From Angst to Zeal

   Whatever else it may be, masturbation is safe sex which never results in pregnancy. It is an effective sexual outlet for the disabled or ill, and it can be enjoyed by couples together or solo.

   Advice columnist Ann Landers once called masturbation "a safe and sane alternative to intercourse." Mark Twain talked about it, as did Sigmund Freud. Porcupines do it. And it is one of the most common topics women ask Wayne and Tamara about.

   Despite the fact that some religions have castigated it, no scripture in Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, or Hindu traditions unequivocally even mentions the topic. Which brings up an odd fact noted by Aaron Lynch. Perhaps the masturbation taboo owes its strength to the fact that a group which believes it, has fewer options to intercourse.

   Over time such a group will tend to have more children, who will in turn be inculcated with the taboo, and that group will reproduce at a higher rate than other groups. In this way, over generations such a group will become mainstream because the belief in the taboo replicates itself better than other beliefs.

   Whether you are an average person with questions of your own, a parent or teacher wondering what to tell children, or a religious or secular counselor, this book clarifies the issues surrounding masturbation.

   The author discusses the psychology and physiology of masturbation, and how it has been viewed by many groups over time. Above all she seeks to bring this topic out of the closet and into the open where it can be thought about and discussed.

   Martha Cornog writes with a scholar's care and a popular writer's flair for the well-turned phrase. As she says, "I hope this book will--dare I say it--give you a hand."

From The Big Book of Masturbation

--"If everyone who masturbates were to turn purple at noon tomorrow, you'd swear that you were in a vineyard." --Harold Ivan Smith (Baptist seminary professor)

--"It is my opinion that masturbation is not much of an issue with God." --James Dobson (Founder, Focus on the Family)

--"A friend, a senior citizen, stopped me after church on Sunday and said, 'Please tell the children that masturbation won't hurt them. I spent my entire youth in agony waiting to go blind, because my parents told me that's what would happen if I masturbated. I guess I could have stopped, but going blind seemed the better option.'" --Joycelyn Elders (former Surgeon General of the United States)

--"It is the most intimate, intensely personal, low-cost, disease-free, and pregnancy-free form of sex around." --Martha Cornog