Masturbation: myths busted

• Myth 1: Masturbation makes you sick

Some say masturbation gives you acne, others say it makes you blind or bald or gives you hairy palms. The list goes on... Well, none of that is true. Masturbation doesn’t make you blind or bald or give you acne. In fact, research has shown that it can help relieve stress, lift your mood up and give you good health.

Although, it isn’t very common, some people get addicted to masturbating. They end up masturbating so often (to be clear, we’re talking a lot of times a day here) it keeps them from dealing with daily tasks. If you’re experiencing something similar, don’t worry because it can be cured like any other form of addiction. Seek help from your gynaecologist.

• Myth 2: Women don’t masturbate

Let’s get this straight. The society we live in is more accepting of men being sexually active than women. And that’s why they would like to make us believe that it’s unusual for women to masturbate. But that’s not true. It’s completely natural for both men and women to masturbate.

• Myth 3: People in relationships don’t masturbate

Both single and people who are in relationships masturbate. People who are in relationships masturbate, not because they don’t like having sex with their partners. They masturbate when their partners are not available. Or just because they feel like it and, hey, masturbating is a totally different experience after all. Or because they want to rehearse for the real sex!

• Myth 4: Masturbation makes you infertile and impotent

You must have heard that men could ‘lose’ all their sperm if they masturbate too often and that could make them impotent. Well, that’s just hocus pocus. Because as long as a man has healthy sexual organs, he keeps producing sperm, whether or not he masturbates. The same goes for women - masturbation doesn’t make a woman stop producing fertile eggs.

In fact, for guys who are trying to get a their partner pregnant, it’s actually good to keep the semen flowing! Older sperm that have been hanging around in there for a few days are less likely to be in tip-top condition.

• Myth 5: Masturbation gives you STDs

Quite the contrary, actually! Going solo is one of the safest ways to enjoy sex! As long as you don’t share your sex toys and use enough precautions while using sex toys, you have little to no risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease. After all, you can’t catch an infection from yourself.

• Myth 6: Masturbation can make you pregnant

If a woman is masturbating by herself, she can’t get pregnant. A woman gets pregnant when a man’s semen enters her vulva. So, if you are masturbating mutually, make sure that the semen doesn’t enter the vulva while you ejaculate.

• Myth7: Women lose their virginity if they masturbate

‘Losing your virginity’ means having sexual intercourse for the first time. Whether or not you put your fingers or anything else inside your vagina, and whether or not you stretch or tear your hymen, if you’ve only masturbated, you’re still a virgin.

• Myth 8: For women, masturbating means using a dildo

People sometimes get the idea that when women masturbate, it means they put a dildo, a vibrator or some kind of penis-shaped vegetable in their vagina. Well, true enough, some women do enjoy that. But mostly when women bring themselves to an orgasm it’s by using their fingers or maybe a vibrator to stimulate their clitoris. The vaginal is usually an optional extra!

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Gayatri Parameswaran is a multi-award winning writer, director and producer of immersive media works. She was born and raised in India and is currently based in Berlin, where she co-founded NowHere Media - a storytelling studio that views contemporary issues through a critical lens. She also edited the Love Matters website in its initial years. Check out more about her here.