Masturbation

Masturbation will make you go blind

There seem to be as many warnings about masturbation as there are supposed cures for the common cold. (That means there are a lot!) Masturbation is thought to harm you in all sorts of ways. Masturbation will make you go blind. Masturbation will make you grow hair on your palms. Masturbating too much will make you go crazy. Masturbation will make you impotent later in life. Masturbation will make your penis curved. Masturbation will make you unable to have orgasms during regular sex. You shouldn’t need to masturbate if you are in a relationship with another person. Masturbation will make you not a virgin. Masturbation will sap your strength. All of these ideas are myths!

One of the most famous proponents of these masturbation myths was none other than the creator of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg was a nutritionist and talented surgeon who revolutionized what Americans eat for breakfast. He also happened to be very opposed to sex. Although he was married, he seems to have been abstinent throughout his marriage. Dr. Kellogg was especially against masturbation. He thought masturbation not only caused all of the usual terrible things like blindness and impotence, but also tuberculosis, epilepsy, heart disease, personality changes, and acne. In fact, Dr. Kellogg thought that eating healthy food like Corn Flakes would make people masturbate less. Dr. Kellogg may have been smart about creating breakfast foods, but he was not so smart about masturbation. Eat all the Corn Flakes you want; it is not going to change your masturbating practices.

The evidence that masturbation will not make you blind or make hair grow on your palms is overwhelming. Lots and lots of people masturbate. In fact, even back in the 1940s, 94 percent of males and 40 percent of females reported having masturbated to orgasm. These numbers have only increased, with the percentage of females reporting that they have masturbated at 70 percent or more. In one study in the United States, half of American women reported using a vibrator. It is normal to masturbate. And yet, while lots and lots of people are masturbating, not many people in the world are blind. Even fewer people grow hair on their palms. While mental illness is a real and common problem, it has no connection with masturbation. If masturbation really caused any of these problems, you would see lots and lots of blind, hairy, crazy people all around you. It just does not happen.

Even people who masturbate more than the average do not have physical problems from their masturbation. Researchers have looked closely at people who masturbated an average of four or more times a day over the course of years, and they were not any more likely to have any diseases than the people who masturbated less. Men who ejaculate more often are not going to run out of sperm or become impotent. People who masturbate do not need to worry about their performance in sports or other feats of strength. Having sex or masturbating does not change how well you do on a treadmill and does not seem to change your strength, balance, reaction time, or aerobic power.

Masturbation is not going to deform your penis either. Many men have curved penises or penises that are not perfectly straight. This is completely normal and has nothing to do with whether or not they masturbate. It should not have any negative impact on their experience of sex, although we would recommend talking with a doctor if you have a specific concern about any part of your anatomy.

Masturbation can be a perfectly normal, healthy practice whether you are in a relationship or not. Giving yourself sexual pleasure can be an important way to practice sex, and it is probably the safest form of sex. Knowing what gives you pleasure can also lead to experiencing more pleasure with your partner. Masturbating should not ruin you for sex with another person. It can be a good alternative to sex with someone else, or it can be a healthy way to supplement your sexual relationship with your partner.