lives maturing and then, once mature and ready to go, they don't live very long - about five days. So a boy who is 14, horny and has sperm who have matured and are ready to ejaculate can't choose instead to save them up for ten years until he is 24, married and ready to become a dad. By then they will be long dead having never been in the race to meet an egg and will have been replaced with freshly made ones.

The only way that boy could avoid wasting those sperm would be find a girl who is the fertile 1/4 of her monthly cycle and squirt them inside her thus getting her pregnant which, when you're still in education and not ready to be a dad is a really bad idea. Even if he were to do that, he has only avoided wasting most of them by the 2nd definition. Only one out of millions would actually fuse with the egg.

Once you understand that, it is very difficult to imagine that God is worried about this. If he was worried about wasted sperm he would surely have delayed us starting to make them until we were married and ready for baby making.

So then, you look at the story of Onan, which is generally reckoned be to be origin of this argument, and read that Onan was supposed to impregnate his dead brother's wife according to the customs of they day and God sdaid to him to do that, but each time they had sex he "spilled his seed on the ground", i.e. pulled out before cumming, and God put him to death. Some people have seized on the "spilled seed" part and generalised that into "all spilling of seed is sinful" but it is an over-generalisation. The more obvious, and I think correct interpreation, is that God put him to death because God told him to do something and he deliberately avoided doing it.

[citycanuck]

I hate to throw a new suggestion into this thread.

But some, if not most, religions frown on masturbation. It's to do with the waste of sperm being forbidden.

However, in the world of most of us, it is enjoyable, stimulating physically and mentally...but some would say it's not absolutely essential.

That's an interesting perspective. I wonder how many guys that are, or were, brought up in those religions actually refrain from masturbation?

[Jrunner]

I never really thought of it as 'important" per se but maybe, I dunno

[Hermes]

That's an interesting perspective. I wonder how many guys that are, or were, brought up in those religions actually refrain from masturbation?

Probably not many given how hard it is to refrain. The difference is if they believe it is a sin they have a reason to feel guilty and if they don't they can enjoy it guilt free.

Consider that once religion becomes an organised affair, rather than a grass roots movement, the leaders of that religion want you to need that religion in your life. Taking Christianity as an example, the core message is that Jesus died for our sins and that as long as we believe in Him, God will forgive us. How convenient if there were to be a sin that people couldn't help but commit? That would make sure Christians needed to believe in Jesus for forgiveness from that sin. They could not, instead, try to live a sin-free life. And if you're Catholic, what better to keep you going back to your church than to have something you need to confess?

Cynical, maybe, but whether you believe in God, the organised churches are human organisations and in the same way that a business wants you to need their product, so does a church.

[Zachary G]

perfectly normal and natural thing to do and I think it is openly discussed, but only between groups of close, trusted peers and some family members. It is kind of a personal thing to do and I dont think it should be common place conversation, say at the dinner table, etc.