On Sat, Mar 1, 2008 at 6:23 PM, Ken Arromdee <arromdee(a)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