destigmatizing female M A S B

Women generally agree that discussing sex isn’t as uncomfortable as discussing individual pleasure because it’s less intimate and private. For women, sex is significantly more welcomed than masturbating. It all routes back to satisfying male desires, and that conversation of male desires is always much easier. This and masturbation are double standards for women. This dates back to early sexual education. I recently talked to my sister about the topic, and she made an interesting point

When you first learn about the basics of sex and the body as a young teenager, usually, the teachers choose one day to discuss the male components of puberty and the other day for the female components of puberty.

My sister pointed out that the boys were told about their biological needs and learned that it’s normal to satisfy those biological needs (masturbating).

At the same time, we girls were only taught about our menstrual cycles and birth control— how to keep ourselves free of STDs and avoid pregnancy. The teachers never mentioned self-pleasure; they never even insinuated to the girls that it was okay. By the way, I can’t recall the boys ever being taught about condoms or how to put one on, but maybe that was just my program. The fact that this stigma is so strong it lingers in school systems is just wrong. It’s such a simple, silly thing that can be fixed.

TAWe, girls, face many challenges in life that men could never even fathom, like having an orgasm during sex. Honestly, I highly doubt guys even know what it’s like to be so excited about sex and then experience the biggest letdown of your life and accomplish absolutely nothing through intercourse. Newsflash ladies! This doesn’t have to be the case. This really great thing I mentioned earlier can help you out…masturbation! Masturbation? As a young woman, how could I speak of such a thing? We’re going to cut the bullshit right now. By the end of this article, I promise you, your mom, your best friend, and maybe even your dog will be a female masturbation advocate.

To answer my first question, “Why don’t women feel comfortable discussing masturbation?” I think the answer is obvious: the reaction from society. The negative judgment that stops women from openly discussing self-pleasure seeds from the misogynistic views that men created way back when. Why do those views still apply?

I couldn’t tell you. This stigma around women openly discussing self-pleasure needs to end.