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Friday, June 4, 2010

Masturbation - Masturbation in history and society

Source: www.spiritus-tempori...
Masturbation is the manual excitation of the sexual organs, most often to the point of orgasm. It can refer to excitation either by oneself or by another (see mutual masturbation), but commonly refers to such activities performed alone. ...
Masturbation in history and society

Antiquity
There are depictions of male masturbation in prehistoric rock paintings around the world, though these are all entirely matters of interpretation. Most early people seem to have connected human sexuality with abundance in nature. A clay figurine of the 4th millennium BC from a temple site on the island of Malta, depicts a woman masturbating. However, in the ancient world depictions of male masturbation are far more common.

Male masturbation became an even more important image in ancient Egypt: when performed by a god it could be considered a creative or magical act: the god Atum was believed to have created the universe by masturbating to ejaculation. The ancient Greeks had a more natural attitude toward masturbation than the Egyptians did, regarding the act as a normal and healthy substitute for other forms of sexual pleasure. They considered masturbation a safety valve against destructive sexual frustration. The Greeks also dealt with female masturbation in both their art and writings.

Religion

In many religions, such as Catholicism, Mormonism, Judaism and Islam, masturbation is regarded as a sinful practice. The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists masturbation as one of the 'Offenses Against Chastity' and calls it 'an intrinsically and gravely disordered action' because 'use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose.' It goes on to caution that extenuating factors could exist, such as immaturity, habitual, or psychological problems.

There is no unambiguous mention of masturbation in the Bible. The word 'onanism' refers to the biblical story of Onan, who was obliged but refused to consummate a levirate marriage with his dead brother's wife:
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