This chapter focuses on horniness: on the thoughts and images that arouse characters enough to motivate them to masturbate. From real people, to real sex, to porn through to displays of violence, the what of masturbation is investigated to uncover what libido triggers reveal about characters, sex and society.
Before discussing the wide variety of stimuli, it is worthwhile examining the idea that masturbation even needs any kind of help. This chapter focuses on masturbation that is directly fuelled by an arousal trigger; in many examples the act in fact only happens because of the trigger, in others, the trigger simply aids the climax.
In the comedy That’s My Boy (2012), Donnie (Adam Sandler) masturbated to an old swimsuit photograph of his son’s fiancée’s grandmother: he was unable to locate any other stimuli but seemingly needed something. A similar item was used in an episode of the British teen series The Inbetweeners (2008–2010) when Jay (James Buckley)—“in his never ending quest for fresh material”—masturbated using a photo of a nursing home resident as a younger woman. In the comedy Grandma’s Boy (2006), Alex (Allen Covert) masturbated over a Lara Croft action figure propped up on a toilet cistern in the absence of any “traditionally” stimulating material. In the British sitcom Peep Show (2003–), Jeremy (Robert Webb) was at the sperm bank and, via voiceover, narrated his predicament of being without porn: “No porn? Am I supposed to just dry hump myself? Must be something I can use.” He then took a crumpled £20 banknote from his pocket and examined the image of the Queen. “Would it be wrong?” he asked himself, before masturbating over the banknote.[1] In a similar-themed example from the comedy-drama The Good Girl (2002), Phil (John C. Reilly) had to give a semen sample. His wife, Justine (Jennifer Aniston), was in the bathroom with him, and Phil—having difficulty completing the task—asked her, “let me hold your boob.” In the horror film Alive or Dead (2008), Maria (Ann Henson) masturbated while driving and talking dirty to her boyfriend, Terry, on the phone. At one point Maria stopped the car and asked Terry to hold. Frustrated, Terry responded, “What? I don’t even have a porno in.” Terry’s retort—implying that he needs something to aid his masturbation—narrates what was transpiring in That’s My Boy, The Inbetweeners, Grandma’s Boy, Peep Show and The Good Girl: that characters—notably male characters—need something to masturbate to: that the task is impossible without it.[2] (In the comedy-drama Don Jon (2013), an extreme version of this transpired when the title character (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in fact couldn’t masturbate without porn). In line with presentations that routinely depict female masturbation as sexy and often “unsullied” by external influences, male masturbation in all its desperation and humor apparently demands accoutrements. The comedy 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002) illustrates just how “normal” this idea is. Matt (Josh Hartnett) was abstaining from all sexual activity for Lent. In one scene, in thorough horny desperation, he picked up a porn magazine and headed to the bathroom. Matt’s abstinence was presented as having rendered him a sexually desperate mess. In such a state of heightened arousal, it might be suspected that Matt could simply masturbate out of sheer sexual excitement. This does not happen: he still picked up a magazine, his horniness alone was apparently insufficient. One interpretation for the use of accoutrements in these scenes—even ones as ridiculous as banknotes or action figures—is a subtle way to demonize male masturbation and present the male as depraved and at least a little perverted, if not disgusting and cripplingly reliant on visual stimuli.[3]
A connected interpretation lies in debates about the supposed mainstreaming of porn. For Jon in Don Jon for example, porn dominated what he found arousing: in the presence of a real life beautiful woman (Scarlett Johansson), Jon still firmly believed “Real pussy’s not as good as porn.” This idea illustrates one of the concerns about the so-called pornification of culture: that a manufactured product becomes the definition of sexiness rendering real life—and real women—unsatisfying.[4] In cultural theorist Anthony Ferguson’s research, he referred to this idea as “porn creep,” defining it as occurring “when a man becomes so immersed in the artificial world of pornography that he can only relate to a sanitized, on screen or online ideal of female sexuality. He can no longer sexually respond to a real woman or engage in a normal relationship.”[5] A connected aspect of this is that the ubiquitous presence of porn whereby “everything is sexualised, everything may become an object of desire . . . everything can be interpreted in the categories of libidinal fantasies, repression and gender differentiation”[6]—in turn encourages the sexualisation and fetishization of almost everything. It also alludes to an idea that with porn everywhere, men become oversexed and thus harbor stronger yens to masturbate; a drive that perhaps would not be so pervasive without persistent libidinal triggers.
Another explanation lies in the continued cultural discomfort with autoeroticism: that masturbation for no good reason might be too confronting for some audiences and thus it needs a narrative explanation; a tangible reason why a character is driven to such a deprave act. A much more likely explanation however, is that many people do actually masturbate with fantasy, images or other props; that the screen simply mirrors real life. A woman for example, was quoted in sex researcher Shere Hite’s work explaining her conflicted relationship with self-stimulation: “Physically I enjoy it, but psychologically I still have difficulties—a fantasy is necessary.”[7] Another woman similarly stated, “with me orgasm is impossible without an appropriate fantasy.” While we don’t know from where these women’s discomfort stemmed, one possibility is that to stay sufficiently aroused they need to fantasize, alternatively, that they need something to legitimize touching themselves, if not also to distract them from negative emotions such as guilt (chapter 7).
Reassuring an audience of a character’s sexuality—most commonly their heterosexuality—is another explanation for the use of accoutrements in a scene; that having a character masturbate to appropriate material somehow “confirms” their straightness. In philosopher Steven Schneider’s work on male masturbation in cinema for example, he contended that such images exist within “a homophobic culture that somehow equates the desire for self-stimulation to a preference for same-sex union. . . .”[8] This theory, presumably, implies that if a man chooses to masturbate—to touch his own genitals rather than the genitals of the opposite sex—that his masculinity is somehow compromised; that such a scene potentially raises a question about sexual preference. Such a fear was in fact referenced explicitly in the British romantic-comedy I Give It A Year (2013), when Josh (Rafe Spall) tried to convince his therapist that he was so very heterosexual that he didn’t even like handling his own penis. By inserting some kind of suitably heterosexual accoutrement into a scene therefore—a photograph of an opposite-sex love interest for example, or heterosexual porn—concerns about possible homosexuality are diffused.
A final interpretation for the use of accoutrements offered by this chapter centers on laziness. In sexologist Mels van Driel’s cultural history of masturbation, he noted: “Without the Internet, masturbation still requires a lot of effort. . . .”[9] Effort was similarly referenced in the biopic Prick Up Your Ears (1987) when Kenneth (Alfred Molina) explained why he couldn’t just go and “have a wank” as Joe (Gary Oldman) had suggested:
Have a wank? I can’t just have a wank. I need three days’ notice to have a wank. You can just stand there and do it. Me, it’s like organizing D-day. Forces have to be assembled, magazines bought, the past dredged for some suitably unsavory episode, the dogged thought of which can still produce a faint flicker of desire. Have a wank. It’d be easier to raise the Titanic.[10]
While there is a gendered aspect to this and well-established assumptions that men are more easily aroused than women—and thus can be quickly stimulated by images in ways that women are assumed not to be[11]—also spotlighted is the theme of speed and efficiency: that potentially because of fears of getting caught (chapter 2), male characters want to finish as quickly as possible and accoutrements aid this.[12]
As noted, the screen offers a very wide variety of masturbation triggers. The first—in line with The Divinyls’ famous song “I Touch Myself” (1990) (“when I think about you I touch myself”)—is those people known to the masturbator.
In an episode of the British television series Love in the 21st Century (1999), Amanda (Natasha Little) walked in on her boyfriend Jack (Ioan Gruffudd) masturbating. Amanda was upset and demanded to know what he fantasized about. Jack named some of their female friends. Horrified, Amanda accused, “You wank over women we know?” In an episode the sitcom The War At Home (2005–2007), Dave (Michael Rapaport) asked his adolescent son Mike (Dean Collins), what he used to masturbate with. While Dave was actually asking about lubrication, Mike tellingly answered, “Mostly just my imagination.” In the historic-drama The Right Stuff (1983), a nurse (Jane Dornacker) instructed aspiring astronaut Gordon (Dennis Quaid) on how to give his semen sample: “The best results seem to be obtained through fantasization, accompanied by masturbation, followed by ejaculation,” she said, straight-faced. Before the advent of mass media, before celebrity worship, before commercial porn and before cybersex, the dominant masturbatory fuel was likely simply thoughts of other people: past lovers, prospective lovers, current lovers and those random folks who unexpectedly enter daydreams and prompt sexy what-if scenarios[13]: exactly what Jack and Mike confessed to. Even modern research identifies that imagination is still more common an aid to self-stimulation than porn: van Driel discussed a survey that noted that 42 percent of survey respondents used their imagination for autoeroticism compared to 30 percent using the Internet.[14]
In the comedy Meet the Fockers (2004), under the influence of truth serum at his engagement party, Greg (Ben Stiller) revealed to the party-goers, “I still masturbate to Pam.” His fiancée, Pam (Teri Polo), stared at him, appearing mildly mortified. Greg’s declaration—when considered in a world where “pornography and masturbation go together like a BBQ and a beer—you can’t have one without the other”[15]—could be construed as endearing. Pam’s horror however—and the fact that Greg only revealed this fact because he had been drugged—highlights that there seems something peculiar about his admission. While the peculiarity might pertain to Greg speaking publicly about something widely considered private and embarrassing,[16] it is also likely that the strangeness centers on masturbating about a person he already has sexual access to. The object of the screen’s typical fantasy tends to be someone that the masturbator is not currently sexual with. This idea was discussed in an exchange between friends Sydney (Jason Segel) and Peter (Paul Rudd) in the comedy I Love You, Man (2009):
Sydney: Wait, you jerked off to a picture of your own girlfriend? You—that—wow, that is sick! Oh my God, what is wrong with you?
Peter: What’s wrong with that?
Sydney: Pedro, there is so much wrong, I don’t even know where to begin. . . . That is sick, man!
Film and television are visual media and thus the show-don’t tell mantra holds great sway. Masturbation therefore, is often used as a device to provide the audience with an insight into the thoughts and sexual preoccupations of a character. For Greg in Meet the Fockers and Peter in I Love You, Man, masturbating to fantasies about their girlfriends frames them as love-sick nice guys. In other examples however, the contents of a fantasy can reveal about crushes, pining and even creepiness.
Scenes of both men and women masturbating can clue the audience into a love interest. Such a display reveals that the person being fantasized about is someone who arouses the masturbator; that the crush is of the carnal rather than merely romantic variety.
In the British coming of age film Somers Town (2008), adolescent Tomo (Thomas Turgoose) was caught by his friend Marek (Piotr Jagiello) masturbating to a photo of a girl that they both had a crush on. In an episode of the drama-series Dirt (2007–2008), Lucy (Courteney Cox) masturbated to a magazine photo of her love interest Holt (Josh Stewart). In the horror film The Cook (2008), Brooke (Nina Fehren) masturbated to a photo of Amy (Makinna Ridgway). In the Swedish film Fucking Åmål (Show Me Love) (1998), Agnes (Rebecka Liljeberg) masturbated to a class photograph that included her best friend (and crush) Elin (Alexandra Dahlström). In Even Cow Girls Gets the Blues (1993), Sissy (Uman Thurman) masturbated to a photo of Julian (Keanu Reeves). In each example, snapshots were used for stimulation. While on a filmmaking level this can simply be explained as a show-don’t tell visual representation of a masturbator’s thoughts, the use of images can also provide other insights.
In social theory, the term objectification is used to describe the process of turning a person into an object. Once a person is photographed—once they appear as an image—they become an object: “photography inadvertently objectifies people by turning them into things to be looked at.”[17] Sexual objectification—likely more relevant to a discussion of a photo that gets masturbated over—centers on turning a person into a thing, an object, that exists primarily for sexual purposes: to titillate and, ultimately be had sex with. In feminist theory, sexual objectification is generally assumed to be a bad thing and to reduce a person to someone valued primarily—or even exclusively—because of their erotic appeal.[18] In the scenes discussed above, the fact that characters are holding a photo of a person (rather than some other memento) conveys the impression that the attraction is only physical (read: superficial). The photo however, might also just serve as a prompt; as geographer Divya Praful Tolia-Kelly noted, “Photographs also trigger memory from the imagination of other ‘texts’ or textures; through them, family narratives and recollections of a past life are evoked.”[19] For the masturbator, the photo might in fact serve as a catalyst for other fantasies. In psychologists Dennis Howitt and Kerry Sheldon’s research on sex offenders, the role of images as connected to masturbation was discussed: “sometimes an offender would describe how he would use the image as a starting point to generate new images which may be more stimulating for him.”[20] Applied to the screen examples discussed earlier, the use of photos might simply spark other fantasies disconnected from the crush’s appearance.
A crush can also be depicted via masturbation even without the assistance of a photo. Such scenes can involve thoughts—presented via footage or photos—of the crush spliced in with masturbation. In The Good Girl for example, Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) masturbated while thinking about his married co-worker Justine. In the romance Return to Two Moon Junction (1995), Savannah (Melinda Clarke) masturbated while fantasizing about the sculptor Jake (John Clayton Schafer). In Six Feet Under (2001–2005), Brenda (Rachel Griffiths) masturbated while thinking about Scott (Grant Shue). In Gossip Girl (2007–2012), Blair (Leighton Meester) did so while fantasizing about Chuck (Ed Westwick). In each example, fantasy was portrayed via visual depictions of a crush inserted into an autoerotic scene.
A crush can also be exposed via other kinds of masturbation scenes. In the action film Shadowboxer (2005) for example, Vicki (Vanessa Ferlito)—after seeing Mikey (Cuba Gooding Jr.) showering—masturbated while thinking about him and whispered his name as she neared climax. Something similar transpired in the British drama Ashes and Sand (2003) when adolescent Hayley (Lara Belmont) self-stimulated; at one point she whispered “Daniel.” A slightly different crush-reveal occurred in the French drama Le dernier jour (The Last Day) (2004) when Simon (Gaspard Ulliel) masturbated in Mathieu’s (Thibault Vinçon) newly vacated sheets. The same idea played out in another French drama, Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats) (2010), when Francis (Xavier Dolan) masturbated while smelling Nicolas’ (Niels Schneider) t-shirt.
Similar to the depiction of crushes, masturbation can be used on screen to visually portray that one person misses another. More than just missing them in the general sense however, the presentation is one of sexual longing: that they miss fucking them. In the military-drama Jarhead (2005) for example, deployed marine Anthony (Jake Gyllenhaal) masturbated holding a photo of his girlfriend. In the crime-series Banshee (2013–), Anastasia (Ivana Milicevic) masturbated to sexual memories of her with her absent lover. In the thriller Impulse (2008), Claire (Willa Ford) masturbated to thoughts of her deceased husband performing cunnilingus on her. In the mystery The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1976), Anne (Sarah Miles) masturbated while staring at a photo of her deceased husband. In the drama The Brown Bunny (2003), Bud (Vincent Gallo) masturbated to the memory of Daisy (Chloë Sevigny), a deceased lover. In an episode of the biker-drama Sons of Anarchy (2008–), incarcerated Otto (Kurt Sutter) masturbated to the smell of his deceased wife’s perfume. In the drama Autoerotic (2011), the unnamed Adam Wingard character masturbated to a video recording of himself having sex with his ex.
In each example, masturbatory fantasies centered on a specific person being pined for. Self-stimulation was not just a manifestation of longing, but rather, served as a direct substitute for intercourse that was unavailable. In Jarhead, Anthony couldn’t have sex with his girlfriend because he was deployed in Kuwait; in Banshee Anastasia’s lover was missing. In Impulse and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea the masturbators were widowed and thus sex with their husbands was impossible; Bud in The Brown Bunny and Otto in Sons of Anarchy suffered similarly. In Autoerotic a relationship had broken down eliminating the option for sex. Like those situated in asylums (chapter 2) or prisons (chapter 5), the circumstances of the characters in these scenes dictated that they couldn’t have the sex that they desired, so they did what they could, fantasizing while self-stimulating.
One interpretation of these scenes is that the fantasies are emblematic of a kind of nostalgia: characters masturbated to thoughts of a bygone time, of a bygone relationship. This idea is particularly well illustrated in the drama Junebug (2005): a heavily pregnant Ashley (Amy Adams) masturbated to a photo of her and husband Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie) taken before they were married. Johnny was still alive—his loud complaints about their marriage could be heard from the other room—but Ashley’s fantasies centered on memories of a time before things were complicated: a time before her pregnancy, a time before Johnny’s distance and sullenness. Ashley was sexually idealizing her memories.[21] While in Jarhead, Banshee, Impulse, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, The Brown Bunny, Sons of Anarchy, Autoerotic and Junebug the masturbation had a melancholic undertone, worth noting, the idea of masturbating over memories can also be presented humorously. In an episode of Peep Show for example, Mark (David Mitchell) was at his high school reunion and the audience was privy to his internal monologue:
Oh my God. There she is, lovely Sally Slater. I should speak to her. But what the hell can I say? Anything that doesn’t mention I masturbate over her memory is probably good. I mean, I think that’s a compliment but women just don’t seem to want to hear it.
Rather than being maudlin as in the earlier examples, the Peep Show scene alludes to themes apparent in the Meet the Fockers example discussed earlier: that while masturbating about someone might theoretically seem like a compliment, invariably it isn’t construed this way[22]: Pam didn’t appear overly flattered that Greg masturbated over her (although, this might have been because he revealed so publicly), and Mark’s suspicions that Sally wouldn’t be flattered reflects general ideas about the bad of objectification and also the negativity surrounding masturbation).[23] These themes were articulated in an episode of the sci-fi series Sliders (1995–2000). Quinn (Jerry O’Connell) was using virtual reality equipment to experience a sexual fantasy involving Maggie (Kari Wuhrer). When the real Maggie intruded on his virtual reality scene she rebuked him: “You have sex with me without my consent? . . . For God’s sake, Quinn, you can’t just go around using people’s likenesses for your own twisted pleasure.” As repeated throughout this book, masturbation is often framed on screen as something bad. For a person not only to masturbate, but to involve someone from real life in their fantasies—and then to go so far as to alert that person to their casting—can be interpreted as weird.
While Greg’s declaration in Meet the Fockers and Mark’s nostalgic fantasies in Peep Show could be construed of as sweet, generally, when a person masturbates over someone on screen, as in the Sliders example, a level of weirdness is implied. Humorous illustrations of this are identifiable in scenes from Zombieland (2009) and The Inbetweeners. In Zombieland, a zombie apocalypse led Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) to meet his idol, actor Bill Murray. During their first exchange, Tallahassee remarked:
I don’t mean to gush. . . . I even loved your dramatic roles and just everything. Six people left in the world and one of them is Bill fucking Murray. I know that’s not your middle name. I’ve been watching you since I was like. . . . Since I could masturbate. I mean, not that they’re connected.
That Tallahassee needs to clarify that he wasn’t masturbating over Bill Murray served as a reminder that even the mere suggestion of it is invariably construed as weird. The same idea transpired in The Inbetweeners when adolescent Will (Simon Bird) begged his friend Neil (Blake Harrison), “Please don’t wank over my mum.” Neil, of course, countered, “Can’t promise that, I’m afraid.” In accordance with the horny teenage boy stereotype (chapter 2), Neil prioritizes pleasure over everything else; certainly over the wishes of his friend.[24] Such scenes also tap into the anxieties discussed in chapter 3 where the masturbation of people we know causes unease. Similar themes are detected in the comedy Brüno (2009). In one scene, gay Brüno (Sacha Baron Cohen) asked his gay assistant Lutz (Gustaf Hammarsten), “Am I going to wake up to find you masturbating over me?” Lutz assured him, “I promise not to wake you.” The humor in this scene is predicated on the horror of waking up and finding a colleague engaged in the “grotesque” act of masturbating nearby. Worth noting, this scene can also be read as about the demonization of homosexuality. Shortly after the film’s release, a number of writers questioned whether the film was homophobic.[25] This Brüno scene presents masturbating over someone as both disgusting and kinky: two sentiments frequently linked to homosexuality.[26] Such a presentation therefore can be interpreted as part of the heteronormative agenda whereby activities that deviate from the penis-in-the-vagina script are framed as outlier if not freaky.[27]
Scenes whereby the idea of creepily masturbating over someone is played comparatively seriously can also be located. In an episode of television series Glee (2009–), Jacob (Josh Sussman) was caught masturbating to a video of his classmate Rachel (Lea Michele) in the library. In another episode he appeared to be masturbating while watching her sing. While of course, Jacob is presented as a) having a crush and b) seeming amusingly sex-crazed, he also comes across as creepy; certainly this is bolstered by his behavior towards Rachel in other episodes. While these examples aren’t quite peeping tom scenarios given that the two are classmates—and Jacob is unsubtle about his preoccupation—such an example hints to the more overtly sinister masturbation scenes discussed later in this chapter.
In this section, masturbation over friends and acquaintances was discussed. While family members are an extension of this idea, their casting in fantasies leads a scene into more sexually complicated terrain.
In the comedy Say It Isn’t So (2001), while masturbating, Gilbert (Chris Klein) fantasized about the actress Suzanne Somers. By the end of the film, Chris discovered the identity of his mother: Suzanne Somers. While Chris didn’t know it at the time—although his masturbation fantasies could, of course, be construed as a subconscious Oedipal fantasy—this is an example of film very carefully dabbling in incest. In my book Part-Time Perverts: Sex, Pop Culture and Kink Management I noted that one way that taboo topics are incorporated into mainstream film and television is through subtle allusions.[28] This is certainly something evident in masturbation scenes where incest is frequently flirted with. The animated series Family Guy (1999–) provides a subtle example of this. Lois had a brief modelling career. After her son, Chris, saw some of the photos he commented that he would use them for masturbation. In the Italian horror film La bestia uccide a sangue freddo (Slaughter Hotel) (1971), asylum patient Anne (Rosalba Neri) used incest fantasies as masturbatory fuel. In an episode of the courtroom drama Boston Legal (2004–2008), Michael (Ethan Phillips), the father of a murder defendant, informed the court about finding his son masturbating to a photo of his mother. In an episode of Weeds (2005–2012), Shane (Alexander Gould) masturbated to naked pictures of his mother taken years prior. His mother, Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker), actually confronted him about it:
I’m just . . . I’m just gonna throw this out there. I think it’s a little, uh . . . I don’t wanna say weird. Maybe another word for weird without all the weird connotations of weird, like peculiar, maybe, or eccentric. Or how about quirky? Okay, it’s quirky. It’s a little quirky to masturbate to pictures of your mother, to have this sexual kind of relationship or connection or hook-up or stand in for your mother. You may think this is okay because this woman isn’t actually your mother because these photos don’t necessarily look like me since you know me as me now not me as me then.
Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) reassured a thoroughly embarrassed Shane that masturbation was fine and normal—and even referenced Freud—but ultimately instructed him “that it should stop.” Nancy made some particularly noteworthy comments in her monologue. Firstly, she implied that the photos might be functioning as a kind of “stand in” or substitute; that Shane was looking at them because he wanted to have sex with her and substituted. This is certainly also a way to read the Family Guy and Boston Legal scenes. Interesting however, Nancy also offered another reading, creating the possibility that Shane was able to masturbate to the photos because they were taken before he was born and hence, a time when Nancy wasn’t actually his mother: similar to what transpires in Say It Isn’t So, this scene can be construed as less obviously about incest and more about men’s supposed inclination to sexually objectify anything and anyone.[29]
Incest is a theme taken further in the Spanish romantic-drama Lucía y el sexo (Sex and Lucia) (2001) when Belén (Elena Anaya) masturbated with a dildo while watching old porn videos starring her mother: Belén used masturbation as a way to mimic her mother’s movements, thrusting and posing similarly. While Belén appeared to be enjoying her self-stimulation, the fact that she was not just watching her mother and masturbating but was actually copying her mother implied that this was about more than sex for her, and was more so indicative of Belén’s attempt to connect with her mother through the act. A similar level of psychological complexity was presented in the Brazilian drama Amor Estranho Amor (Love Strange Love) (1982), when adolescent Hugo (Marcelo Ribeiro) spied his sex worker mother Anna (Vera Fischer) in bed with a client. Later that evening Hugo masturbated while imagining himself having rough sex with a prostitute. While Hugo was at least somewhat sexually aroused by seeing his mother at work, it is not necessarily a simple case of the character being directly aroused by his mother but rather, by the idea of the sex she represents.
The incest-nudging idea is presented a little less cryptically in the drama Babel (2007). A young boy spied his sister getting dressed and masturbated. Similar themes were apparent in the romantic-comedy Love and Other Drugs (2010) when Josh (Josh Gad) was caught masturbating to a sex tape that his brother Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) and lover Maggie (Anne Hathaway) had made. While this scene taps into the general embarrassment centered on getting sprung (chapter 2), this scene is noteworthy because Josh was masturbating to video footage that involved his brother. While, as will be addressed later in this chapter, characters are frequently presented as aroused by the sounds and sight of sex, in this scene, the video didn’t involve anonymous strangers and thus the arousal Josh felt was (at least somewhat) connected to a family member. The same themes played out in an episode of the British series Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007–2011). Jackie (Joanna Bobin) masturbated while reading her sister’s sex memoir. Like Josh in Love and Other Drugs, Jackie can be construed as simply getting turned on by reading about sex because sex is sexy and because, as addressed later in this chapter, the written word is often arousing. That said, again, it is not merely generic sex that is the turn-on here—just as the boy in Babel was not just looking at a random naked woman—but rather the more specific sex that her sister had, in turn imbuing the scene with an incest allusion.
Incest is also alluded to via masturbation in the drama Shame (2011) and the television series Rectify (2013–). In Shame, Sissy (Carey Mulligan) accidentally walked in on her brother Brandon (Michael Fassbender) masturbating in the bathroom. While this scene can be indicative of crowded living spaces (addressed further in chapter 5), it was also a very subtle way to hint that the siblings had a complex sexual history; an idea furthered by Brandon’s disproportionately aggressive reaction. Similar ideas were apparent in Rectify. Daniel (Aden Young) was masturbating in his bedroom; his sister, Amantha (Abigail Spencer) stood at the door and listened through to his climax. The scene connoted that the relationship between the two siblings was complicated and perhaps slightly more intimate than “normal.”
The television series The Hard Times of RJ Berger (2010–2011), John From Cincinnati (2007) and the drama Spanking the Monkey (1994), each took incest themes beyond mere fantasy. In The Hard Times of RJ Berger, RJ (Paul Iacono) was masturbating when his mom walked in on him. He rolled onto his side and his mom, oblivious, sat down on his bed and stroked his leg. He then ejaculated. In John From Cincinnati, Cissy (Rebecca De Mornay) walked in on her son Butchie (Brian Van Holt) masturbating. Cissy then took over the act. In Spanking the Monkey, Ray’s incestuous masturbatory fantasies actually got supplemented by congress: sex with his mother. Worth considering, and as discussed in chapter 1, Ray’s early masturbation in fact can be construed as slippery slope behavior: that the “sinful” act of masturbation actually put him on a path of sexual rapaciousness leading to incest and then suicide attempts.
While these examples are each very much narrative-specific—and don’t necessarily provide truths or insight into masturbation representations more broadly—nevertheless, patient incest confessions are well documented. Psychotherapist Brett Kahr for example, included a large number of incest stories in his book on sexual fantasy. He quoted Remi who fantasized about “[a]nal sex with my brother,”[30] Bucky whose fantasy centered on “[h]aving sex with my daughter”[31] and Nick who described, “Fucking my cousin who is a babe. I’ve always fancied her, and in my wank fantasy, I do.”[32] Nancy Friday’s anthologies of the fantasies of men and women also included many with incest themes.[33] The common nature of such fantasies was casually alluded to. In an episode of the Australian comedy-drama series Offspring (2010–), Geraldine (Linda Cropper) divulged having had a “very satisfying” sex dream about her daughter’s partner Patrick (Matthew Le Nevez). While her daughter, Nina (Asher Keddie) and Patrick seemed somewhat revolted by her disclosure, Geraldine nonchalantly remarked, “Oh, get a grip, it was just a dream.” Geraldine’s comment alluded to the reality that just because a fantasy is had—and even if it gets masturbated over—that it doesn’t actually mean that the actual act is craved. (In fact, as discussed in chapter 7, masturbating might actually be a technique used to thwart action).[34]
Kahr also identified fantasies whereby the incest of other people is imagined: Jada in his book for example claimed, “I fantasize about my boyfriend having sex with his younger sister . . . and they are afraid of being caught, but very turned on . . .”[35] Friday similarly documented, “I have a fantasy of a daughter and father having sex while Mom is away.”[36] In Part-Time Perverts, I identified how the incest of other people is often found arousing, thus explaining why it is a frequent narrative inclusion:
Although many of us recoil in horror at the thought of sexual relations with our own family members, the taboo challenge presented by two random twins, or random familial couplings, reminds us that incest can be “pretty hot” if our participation is restricted to spectatorship.[37]
This in fact can be construed as part of the appeal of the incest allusions discussed in this section: that they function as titillating for the audience and are included to frame the narrative as cutting-edge (chapter 10).
Thus far I have discussed masturbation inspired by people known to the masturbator: friends, lovers and family members. In the next section another common fantasy fodder is explored: celebrities.
The Who song “Pictures of Lily” (1967) refers to looking at pin-up images to presumably masturbate and then fall asleep. The idea of masturbating to magazine photos is apparent in Cyndi Lauper’s “She Bop” (1984). Both songs allude to a common theme identifiable throughout popular culture: that images of famous people are commonly deployed for self-stimulation.
Men have a popular reputation of being more visually stimulated so it is, of course, no surprise that they are often presented as casting celebrities in their fantasies; Suzanne Somers in Say It Isn’t So and the Queen in Peep Show are two examples already discussed in this chapter. In the action film The Minx (2007), Joe (Circus-Szalewski) admitted to masturbating to Marilyn Monroe in his youth. Monroe was also mentioned in the comedy-horror Fade to Black (1980) when Eric (Dennis Christopher) masturbated to her photo. In the comedy Borat (2006), Azamat (Ken Davitian) masturbated over a picture of actress Pamela Anderson from a Baywatch [1989–2001] book. Baywatch was also mentioned in an episode of the British police-series Cracker (1993–1996): protagonist Fitz (Robbie Coltrane) remarked that, “A little wank on the sofa during Baywatch isn’t a mortal sin!” In the comedy Delivery Man (2013), Baywatch was again reference when comedian Jay Leno alluded to masturbating while watching the show. In a scene from the Mexican drama Y Tu Mamá También (And Your Mother Too!) (2001), Julio (Gael García Bernal) and Tenoch (Diego Luna) masturbated by the side of a pool. They shouted out the things that they were apparently thinking about including (actress) “Salma Hayek!”[38] In an episode of the British sitcom Bottom (1991–1995), Richie (Rik Mayall) masturbated while watching the Miss World contest telecast. In the sitcom Louie (2010–), the protagonist (Louis C.K.) revealed that the actress Susan Sarandon was the first woman he ever masturbated over. In the British period-drama The Dreamers (2003), Matthew (Michael Pitt) masturbated to photos of actress Marlene Dietrich. In the sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–), Howard (Simon Helberg) masturbated to a fantasy involving the actress Katee Sackhoff. In the Australian surf film Newcastle (2008), Jesse (Lachlan Buchanan) lay on his bed, masturbating while staring at a picture of a model in a bikini. In the comedy To Die For (1995), Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix) masturbated while fantasizing about a local weather woman (Nicole Kidman). In the mystery Donnie Darko (2001), the title character (Jake Gyllenhaal) mentioned the sitcom Married With Children (1987–1997) and then motioned to masturbate to thoughts of Christina Applegate. In the drama Adaptation. (2002), Charlie (Nicolas Cage) masturbated to his imaginings of sex with writer Susan Orlean while looking at her picture on the back cover of her book. In the drama Velvet Goldmine (1998), Arthur (Christian Bale) masturbated to pictures of celebrity musician Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). In the drama American Girl (2002) Jay (Brad Renfro) masturbated while looking at a picture of a male athlete. In the thriller Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), Weldon (Marlon Brando) masturbated to a postcard depicting Michelangelo’s sculpture David.
As in Lauper’s “She Bop,” women also masturbate to thoughts of celebrities in song; equally, this is an idea common on screen. At the tamest and most humorous end of the spectrum is a scene from the sitcom 30 Rock (2006–2013) when Liz (Tina Fey) recounted a story of being a teenager and preparing to use the bathroom whilst wearing roller skates. She lowered her underpants and slipped, pulling a Tom Jones poster on top of her. Her mother assumed she was masturbating with the poster. In a scene from the comedy Not Another Teen Movie (2001), Janey (Chyler Leigh)—referring to the romantic-comedy She’s All That (1999)—remarked, “I masturbate to that movie,” notably referencing the male lead, Freddie Prinze Jr. In an episode of Sex and the City (1998–2004), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) revealed that they cast actor Russell Crowe in their fantasies. In the animated series Archer (2009–), Pam commented that she was going to masturbate to Hooper [Burt Reynolds] (1978) until her fingers bled. In the romantic-comedy Swinging with the Finkels (2011), Ellie (Mandy Moore) masturbated while looking at a photo of actor James Dean. In the period-drama series Mad Men (2007–), Sally (Kiernan Shipka) was caught masturbating to an episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1964–1968). In the biopic The Runaways (2010), Sandy (Stella Maeve) masturbated while thinking about Farah Fawcett. In the masturbation-themed episode of sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) lost the infamous contest because she masturbated after an encounter with John F. Kennedy Jr.
The most obvious interpretation of these scenes is that the choice of fantasy subject works to reveal something about the character. For the vast majority of masturbators, their choice of celebrity is in-synch with heteronormative expectations: they are socially expected to harbor crushes on attractive opposite sex celebrities. In our celebrity-preoccupied culture, these scenes take the idea of celebrity worship further to contend that not only do such figures entertain, but also arouse. This function is particularly interesting in the context of Y Tu Mamá También: in the scene discussed earlier, two men masturbated by the side of a pool, in turn creating the capacity for the scene to be interpreted as homoerotic (chapter 2). The fact however, that “Salma Hayek” was yelled out as apparent encouragement for their self-stimulation could be construed as their attempt to straighten their behavior: that despite the men engaging in a sexual act in each other’s presence, that they are still turned on by beautiful famous women.
In contrast, in Velvet Goldmine, American Girl, The Runaways and Reflections in a Golden Eye the chosen celebrity masturbation subject actually functioned to out the characters. In a number of examples, the figure(s) cast in fantasies helps to establish orientation. In an episode of Offspring for example, Nina lay in the bath shuffling through images of people in her life—including female colleagues—as potential masturbation fodder. The same masturbation-fuel shuffle was used in a scene from the Australian film Strange Fits of Passion (1999). In an episode of the Australian series Winners and Losers (2011–), the visual clue to Frances’s (Virginia Gay) actively questioning her sexuality involved her staring contemplatively at images of women in a fashion magazine. Noteworthily, the characters in these scenes didn’t end up masturbating over images of and therefore it was perhaps unsurprising that they didn’t end up gay. In the Velvet Goldmine, The Runaways, American Girl and Reflections in a Golden Eye however, same-sex attraction was strong enough to motivate masturbation thus confirming a character’s homosexuality. In an episode of the sitcom Two and a Half Men (2003–) when Jenny (Amber Tamblyn) in fact identified that she realised that she was a lesbian when she began casting the school nurse in her masturbation fantasies.
In real life, homosexual-themed fantasies had by heterosexuals are actually relatively common thus not actually an accurate gauge of sexual preference. In research undertaken by Mark Schwartz and William Masters, the authors noted that sexual fantasies are in fact not a good indication of sexual preference and that encounters with men were the fourth most reported sexual fantasy amongst heterosexual males. The authors similarly noted that for heterosexual women, lesbian fantasies were their fifth most reported fantasy.[39] Friday’s book Men in Love similarly devoted an entire chapter to the same sexual fantasies of heterosexual men.[40] In real life, what stimulates a person to masturbate doesn’t always correlate with the sexual behavior they wish to engage in and the same idea is apparent on screen.
While screen presentations tend to have characters masturbating according to the sexual preferences that they normally act upon, the fantasy Dogma (1999) presented an interesting subversion. In one scene, Jay (Jason Mewes) challenged Rufus (Chris Rock) to prove that he really was the thirteenth apostle:
Jay: Yo man, tell me something about me.
Rufus: You masturbate more than anyone on the planet.
Jay: Aw fuck, everyone knows that. Tell me something nobody knows.
Rufus: When you do it, you’re thinking about guys.
[Jay’s sidekick, Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) stares at Jay]
Jay: [To Silent Bob] Dude, not all the time.
While the audience doesn’t know a great deal about the sexuality of Jay, the character is renowned for constantly trying to chat up women. His masturbation however, is indicative of Dogma’s writer and director, Kevin Smith’s contention that Jay is “ambisexual”: “I think Jay’s really ambisexual. So it’s nice to throw them a curveball to open up their perspective a bit. If I can lead a few cats into being a bit more tolerant, I feel pretty good.”[41]
Culturally, having celebrity crushes is, of course, very well accepted: Susan Segrest’s book Who Would You Do: The Totally Unauthorized Celebrity Sex Game in fact centers on debating celebrities as possible sex partners.[42] Academic literature similarly documents the phenomena. In a large literature search of studies on women’s fantasies for example, psychologists Harold Leitenberg and Kris Henning concluded that amongst women’s favorites was sex with a celebrity.[43] Kahr similarly noted that about a quarter of the people in his study fantasized about celebrities.[44] Celebrities also appeared in both male and female fantasies in Friday’s anthologies.[45] In a culture where celebrities are held in high esteem, it is probably no surprise that many people incorporate them into their fantasy lives. Sex researcher Yvonne Fulbright for example identified that such fantasies are notably common “for people who want to be celebrities themselves.”[46] Equally, in our fame and beauty-preoccupied culture, it is probably no surprise that ordinary people fantasize about sex with those deemed most desirable: as Fulbright contended, such fantasies can work to “[elevate] your self-esteem that a celebrity would want to have sex with you.”[47] In chapter 10 I explore further the idea of masturbation as a form of escapism: in the scenes discussed in this section, the involvement of celebrities in masturbation—entertainers whose job is to create distraction—compounds the escapist opportunities proffered.
Celebrity-inspired masturbation is driven substantially by physical appearance. Taking this idea several steps further is the common idea of masturbation to porn where sex scenes of people unknown to the masturbator fuel arousal.
Discussed earlier was the scene from Love and Other Drugs when Josh masturbated to the video of his brother having sex. Eschewing the incest themes, another reading of this scene is simply Josh construing the video as akin to any other example of porn and masturbating as is encouraged by the medium; a portrayal evident in a variety of film and television examples.
Porn is a product created primarily for masturbation. In the Internet age, such material is effortlessly accessible and, as quoted above, porn and masturbation have come to be considered as inextricably linked: “you can’t have one without the other.”[48] It is, therefore, unsurprising that porn is frequently presented as the motivator for masturbation in screen narratives. In chapter 1 I discussed a variety of examples—including Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012), The Office (2005–2013), Family Guy (1999–), Californication (2007–), Don Jon and Shame—where characters, in varying degrees of seriousness, had porn addictions. While these examples were at the extreme end of the spectrum, far more common is a more casual approach where watching porn serves as a metonym for masturbation and where it is accepted as a normal way to arouse oneself.[49]
While characters depicted only watching porn are fairly common (Mulder (David Duchovny) in The X-Files (1993–2002) for example, Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) in House (2004–2012), Andy (Justin Kirk) and Doug (Kevin Nealon) in Weeds (2005–2012), Nat (Shelley Berman) in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000–) and, in a rare female example, Jess (Zooey Deschanel) in the sitcom New Girl (2011–)), characters are rarely shown watching and masturbating.[50] While the audience might infer that this is why they are viewing it—afterall, porn doesn’t have a reputation for captivating storylines—masturbation generally is not shown. There are however, a number of examples where the link between porn and masturbaton is made explicit. In an episode of the British sitcom Extras (2005–2007), Darren (Stephen Merchant) was caught masturbating over a pornographic pen. In the comedy-crime film Serial Mom (1994), Scotty (Justin Whalin) masturbated to porn on video, something Jason (Ryan Kwanten) also did in True Blood (2008–). In the biopic Auto Focus (2002), Bob (Greg Kinnear) and John (Willem Dafoe) masturbated while watching a home-made porn tape. In a scene from the British series Skins (2007–), adolescent Alo (Will Merrick) masturbated while watching porn on two computer monitors simultaneously. In The Big C (2010–2013), teenager Adam (Gabriel Basso) masturbated to Internet porn; Robert (Ezra Miller) did the same in the mystery Afterschool (2008), as did Lewis (Tyler Labine) in the Canadian comedy Control Alt Delete (2008) and both Neil (Josh Gad) and Adam (Mark Ruffalo) in the romantic-comedy Thanks for Sharing (2013). In the suburban-drama Little Children (2006), Richard (Gregg Edelman) was caught masturbating to porn by his wife. Daniel masturbated to a porn magazine in an episode of Rectify. Donal (Domhnall Gleeson) also used a magazine in the Irish film Sensation (2010). In the French drama Ma Mère (My Mother) (2004), Pierre (Louis Garrel) found a closet full of his father’s porn and masturbated to it. In the British drama The Cement Garden (1993), Jack (Andrew Robertson) used a porn magazine. In an episode of the sitcom The League (2009–), Kevin (Stephen Rannazzisi) masturbated in the shower to porn on a smartphone wrapped in a plastic bag. In an episode of the sitcom Episodes (2011), Sean (Stephen Mangan) masturbated to a leaked sex tape. In the Australian drama 2:37 (2006), adolescent Luke (Sam Harris) masturbated to Internet porn. In the teen-comedy American Pie (1999), Jim (Jason Biggs) masturbated to a scrambled porn channel. In American Reunion (2012), Jim again used porn and a sock. In the animated series South Park (1997–), Randy masturbated to fetish porn.
In scene from 30 Rock, during the staff’s brief relocation from New York to Boston, producer Pete (Scott Adsit) warned the male staff that they wouldn’t have Internet access “so plan ahead, gentlemen, porn-wise.” The sentiments behind this idea is that men need porn, and that porn consumption is a male activity (i.e., that the female staff would not be effected by the lack of connectivity). While there might be more male consumers of porn,[51] significant numbers of female users do, of course, exist and women masturbating to the medium are identifiable in screen narratives. Discussed earlier was Belén masturbating to porn in Lucía y el sexo. The Canadian drama Lie With Me (2005) and the comedy-drama Strictly Sexual (2008) both opened with female characters masturbating to porn. In American Pie, Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) masturbated to one of Jim’s porn magazines. In the British romance Brilliantlove (2010), Noon (Nancy Trotter Landry) masturbated to porn and in the romantic-comedy Finding Bliss (2009), Jody (Leelee Sobieski) self-stimulated while editing a porn film. In the thriller Secret Games (1992), Celeste (Delia Sheppard) masturbated while reviewing security camera footage of a couple having sex. In the French thriller Baise-moi (Fuck Me) (2001), Nadine (Karen Lancaume) masturbated to violent porn.[52]
In these scenes the mainstreaming of porn is achieved by implying that it is a normal and a non-troublesome thing to be aroused by. In other examples the ordinariness of porn—if not its compulsory role in masturbation—is made explicit. In American Pie for example, when his father (Eugene Levy) caught Jim masturbating and saw the dictionary nearby he said, “Jesus Christ. The dictionary? Hell, son, I’ll buy you some dirty magazines.” In a later scene he gave Jim some porn magazines restoring, apparently, his son’s “normalness.” In an episode of the sitcom Friends (1994–2004), Monica (Courteney Cox) thought that she caught her boyfriend, Chandler (Matthew Perry), masturbating to a shark attack TV show. In fact, he had been watching porn and had just switched the channel when she entered the room. Monica demonstrated enormous relief when she discovered Chandler was only masturbating to porn: porn was acceptable to masturbate to, shark attacks were not. In an episode of The Big Bang Theory the same idea was detectable: after seeing Raj (Kunal Nayyar) install a webcam so that he could watch his dog from the office, Howard (Simon Helberg) asked, “Why can’t you just watch porn like a regular guy?” In an episode of Rectify, Ted Jr. (Clayne Crawford) gave his step-brother, Daniel, a porn magazine in the hope that it would make him more normal.
These scenes make clear a social phenomenon that porn is now okay. While there might be taboo attached to certain kinds of material, in general, there is acceptance that such material is common and widely consumed: as Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) remarked when Monica divulged Chandler’s masturbatory activities, “men do that.” A similar comment was made by Tod (Keanu Reeves) in the comedy Parenthood (1989) in regards to the porn-aided masturbation of adolescent Garry (Joaquin Phoenix): “That’s what little dudes do. We’ve all done it.” In fact, more than just normal, that porn is a preferable accoutrement to masturbation in comparison to other materials like dictionaries or shark attack videos.
The masturbatory appeal of porn almost goes without saying: it is a medium that explicitly portrays people engaged in solo, coupled and group sexual activity. The sights and sounds of sex are found arousing by many people. While this is most often enjoyed through porn, there are also many screen examples where pleasure is reaped by exposure to a real sex display.
In chapter 2 I discussed group masturbation scenes where I proposed that being in such a sexually charged environment can fuel arousal. Orgy scenes are a good example of this; that even if a character is not participating themselves, pleasure can still be derived from observing. In the period-drama Caligula (1979) for example, there is plenty of coupled sex and equally there are characters shown just watching on and masturbating: the inference is that, akin to viewing porn, it is equally arousing to be exposed to real life sex.
In an episode of the prison-drama Oz (1997–2003), Moses (Erik King) masturbated while watching fellow deathrow inmate, Shirley (Kathryn Erbe), have sex with a corrections officer (Carl DiMaggio). In the Costa Rican film Caribe (2004), after Irene (Maya Zapata) saw a couple having sex in a nearby resort room, she returned to her room and, unable to sleep, masturbated. In the thriller In the Cut (2003), while looking for a toilet in a bar Frannie (Meg Ryan) spotted two people engaged in fellatio. Later that evening, Frannie masturbated at home to the memory. In the Filipino crime-drama Gamitan (2012), Cathy (Maui Taylor) spied Nicolas (Wendell Ramos) having sex and masturbated while watching. In The Doom Generation (1995), Jordon (James Duval) masturbated while watching Amy (Rose McGowan) and Xavier (Johnathon Schaech) have sex in a bathtub. In Autoerotic, the unnamed Frank V. Ross character masturbated while watching his partner (Kris Swanberg) have sex with another woman. In the pilot of the period-drama series Reign (2013–), after spying a couple consummating their marriage, Kenna (Caitlin Stasey) masturbated.
While the appeal of porn is frequently assumed to center on visuals, sounds can also prove arousing. While sounds unrelated to sex are found stimulating in some scenes,[53] more common is the arousal found in sex noise. In a scene from the holocaust-themed In Darkness (2011), a woman masturbated to the sound of two people having sex in her concentration camp. In the Korean crime-drama Boksuneun naui geot (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) (2002), four men leaned against a wall—standing side by side—listening to what they thought was a woman orgasming on the other side. In an episode of Sex and the City, Samantha (Kim Cattrall) was turned on by the sex sounds of her neighbors and self-stimulated accordingly. In the drama Somewhere Tonight (2011), Leroy (John Turturro) masturbated while listening to sex-sounds over the phone. In the teen-comedy American Pie 2 (2001), Heather (Mena Suvari) and Oz (Chris Klein) were having phone sex when Stifler intercepted the call and exclaimed, “I am getting off just listening to the two of you guys! Keep going!” The idea of masturbation-sounds being specifically stimulating was also suggested in episodes of Rectify: in one scene a death-row inmate in a nearby cell proposed that Daniel might enjoy listening to his masturbation; in another, as noted earlier, Amantha stood at the door and listened to Daniel’s masturbation.
While the sights and sounds of sex can be masturbated to because, quite simply, sex is sexy and exposure to it proffers vicarious appeal, there are other interpretations that center on the thrill of getting access to someone else’s normally secret sex life.
In the Canadian comedy-drama Léolo (1992), the title character (Maxime Collin) masturbated while peeping at a topless woman sucking on the toes of a man in the bath. In the comedy Tommy Boy (1995), Richard (David Spade) masturbated while watching a woman swim naked. In South Park, a TSA (Toilet Security Administration) employee masturbated while monitoring a bathroom security camera (which included footage of children). In the teen-comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Brad (Judge Reinhold) masturbated while looking out the window at Linda (Phoebe Cates) in a bikini. In the black comedy Happiness (1998), young Billy (Rufus Read) masturbated to a woman sun-tanning, also in a bikini. In The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Donnie (Jonah Hill) also masturbated while looking at a woman in a bikini while at a party. In an episode of The Big C, a teacher was caught masturbating from atop a building while watching a naked woman sunbake. In the thriller Psycho (1998), Norman (Vince Vaughn) masturbated while peeping at Marion (Anne Heche) through a hole cut in the wall. In the British drama Clapham Junction (2007), adolescent Theo (Luke Treadaway) masturbated to the sight of his adult neighbour, Tim (Joseph Mawle), who was standing in his boxer shorts by a window. In an episode of the medical-drama Nip/Tuck (2003–2010), adolescent Matt (John Hensley) stood outside of Ava’s (Famke Janssen) house: as she undressed, he masturbated.
While peeping tom behavior is more commonly associated with men,[54] there are also a small number of female examples. Discussed earlier was Cathy’s peeping in Gamitan. Similarly, in an episode of Married With Children, Miss Hardaway (Beverly Archer)—the school librarian—was infatuated with Bud (David Faustino) and while spying on him caught him masturbating in a private study room. A more explicit example transpired in the Argentinian drama La mirada invisible (The Invisible Eye) (2010), where María Teresa (Julieta Zylberberg), a teaching assistant at a boy’s school, had developed a habit of spying on the boys in the bathroom and then masturbating.
Peeping tom activity can be viewed through various lenses including as a crime or a signifier of perversion.[55] For the tom characters in these scenes, peeping can function as a clue to psychological dysfunction. Characters like Richard in Tommy Boy, Brad in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Matt in Nip/Tuck, however also illustrate the kind of male characters invariably populating sophomoric comedies: these are young and immature men preoccupied with sex; peeping simply provides an opportunity to showcase the madcap lengths that they will go to perve at women. Such characters aren’t evil in the way that Norman in Psycho is, neither are they were disturbed like Léolo or Billy in Happiness, but more simply are presented in line with the boys will be boys trope and as participants in the normalization of female objectification.
While the adolescent title character in Léolo could be construed similarly—and his peeping interpreted as adolescent sexual curiosity, it could also be read as indicative of Léolo suffering the same kind of mental illnesses as his family. A similar interpretation can be applied to the Happiness scene: while Billy’s masturbation could be indicative of his adolescent sexual curiosity, equally it is a clue that he possesses similarly sexually inappropriate traits to his pedophile father.
Psycho showcased peeping at the more pathological end of the spectrum. As the film title suggests, the film is about a severely psychological disturbed (and ultimately homicidal) man, Norman. Discussed earlier was the possibility of reading Ray’s masturbation in Spanking the Monkey as a stepping stone towards incest. In Psycho, it could similarly be construed that Norman’s peeping and masturbation put him on a trajectory towards murder.
While masturbating to visual images has been already discussed in this chapter, another accoutrement worth exploring is the arousal of the written word.
Just as sexual sights and sounds can sufficiently arouse a person to masturbate, so too can the written word. Discussed earlier was the scene from Secret Diary of a Call Girl when Jackie self-stimulated while reading her sister’s sex memoir. In the Australian family-drama Soft Fruit (1999), Nadia (Sacha Horler) escaped to her car, with a novel, to do the same. In the period-drama Nora (2000), the title character (Susan Lynch) masturbated to a letter from her lover James Joyce (Ewan McGregor). In an episode of the Scandinavian mystery series Bron/Broen (The Bridge) (2011–), Saga (Sofia Helin) was reading a book when she slipped her hand into her pants; a smile on her face. In the comedy-drama Rules of Attraction (2002), Sean (James van der Beek) masturbated while smelling the purple pages of anonymous love letters. In the British mini-series Between the Sheets (2003), Hazel (Brenda Blethyn) masturbated while reading a novel. In the horror film Vacancy (2007) a woman masturbated while reading Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron (c. 1353). In the German film Winterschläfer (Winter Sleepers) (1997), Rebecca (Floriane Daniel) briefly turned the pages of a book before dropping it and masturbating. In the Chilean comedy Sexo con amor (Sex With Love) (2003), Maca (María Izquierdo) masturbated while reading a magazine.
Aside from Rules of Attraction, the examples discussed in this section each center on women reading and masturbating. Discussed repeatedly throughout this book is the stereotype that men are more visual than women. Certainly these scenes provide corroboration with this idea; that women’s fantasy lives are more intellectual and emotionally complex.[56] A connected interpretation however, is these scenes corroborating with the idea of women being (comparatively) more tasteful and tempered in their sexual appetites. Another reading—akin to the examples of women using domestic appliances to masturbate with (chapter 3)—is female characters potentially locked into a life of domesticity and thus using novels (and in turn, masturbation) to achieve escapism.
These scenes of course, can also be construed as reflective of the well-established connection between women, novels and masturbation; something that Thomas Laqueur in his cultural history of masturbation alluded to when he noted that the novel has long been seen as “a threat to both reality and morality.”[57] Laqueur also discussed a number of eighteenth century paintings (including Emmanuel de Ghendt Midday Heat (c. 1765) and Pierre-Antoine Baudouin’s Solitary Pleasure (c. 1769)) where women were portrayed with their hands at their genitals with dropped novels nearby. Just as in other examples where masturbation with fruit or musical instruments can be construed as nods to art (chapter 3) equally so can depictions of women with reading materials.[58]
While masturbation to the written word via books is an obvious example of one-handed reading, the Internet provides another option. While text-based sex chatrooms may have been largely superseded by webcam-type cybersex, in the early days of the Internet, text sex chat was once presented as sufficient enough to arouse. This idea was subtly implied in an episode of the sitcom The Drew Carey Show (1995–2004) when Mimi (Kathy Kinney) and her nemesis colleague Drew (Drew Carey) had cybersex in a chatroom, neither knowing the identity of the other. In a scene from the comedy-drama Rick (2003), married Duke (Aaron Stanford) similarly had text-based cybersex with teenager Eve (Agnes Bruckner). A more recent example of chat-masturbation transpired in an episode of Weeds (2005–2012). Andy (Justin Kirk)—pretending to be his nephew Silas (Hunter Parrish)—used Instant Messenger to chat with Silas’s girlfriend. He masturbated while doing so. Highlighting the appeal of dirty talk in sex, such scenes illustrated that words can be as effective triggers as pictures.[59]
While in the aforementioned examples it was the written word that aroused, there are other kinds of unexpected publications that serve as masturbation fuel on screen. In the comedy Step Brothers (2008) for example, Brennan (Will Ferrell) asked his step-brother, Dale (John C. Reilly) “Favorite non-pornographic magazine to masturbate to?” Together they answered, “Good Housekeeping.” In an episode of My Wife and Kids (2001–2005), Michael Jr. (George Gore II) masturbated to a cooking magazine. In the Seinfeld episode discussed earlier, George (Jason Alexander) used a copy of fashion magazine Glamour. Catalogs are another domestic realm publication used similarly. In Family Guy, Peter took a lingerie catalog into the bathroom. In There’s Something About Mary (1998), Ted (Ben Stiller) masturbated to lingerie advertisements. In the sitcom According to Jim (2001–2009), Jim (James Belushi) recalled, as a thirteen-year-old, being caught masturbating to one of his mother’s catalogs. In the Australian sitcom The Librarians (2007–2010), Terry (Wayne Hope) used newspaper bra ads. In the Australian drama The Devil’s Playground (1976), Tom (Simon Burke) masturbated to a photo of a woman modelling lingerie. In the comedy Couples Retreat (2009), Joey (Jon Favreau) readied himself to self-stimulate using a photo of a woman in a bikini from a travel brochure. In an episode of The Simpsons (1989–), under a lie-detector Moe admitted to ogling Victoria Secret catalogs. When this beeped as a lie, he conceded to using the Sears catalog. Masturbation to the Sears catalog was also mentioned in the surf film Point Break (1991). Catalog masturbation was presented more jokingly in an episode of the family drama series Brothers and Sisters (2006–2011): Justin (Dave Annable) was at his gay brother Kevin’s (Matthew Rhys) house—at Kevin’s request—and impatiently commented, “Uh, not that I don’t love thumbing through gay porn. . . . I’m sorry, male clothing catalogs. But what am I doing here, bro?”[60]
In a wide number of examples, National Geographic magazine also functions as an old-fashioned metonym for masturbation. This idea was joked about in an episode of the sitcom Frasier (1993–2004): Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) mentioned that as a child his brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) used to peruse issues of National Geographic under the covers with a flashlight. Niles defensively argued, “I was looking at the maps!” to which Frasier responded, “That’s what makes it so scary!” Similar to the American Pie example discussed earlier, like dictionaries, maps are apparently inappropriate to masturbate to; that such magazines should be used for ogling bare-breasted natives. The National Geographic idea was also mentioned in an episode of the sitcom M*A*S*H (1972–1983) when Radar (Gary Burghoff) spoke of being punished for looking at photos of nude women. In an episode of the animated series American Dad! (2005–), in one scene, Steve took a copy of National Geographic into the bathroom with him. National Geographic was also used as a masturbation metonym in the drama The Strawberry Statement (1970), the teen-comedy Porky’s (1982) and the action film Kick-Ass (2010). Much like The Who song “Pictures of Lily” discussed earlier, the use of National Geographic harks back to a comparatively more innocent time when naked photographs were sufficient to stimulate; something much less likely in the contemporary world of easy access to explicit porn.[61] Worth highlighting, it is men using these unlikely publications for stimulation. Noted repeatedly throughout this book is that male masturbation is inevitably presented as disgusting and as a kind of perversion. One way this is illustrated on screen is through accoutrement choice: that only men would find such obscure publications arousing: that men are hideous, disgusting and base creatures, whereas women prefer more intellectual materials like novels.[62]
Earlier I discussed Monica’s horror on Friends when she initially thought that Chandler had been masturbating to shark attack videos. While Chandler had only been masturbating to standard porn, the idea nevertheless alludes to fetish material as a possible autoeroticism accoutrement. In an episode of House, the title character jibed, “Oh grow up. If porn was bad why would there be so many nuns in it?” In the South Park episode discussed earlier, Randy masturbated to material including Japanese girls vomiting, fart porn, and bestiality. In Family Guy Quagmire masturbated to clown porn. In an episode of Wilfred (2011–), Ryan (Elijah Wood) walked in on Wilfred (Jason Gann) masturbating to giraffe porn. Fetishes as connected to porn and masturbation transpire in a number of examples, each working to frame the masturbator as debaucherous.
In a scene from American Horror Story (2011–), Ben (Dylan McDermott), spotted his young maid, Moira (Alexandra Breckenridge) in her bedroom masturbating; he then retreated to his bedroom to do so himself. Ben was aroused by the sight of Moira touching herself, part of his arousal however, was likely also connected to her maid’s costume; she looked stereotypically seductive because such an outfit has become a turn-on cliché. Certainly fetish-masturbation was already a theme for the show: in another scene, Ben’s wife Vivien (Connie Britton), used her vibrator while fantasizing about a man dressed head to toe in rubber. In the mystery The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), Marcia (Margot Kidder) masturbated to a rape fantasy. On screen and a number of other fetishes are referenced in autoeroticism scenes: in this section I examine use of the clergy and violence.
In other chapters, the shock value of religious figures masturbating—a priest in Crimes of Passion (1984) for example, or a nun in Interno di un convento (Behind Convent Walls) (1977)—is discussed. More common however—although perhaps no less shocking—is religious figures positioned as sexually objectified for self-stimulation. In an episode of Sex and the City, Samantha claimed to have spent all afternoon self-stimulating to thoughts of her priest who she dubbed “Friar Fuck.” In the romantic-comedy Amy’s Orgasm (2001), Amy (Julie Davis) also masturbated to thoughts of a priest; as explained in her voiceover: “I look normal but like everyone else on this planet I’m misguided, horny and ultimately just a hopeless romantic looking to connect.” In American Horror Story, Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) fantasized about the Monsignor (Joseph Fiennes) while self-stimulating.
One interpretation of these scenes is that they reference nunsploitation: as film theorist Ian Olney noted, this genre was born out of “the cultural fascination with sin and sexual transgression characteristic of the heavily Roman Catholic countries in which nunsploitation cinema first appeared.”[63] While Sex and the City, Amy’s Orgasm and American Horror Story are not nunsploitation narratives themselves, they nevertheless utilize the same tropes of the forbidden to stimulate.
A connected reading is that these scenes reference the appeal of sexual inexperience; that the fantasizer can envisage themselves as the comparatively more worldly lover. In a glib comment in the romantic-comedy Chasing Amy (1997) for example, Banksy (Jason Lee) remarked, “All every woman really wants—be it mother, senator, nun—is some serious deep dicking.” The nun in Banksy’s analogy—as well as those religious figures in the above examples—are framed as possessing extensive untapped passion that the fantasizer gets to unleash.
Whereas shark porn was mentioned humorously in Friends, masturbation spurred on by violence is generally depicted much more seriously. The mystery Afterschool, opened with Robert masturbating to a strangulation porn scene. In the Spanish thriller Matador (1986), Diego Montes (Nacho Martinez) masturbated while watching scenes from slasher films. In the thriller The Cell (1999), serial killer Carl (Vincent D’Onofrio) masturbated while watching videotapes of his murders. Noted earlier, Nadine in Baise-moi masturbated while watching violent porn. In the German horror film Schramm (1994), the title character (Florian Koerner von Gustorf) was a murderous taxi driver who took a passenger (Monica M.) back to his house and drugged her, stripped her and masturbated over her naked body. In an episode of the sci-fi series Millennium (1996–1999), Raymond (Joe Chrest) phoned 911 and masturbated while watching a bomb he left inside a bar detonate. In the Korean mystery Salinui chueok (Memories of Murder) (2003), a man masturbated at a crime scene. In Ma Mère, Pierre masturbated when he saw his dead mother’s body. In the pilot of the TV series Lie to Me (2009–2011), a suspect (Jake Thomas) admitted to peeping on and photographing the murder victim and even visiting her house and masturbating at the sight of her body. In the thriller Downloading Nancy (2008), unhappy wife Nancy (Maria Bello) masturbated seated in front of her computer screen: she was searching for someone to kill her; her imagined death evidently excited her.
In line with themes discussed in chapter 1, these scenes each provide examples of masturbation being used to connote madness; more so than mere madness however, these characters were each presented as, in varying degrees, sick. If there is a “normal” kind of masturbation, presumably it involves heterosexual sexual fantasy and perhaps heterosexual porn. In these scenes, acts of violence are found arousing, in turn presenting a character as depraved and providing a clear clue to the audience that something is wrong.
This chapter explored masturbation triggers, examining the wide variety of stimuli depicted on screen. In chapter 5, the geography of self-stimulation narratives are examined.
Interestingly, the Queen also gets connected to masturbation in the drama Running With Scissors (2006). During a scene in Dr. Finch’s (Brian Cox) office, the doctor’s “masturbatorium” was discovered: it was a room with a couch, a box of tissues, and several framed photos on the wall; one which included a photo of the Queen.
While it is normally a male character who is depicted as “needing” something to masturbate with, in the pilot episode of the series Masters of Sex (2013–) a women (Annaleigh Ashford)—who was participating in Dr. Masters’ (Michael Sheen) sexual arousal research—asked, “Do you at least have any magazines?”; evidently she too needed something to sufficiently arouse her prior to masturbation. (Interestingly however, the character turned out to be a lesbian and thus her need for porn potentially framed her as having a less feminine, more masculine sexual appetite, in turn subtly demonizing her homosexuality).
Jon’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) girlfriend Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) in Don Jon, seemed much more perturbed about his use of porn than his masturbation. This could however, be an example of porn serving as a metonym for masturbation, and Barbara being perturbed about both.
Rus Ervin Funk, “What Does Pornography Say About Me(n)?: How I Became an Anti-Pornography Activity,” Not for Sale: Feminists Resisting Prostitution and Pornography, eds. Rebecca Whisnant and Christine Stark (North Melbourne: Spinifex, 2004): 331–351; Pamela Paul, Pornified: How Pornography is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families (New York: Times Books, 2005).
Anthony Ferguson, The Sex Doll: A History (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co. 2010), 68.
Grzegorz Dziamski, Art in the Postmodern Era (Zurich: Lit Verlag, 2013), 12.
In Shere Hite, The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality (New York: Seven Stories Press, 1981), 54.
Steven Jay Schneider, “Jerkus Interruptus: The Terrible Trials of Masturbating Boys in Recent Hollywood Cinema,” Where the Boys Are: Cinemas of Masculinity and Youth, eds. Murray Pomerance and Frances Gateward (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2005): 377–393, 377.
Mels van Driel, With the Hand: a Cultural History of Masturbation (London: Reaktion Books, 2012), 12.
The idea that masturbation requires work and concentration was also referenced in a scene from the series Oz (1997–2003), prisoner Miguel (Kirk Acevedo), shouted at another prisoner, “Hey, will you shut the fuck up? I’m trying to masturbate!”
Lauren Rosewarne, “The Key to Female Pleasure is All in Her Head,” ABC The Drum (October 2, 2013). Retrieved October 7, 2013 from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-02/rosewarne-the-pursuit-of-female-pleasure/4992534.
This idea was subtly alluded to in an episode of the animated series Family Guy (1999–) when Peter remarked, “life is full of big decisions, like whether or not you have time to masturbate.”
An example of the fantasy of past lovers was presented in the British series Black Mirror (2011–) when Jonas (Tom Cullen) spoke of masturbating to “re-dos” of sex from his earlier relationships. In the drama Autoerotic (2011), a very literal re-do transpired when the unnamed Adam Wingard character masturbated to a video he had recorded of he and his then partner having sex. Something similar transpired in an episode of the sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000–): Larry bumped into an ex-girlfriend, Lucy (Melanie Smith). Later in the episode—while in bed with his wife (Cheryl Hines)—it was discovered that Larry was “tapped out”; earlier he had masturbated to thoughts of Lucy and, in turn, wasn’t able to have intercourse with his wife.
Mels van Driel, With the Hand: a Cultural History of Masturbation (London: Reaktion Books, 2012), 24.
Alan McKee, Katherine Albury and Catharine Lumby, The Porn Report (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2008), 79.
This example can be likened to Anna’s (Jennifer Garner) surprising confession in the comedy The Invention of Lying (2009), when she remarked to her date, “Hi. You’re early. I was just masturbating”; a confession that only makes sense in a world without deceitful social pleasantries.
Michelle Henning, “The Subject as Object: Photograph and the Human Body,” Photography: A Critical Introduction, ed. Liz Wells (New York: Routledge, 1996): 159–192, 169–170.
Catharine A. MacKinnon, Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989).
Divya Praful Tolia-Kelly, Landscape Race and Memory: Material Ecologies of Citizenship (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2010), 104.
Dennis Howitt and Kerry Sheldon, Sex Offenders and the Internet (Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, 2007), 112.
The comedy Drool (2009) also provides an example of a wife masturbating over an idealized sexual fantasy involving her husband.
A real life example of this transpired in 2011 when comedian Tracy Morgan remarked that politician Sarah Palin was “good masturbation material.” This led to the television network TNT having to make an apology for allowing the comment to air (Jessica Derschowitz, “Tracy Morgan’s Sarah Palin Comment Draws Apology from TNT,” CBS News (January 28, 2011). Retrieved September 16, 2013 from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20029869-10391698.html).
This is subverted in a number of examples. In a Nip/Tuck (2003–2010) episode, after Kimber (Kelly Carlson) discovered that Sean had used the sex doll modelled on her body, she actually seemed flattered. In an episode of the sitcom Louie (2010–), when the protagonist (Louis C.K.) met actress Susan Sarandon and revealed that she was the first woman he had ever masturbated to, Sarandon equally seemed flattered. In an episode of Sex and the City (1998-2004), Trey (Kyle MacLachlan) was unable to manage erections with his wife Charlotte (Kristin Davis). Later, Charlotte discovered that he had been masturbating using porn magazines. In order to place herself into her husband’s masturbatory thoughts, Charlotte pasted her face over one of the models in his magazine; clearly wanting to insert herself into his fantasy life. In each example, being arousing enough to masturbate to was considered as something positive.
A similar narrative played out in an episode of the medical-drama Nip/Tuck (2003–2010) when Sean (Dylan Walsh) asked his best friend and business partner, Christian (Julian McMahon), whether he masturbated to thoughts of Julia (Joely Richardson), Sean’s wife.
Naomi Pfefferman, “Bruno and Homophobia, Part 2,” Jewish Journal (July 6, 2009). Retrieved July 13, 2013 from http://www.jewishjournal.com/hollywoodjew/item/bruno_and_homophobia_part_2_20090706; Michael D. Klemm, “The Austrian Queen,” Cinema Queer, December 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2013 from http://www.cinemaqueer.com/review%20pages%203/bruno.html; Michael McGonigle, “BRUNO Reconsidered: It’s Not About Homophobia,” Film Buff Online (July 20, 2009). Retrieved July 13, 2013 from http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/2009/07/20/bruno-reconsidered-its-not-about-the-homophobia/.
Lauren Rosewarne, Part-Time Perverts: Sex, Pop Culture and Kink Management (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011).
The masturbation methods of homosexuals do in fact, get mocked in a number of other screen examples also. From the gerbil-in-the-rectum masturbation in the comedy Another Gay Movie (2006) (also referenced in the action film The Doom Generation (1995)), to Jack’s (Sean Hayes) electric toothbrush and hair crimper masturbation methods alluded to in the sitcom Will & Grace (1998–2006), the sexual behavior of homosexuals is frequently used as comic fodder: as something to laugh at.
Lauren Rosewarne, Part-Time Perverts: Sex, Pop Culture and Kink Management (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011).
This scene can be likened to the events transpiring in Back to the Future (1985) when Marty (Michael J. Fox) travelled back in time and kissed his mom (before she was his mother).
In Brett Kahr, Who’s Been Sleeping in Your Head? (New York: Basic Books, 2007), 225.
In Brett Kahr, Who’s Been Sleeping in Your Head? (New York: Basic Books, 2007), 227.
In Brett Kahr, Who’s Been Sleeping in Your Head? (New York: Basic Books, 2007), 225.
Nancy Friday, My Secret Garden (New York: Trident Press, 1973); Nancy Friday, Men in Love: Men’s Sexual Fantasies: the Triumph of Love Over Rage (New York: Delacorte Press, 1980); Nancy Friday, Beyond My Control: Forbidden Fantasies in an Uncensored Age (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2009).
A similar presentation transpired in an episode of sitcom Modern Family (2009–) when it was revealed that Dylan (Reid Ewing) had had sexual dreams about his girlfriend’s mother.
In Brett Kahr, Who’s Been Sleeping in Your Head? (New York: Basic Books, 2007), 225.
In Nancy Friday, Beyond My Control: Forbidden Fantasies in an Uncensored Age (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2009), 118.
Lauren Rosewarne, Part-Time Perverts: Sex, Pop Culture and Kink Management (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011), 49.
Something similar transpired in the Italian drama Amarcord (I Remember) (1973) where, in one scene, four boys in a car were masturbating and moaning out the names of various women.
Mark Schwartz and William Masters, “The Masters and Johnson Treatment Program for Dissatisfied Homosexual Men,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 141(2) (1984): 173–81.
Nancy Friday, Men in Love: Men’s Sexual Fantasies: the Triumph of Love Over Rage (New York: Delacorte Press, 1980).
In Gregg Kilday, “Straight Outta Jersey,” The Advocate (July 4, 2000): 62–63, 62.
Susan Segrest, Who Would You Do: The Totally Unauthorized Celebrity Sex Game (New York: Villard, 2003).
Harold Leitenberg and Kris Henning, “Sexual Fantasy,” Psychological Bulletin, 113, 3 (1995): 469-496.
Brett Kahr, Who’s Been Sleeping in Your Head? (New York: Basic Books, 2007).
Nancy Friday, My Secret Garden (New York: Trident Press, 1973); Nancy Friday, Men in Love: Men’s Sexual Fantasies: the Triumph of Love Over Rage (New York: Delacorte Press, 1980); Nancy Friday, Beyond My Control: Forbidden Fantasies in an Uncensored Age (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2009).
Yvonne K. Fulbright, The Better Sex Guide to Extraordinary Lovemaking (Beverly, MA: Quiver, 2011).
Yvonne K. Fulbright, The Better Sex Guide to Extraordinary Lovemaking (Beverly, MA: Quiver, 2011).
Alan McKee, Katherine Albury and Catharine Lumby, The Porn Report (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2008), 79.
Cultural theorist Karen Boyle discussed this issue in her book Everyday Pornography where she contended, “There is a disturbing slippage here between pornography and men’s sexuality: ‘dirty pictures’ are desired and consumed by boys with ‘dirty minds.’ Men’s interest in pornography is presented as an inevitable consequence of their sex and youth: pornography becomes (young) men’s sexuality” (Karen Boyle, “Porn Consumers’ Public Faces,” Everyday Pornography, ed. Karen Boyle (New York: Routledge, 2010): 134–146, 138).
Equally, characters are often shown reading porn magazines and not masturbating. A good example of this transpired in the action film Nowhere to Run (1993), when protagonist Sam (Jean-Claude Van Damme) was in a tent casually reading such a magazine. Such an act can also be viewed as another example of the mainstreaming of porn.
Alan McKee, Katherine Albury and Catharine Lumby, The Porn Report (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2008.
Worth noting, in song, women masturbating to magazines gets mentioned in both Cyndi Lauper’s “She Bop” (1984) and Prince’s “Darling Nikki” (1984).
In an episode of the British sitcom Black Books (2000–2004), Fran (Tamsin Greig) admitted to masturbating to the voice of the man who delivered the Shipping Forecast. In an episode of Peep Show, Jeremy admitted to trying to masturbate to an answerphone message. In Ken Park (2002), Tate (James Ransone) masturbated listening to grunting female tennis players. In Happiness (1998), Allen (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) prank called women and masturbated to the sound of their voices. In the comedy Too Much Sun (1990), Reed (Robert Downey Jr.) masturbated while Bitsy (Andrea Martin) sang him a lullaby. In an episode of the sitcom Two and a Half Men (2003–), Alan (Jon Cryer) masturbated listening to mariachi music.
Lauren Rosewarne, Part-Time Perverts: Sex, Pop Culture and Kink Management (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011).
Lauren Rosewarne, Part-Time Perverts: Sex, Pop Culture and Kink Management (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011).
Psychologists David Barlow and V. Mark Durand briefly mentioned this issue in their discussion of why women seem to masturbate less than men: “One traditional view accounting for differences in masturbatory behavior is that women have been taught to associate sex with romance and emotional intimacy, whereas men are more interested in physical gratification” (David H. Barlow and V. Mark Durand, Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2012), 349). This issue was also discussed in Lauren Rosewarne, “The Key to Female Pleasure is All in Her Head,” ABC The Drum (October 2, 2013). Retrieved October 7, 2013 from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-02/rosewarne-the-pursuit-of-female-pleasure/4992534.
Thomas W. Laqueur, Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation (New York: Zone Books, 2003), 328.
Thomas Laqueur also made the masturbation/novels link in his discussion of a feminist poster displayed in the Women’s Studies Department of Sydney University in 1991 which showed “a woman with her hand in her crotch, her eyes absorbed in a book, and a balloon that tells the man she does not need him or his purchasing power” (Thomas W. Laqueur, Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation (New York: Zone Books, 2003), 355).
The speculative-future film Her (2013) took this idea substantially further whereby relationships played out between human users and operating systems. In one scene, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) masturbated while speaking aloud a sexual fantasy with the voice of his operating system in a presentation resembling a typical phone sex scene.
The theme of advertising as a turn-on is also identifiable in the comedy Super Troopers (2001) when highway patrolmen masturbated to a sexy billboard. It was also referenced in an episode of the animated series The Simpsons (1989–) when Homer positioned his son, Bart, in front of a billboard hoping that the sexy heterosexual images would cure Bart’s “homosexuality.”
In my book Sex in Public I discussed the idea of how in a world of mainstreamed pornography it is hard to imagine that there was once a time when pin-up images were significantly titillating enough to masturbate to (Lauren Rosewarne, Sex in Public: Women, Outdoor Advertising and Public Policy (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholar’s Publishing, 2007)).
A rare example of a woman with a bizarre set of turn-ons transpired in the drama Autoerotic (2011). In one scene, the unnamed Kate Lyn Sheil explained to her friend her preoccupation. Her friend queried what set her off, to which the character responded, “heat, like the coffee cup turns me on. And then like other types of drinks like beer bottles have been really turning me on. Like the shape of it. . . . Or like riding my bike turns me on. And like really narrow streets turn me on. And then the sidewalk when it gets kind of sparkly. . . . People in uniform . . . Playing cards . . .”
Ian Olney, Euro Horror: Classic European Horror Cinema in Contemporary American Culture (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2013), 175.