On Sat, Mar 1, 2008 at 6:23 PM, Ken Arromdee arromdee@rahul.net wrote:
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008, Oskar Sigvardsson wrote:
If we are able to teach the message that a vagina is not something dirty or shameful, that masturbation in healthy and pleasurable, and that safe, consensual sex is something that should be applauded, then we have done a lot of good.
We can't teach this. It's a POV. NPOV, remember?
In hindsight this might have been a poor way of formulating myself. You are of course right, in the sense of "telling people what to do", we shouldn't "teach" anything.
What I'm saying is this: many, many, many people in the world are still today being taught that masturbation is incredibly harmful; that it will decrease your fertility, that it will make you stupid, that it will make you blind, or that it is deviant and only perverts do it (there are of course many more superstitions). If they go to wikipedia and check out the article, they might read this:
"Different studies have found that masturbation is frequent in humans. Alfred Kinsey's studies have shown that 92% of men and 62% of women have masturbated during lifespan."
And maybe then they will feel a little better about themselves, less ashamed of something that is perfectly natural. Or they might read this:
"It is held in many mental health circles that masturbation can relieve depression, stress and lead to a higher sense of self-worth (Hurlbert & Whittaker, 1991)."
Something I can personally attest to, by the way :)
This is what I'm saying; wikipedia just gives the straight information, it doesn't shy away from the topic, it doesn't take a stand, it just teaches what is indeed true: masturbation is virtually universal among men, and extremely common among women, it carries no health risk what-so-ever and it in fact can be very benifical for your health. This is what I meant by teaching people, sorting through superstitions and morality and telling people the truth.
--Oskar