In recent years, we’ve seen the return of a strange, antiquated belief system that claims that masturbation results in weakness, loss of manhood, and psychological damage. There’s nothing really new about this belief – Swiss physician Samuel Tissot promoted the idea in 1760, arguing that semen was an essential oil, the loss of which resulted in decreased strength, memory, reason and morality. Benjamin Rush, a physician and signer of The Declaration of Independence treated masturbation with leaches, and claimed it caused blindness and mental disturbance. Graham and Kellog, 19th Century physicians invented bland foods like corn flakes and graham crackers to curb the desire to masturbate (I think that Graham didn’t anticipate s’mores, which are actually pretty sexy). Kellog advocated a host of punitive, restrictive measures to prevent children from masturbating, and was an early advocate for circumcision, arguing that it would reduce male masturbation. Christian arguments against the sin of onanism are now understood as a misinterpretation of the story of Onan, which is truly a condemnation of selfishness and depriving a widow and children of inheritance, not actually a condemnation against masturbation. The DSM-I, published in the 1950’s by the American Psychiatric Association offered the diagnostic code of 317.1 for the mental health disorder of masturbation. But, modern society seemed to have moved away from open condemnation of the dangers of self-pleasure. At least it did, for a few decades.
Just in the past couple of years, we’ve seen the explosive rise of numerous groups and figures also advocating against the dangers of masturbation:
- The Reddit nofap community is a large group of individuals, who use this online form to tout the health benefits of refraining from masturbating. Predominantly male, and largely young, white and often religious males, these discussion groups describe how masturbation, especially to porn, lessens men’s focus, and interferes in the men being able to get dates or sex from real women.
- Your Brain on Porn and Reboot Nation are also online groups who argue that masturbation to pornography results in neurological changes which desensitize a person’s brain to real sex, cause erectile dysfunction, and instill an addiction to Internet pornography. They promote the idea of a 90-day period of abstinence from sex and masturbation, in order to “reboot” the brain, like resetting it back to the original specs before you started watching porn (In case you were wondering this isn’t actually how brains work – we never go back, only forward in or neurological development).
- Numerous modern religious communities have condemned masturbation, especially to pornography. Brigham Young university, a Mormon school, spent what appears to be a great deal of money to produce a public service advertisement against the dangers and “darkness” of masturbation. For decades, Mormon deacons have conducted “worthiness interviews” of adolescents, centered on detecting and punishing masturbation, a practice now under scrutiny and attack.
- Texas Senator Ted Cruz has taken on the dangers of masturbation, arguing in 2007 that US citizens have “no substantive due process right to stimulate their own genitals.”
- Conservative psychologist and Youtube sensation Jordan Peterson, PhD., has suggested “there’s nothing noble about masturbating to pornography.”
- The Proud Boys is a group of young, nationalist males, self-described “Western Chauvinists,” who have recently been connected to numerous hate crimes, including public assaults on gay men. A central tenet of the Proud Boys’ belief system is the value of #NoWanks, claiming that masturbating makes men less likely to get dates and a way to push back against modern liberal culture. An interesting connection exists between NoFap and the Proud Boys – Alexander Rhodes, one of the leaders of the NoFap movement, appeared in 2016 on Gavin McInnes’s show, discussing NoFap and #NoWank. McInnes is the founder of The Proud Boys. Interestingly, that show ended with a clip from porn star Mercedes Carrera (to whom, one might imagine, many men have masturbated). Recently, as The Proud Boys garnered significant negative attention, NoFap issued a response from their Twitter account, stating that “Proud Boys has nothing to do with NoFap. They are not affiliated with our organization in any way. NoFap is non-legislative and non-partisan.”
- David Duke, associated with the KKK and white supremacy, suggested that pornography was a Jewish conspiracy, intended to serve as a “weapon of revenge” against European (white) men and societies. Duke argues that masturbation in fiction and films is a "metaphor for Jewish behavior" and cites Breitbart, and alleged masturbation by "asylum seekers" as a way to argue against immigration. Duke implores his followers to watch a video by Gary Wilson, founder of Your Brain on Porn.



Reply With Quote





Bookmarks