WITH THE HAND A Cultural History of Masturbation Mels van Driel with the hand WITH THE HAND A Cultural History of Masturbation Mels Van Driel TranslatedbyPaulVincent reaktion books PublishedbyReaktionBooksLtd 33GreatSuttonStreet Londonec1vodx,uk www.reaktionbooks.co.uk Firstpublished2012 Firstpublishedin2010asMetdehand.Eenculturelegeschiedenisvandesoloseks byUitgeverijDeArbeiderspers,Amsterdam TranslatedbyPaulVincent English-languagetranslation©ReaktionBooks,2012 Thispublicationhasbeenmadepossiblewithfinancialsupportfromthe DutchFoundationforLiterature. Allrightsreserved Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,or transmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying, recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorpermissionofthepublishers. PrintedandboundinGreatBritainbyTJInternational,Padstow,Cornwall BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Driel,Melsvan,1954– Withthehand:aculturalhistoryofmasturbation. 1.Masturbation. I.Title 306.7’72-dc23 isbn9781861899194 Contents 1 Introduction 7 2 Ages,LocationsandFrequencies 16 Smallchildren–Youngpeople–Adultsandtheelderly,fatandthin– Timesandlocations 3 Education 26 Lovingyourself –Backin1925–Masturbationaftercircumcision– Masturbationandthementallyhandicapped–Masturbationtoorder– Workshopsforwomen:lessonsinmasturbation–Multipleorgasms–The masturbationrepertory–Fingering–Thefemaleprostateandejaculation– Thediscoveryoftheclitoris–Inthepresenceofothers 4 SexAids 57 Sextoys–Dildos,vibratorsandpins–History–Thevibratorasamedical instrument–Menonsexaids–Onlineshopping–TheButtPlugGnome– Horses–Agoodorgasmisbeyondprice–Analstimulation–Artificial ejaculation–Thevolume,smellandtasteofsperm–BillClinton 5 Animals 94 DrTatiana–Thezoodirector 6 DoctorsandOtherScientists 100 Tissot–MarieAntoinette–Ailmentscausedbyonanism–Causesofonanism –Remedies–Neurasthenia,nutritionandmorecuriousobjects–Clitori- dectomy–The‘BringersofEnlightenment’–Scholarsinthehumanities– Masturbationandprostatecancer–Othermoderninsights–Theinternet anddiaries 7 Culture,ReligionsandPhilosophers 146 Mythology–TheOldTestamentandJudaism–Onan–Ezekiel–The ChristianChurches–Islam–Taoism–Modernphilosophers–Conclusions 8 WritersandPoets 172 Classicaltexts–Frenchpriapicverseofthesixteenthandseventeenth centuries–Maleauthors–Femaleauthors–Morepoems 9 Entertainment 202 Songsandlimericks–Films 10 Artists 209 Giorgione–Titian–Rembrandt–Baudouin–Rops–Klimt–DeFeure– Beardsley–Schoff–Schiele–Grosz–Schad–Dalí–Fischl–Serrano–Emin –McKenzie 11 InConclusion 234 Morality–Taboo BibliographicalSources 242 PhotoAcknowledgements 249 Index 251 1 Introduction Masturbation refers to the practice of stimulating one’s own genitaliainsuchawayastoproducesexualarousalandpossibly orgasm. In the case of a man this means that his semen is not depositedintheappropriateorificeinawoman’sbody.Hewastes hisseed,inthecenturies-oldviewofmanyreligionsandcultures. Other popular terms for this activity are onanism, auto- eroticism, solitary sex and, more recently, sex for one. The phenomenon occurs in humans and animals and in both sexes. ‘Masturbation’ derives from the Latin words mas and turbare, ‘masculine/masculinity’ and ‘move (violently)’. A variant of this etymologyinterpretsthefirstpartofthewordasaformofmanus, ‘hand’, and the second asstupr um, ‘debauch’. The Latin poet Martialusestheformmasturbor,i.e.asadeponentverb,whichis passive in form and active in meaning. The active form mastur- bareisnotfound. Slang terms for the practice of masturbation are legion and often very inventive. Besides the familiar British ‘wank’ and American‘jerkoff’,websiteslikewww.nowscape.comyieldliter- allyhundredsofpicturesqueexpressionsformasturbation,male andfemale.Formentheseinclude:assaultonafriendlyweapon, being your own best friend, charming the cobra, Custer’s last stand,gettingintouchwithyourself,onemanshow,playingthe organ,punishingthebishop,roughingupthesuspectandshaking hands with Abe Lincoln. Women have a slightly more limited 7 withthehand choice (though some examples, like ‘getting in touch with your- self’, are clearly unisex): a general term is ‘fingering (oneself)’, while others include a night with the girls, engaging in safe sex, havingsexwithsomeoneyoulove,manualoverride,partingthe RedSeaandsqueezingthepeach.Apossibleexplanationforthis imbalance in terminology is that while the genitalia form an integralpartofawoman’sbody,thephallusisanexternalorgan, literallyandfiguratively‘outonalimb’. Theveryfirstsurvivingdescriptionoffemalemasturbationis by the French writer Restif de la Bretonne, quoted by Havelock Ellis(1859–1939)inTheEvolutionofModesty(PartiofStudiesin thePsychologyofSex,1897).In1755Restifhadmetawoman,not prettybutwell-endowed,whohadbeenbroughtupinaconvent. He saw her becoming excited as she looked lustfully out of the windowatayoungman: Her movements became agitated, I approached her and am convinced that she was using terms of endearment; she had gonered.Thenshesigheddeeplyandstoodmotionless,stretch- ingoutherlegs,whichwerestiffasifshewereinpain... Todaythereareexcellentnon-pornographicsitesshowingimages andsoundsofmasturbatingmenandwomen.Myownfavourite is www.beautifulagony.com. On payment of a subscription one can see moving images of almost a thousand faces. The precise method of masturbation is not shown. Anyone can send in a digitalvideo,againonpaymentofafee.Thecontributors’names arewithheld,thoughtheexactnumberofminutesandmegabytes takenupbytheirheavenlyexperiencesarenot.Obviouslymany peoplehaveexhibitionistictendencies,butthesiteitselfcouldbe calledprudish,sinceaswassaid,nogenitaliaareonview–notas muchasanipple.Abettersiteforphysicaldetailiswww.seemen masturbate.com. The orgasms on www.beautifulagony.com, un- likethoseonmanypornsites,arereal.Itisasifthatauthenticity 8