With the Hand - A Cultural History of Masturbation

257 Pages·2016·1.22 MB·English

by  Mels Van. Vincent

WITH THE HAND
A Cultural History of
Masturbation
Mels van Driel

with the hand

WITH THE HAND
A Cultural History of Masturbation
Mels Van Driel
TranslatedbyPaulVincent
reaktion books
PublishedbyReaktionBooksLtd
33GreatSuttonStreet
Londonec1vodx,uk
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
Firstpublished2012
Firstpublishedin2010asMetdehand.Eenculturelegeschiedenisvandesoloseks
byUitgeverijDeArbeiderspers,Amsterdam
TranslatedbyPaulVincent
English-languagetranslation©ReaktionBooks,2012
Thispublicationhasbeenmadepossiblewithfinancialsupportfromthe
DutchFoundationforLiterature.
Allrightsreserved
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,or
transmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,
recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorpermissionofthepublishers.
PrintedandboundinGreatBritainbyTJInternational,Padstow,Cornwall
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Driel,Melsvan,1954–
Withthehand:aculturalhistoryofmasturbation.
1.Masturbation.
I.Title
306.7’72-dc23
isbn9781861899194
Contents
1 Introduction 7
2 Ages,LocationsandFrequencies 16
Smallchildren–Youngpeople–Adultsandtheelderly,fatandthin–
Timesandlocations
3 Education 26
Lovingyourself –Backin1925–Masturbationaftercircumcision–
Masturbationandthementallyhandicapped–Masturbationtoorder–
Workshopsforwomen:lessonsinmasturbation–Multipleorgasms–The
masturbationrepertory–Fingering–Thefemaleprostateandejaculation–
Thediscoveryoftheclitoris–Inthepresenceofothers
4 SexAids 57
Sextoys–Dildos,vibratorsandpins–History–Thevibratorasamedical
instrument–Menonsexaids–Onlineshopping–TheButtPlugGnome–
Horses–Agoodorgasmisbeyondprice–Analstimulation–Artificial
ejaculation–Thevolume,smellandtasteofsperm–BillClinton
5 Animals 94
DrTatiana–Thezoodirector
6 DoctorsandOtherScientists 100
Tissot–MarieAntoinette–Ailmentscausedbyonanism–Causesofonanism
–Remedies–Neurasthenia,nutritionandmorecuriousobjects–Clitori-
dectomy–The‘BringersofEnlightenment’–Scholarsinthehumanities–
Masturbationandprostatecancer–Othermoderninsights–Theinternet
anddiaries
7 Culture,ReligionsandPhilosophers 146
Mythology–TheOldTestamentandJudaism–Onan–Ezekiel–The
ChristianChurches–Islam–Taoism–Modernphilosophers–Conclusions
8 WritersandPoets 172
Classicaltexts–Frenchpriapicverseofthesixteenthandseventeenth
centuries–Maleauthors–Femaleauthors–Morepoems
9 Entertainment 202
Songsandlimericks–Films
10 Artists 209
Giorgione–Titian–Rembrandt–Baudouin–Rops–Klimt–DeFeure–
Beardsley–Schoff–Schiele–Grosz–Schad–Dalí–Fischl–Serrano–Emin
–McKenzie
11 InConclusion 234
Morality–Taboo
BibliographicalSources 242
PhotoAcknowledgements 249
Index 251
1
Introduction
Masturbation refers to the practice of stimulating one’s own
genitaliainsuchawayastoproducesexualarousalandpossibly
orgasm. In the case of a man this means that his semen is not
depositedintheappropriateorificeinawoman’sbody.Hewastes
hisseed,inthecenturies-oldviewofmanyreligionsandcultures.
Other popular terms for this activity are onanism, auto-
eroticism, solitary sex and, more recently, sex for one. The
phenomenon occurs in humans and animals and in both sexes.
‘Masturbation’ derives from the Latin words mas and turbare,
‘masculine/masculinity’ and ‘move (violently)’. A variant of this
etymologyinterpretsthefirstpartofthewordasaformofmanus,
‘hand’, and the second asstuprum , ‘debauch’. The Latin poet
Martialusestheformmasturbor,i.e.asadeponentverb,whichis
passive in form and active in meaning. The active form mastur-
bareisnotfound.
Slang terms for the practice of masturbation are legion and
often very inventive. Besides the familiar British ‘wank’ and
American‘jerkoff’,websiteslikewww.nowscape.comyieldliter-
allyhundredsofpicturesqueexpressionsformasturbation,male
andfemale.Formentheseinclude:assaultonafriendlyweapon,
being your own best friend, charming the cobra, Custer’s last
stand,gettingintouchwithyourself,onemanshow,playingthe
organ,punishingthebishop,roughingupthesuspectandshaking
hands with Abe Lincoln. Women have a slightly more limited
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withthehand
choice (though some examples, like ‘getting in touch with your-
self’, are clearly unisex): a general term is ‘fingering (oneself)’,
while others include a night with the girls, engaging in safe sex,
havingsexwithsomeoneyoulove,manualoverride,partingthe
RedSeaandsqueezingthepeach.Apossibleexplanationforthis
imbalance in terminology is that while the genitalia form an
integralpartofawoman’sbody,thephallusisanexternalorgan,
literallyandfiguratively‘outonalimb’.
Theveryfirstsurvivingdescriptionoffemalemasturbationis
by the French writer Restif de la Bretonne, quoted by Havelock
Ellis(1859–1939)inTheEvolutionofModesty(PartiofStudiesin
thePsychologyofSex,1897).In1755Restifhadmetawoman,not
prettybutwell-endowed,whohadbeenbroughtupinaconvent.
He saw her becoming excited as she looked lustfully out of the
windowatayoungman:
Her movements became agitated, I approached her and am
convinced that she was using terms of endearment; she had
gonered.Thenshesigheddeeplyandstoodmotionless,stretch-
ingoutherlegs,whichwerestiffasifshewereinpain...
Todaythereareexcellentnon-pornographicsitesshowingimages
andsoundsofmasturbatingmenandwomen.Myownfavourite
is www.beautifulagony.com. On payment of a subscription one
can see moving images of almost a thousand faces. The precise
method of masturbation is not shown. Anyone can send in a
digitalvideo,againonpaymentofafee.Thecontributors’names
arewithheld,thoughtheexactnumberofminutesandmegabytes
takenupbytheirheavenlyexperiencesarenot.Obviouslymany
peoplehaveexhibitionistictendencies,butthesiteitselfcouldbe
calledprudish,sinceaswassaid,nogenitaliaareonview–notas
muchasanipple.Abettersiteforphysicaldetailiswww.seemen
masturbate.com. The orgasms on www.beautifulagony.com, un-
likethoseonmanypornsites,arereal.Itisasifthatauthenticity
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