Basic Types of Sexual  Behavior

1. Sexual Self-stimulation: History

20th Century

Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) a radical Austrian psychoanalyst, once again recommended masturbation as therapy

Toward the end of the 19th century, when most Western societies had become fully industrialized and started to enjoy the fruits of their new affluence, a slow process of sexual liberalization began to set in, and the prevailing medical doctrine about masturbation began to be questioned. First, some psychiatrists began to wonder whether it might not be the effect rather than the cause of a person's insanity. Then it was doubted that any connection existed at all. "Self-abuse" was perhaps only a "bad habit" or a symptom of "arrested development". Still, some doctors continued to insist that a young man's proper physical growth depended on the preservation of his semen and that he could therefore weaken his body by wasting it prematurely. However, soon even this theory had to be abandoned for lack of evidence. It therefore became fashionable to warn only against "excessive" masturbation, and, for a while, this proved to be a comfortable fallback position. Since the "excess" was never clearly defined, no scientific proof had to be offered, and any prospective masturbator was nevertheless deterred. On the other hand, some psychoanalysts like Wilhelm Reich began to see masturbation as therapeutic, at least for females. Finally, modern sex research succeeded in demonstrating the obvious: Masturbation as such cannot do any physical or mental harm, and "excess" is a relative term. While some people never masturbate at all in their entire lives, others masturbate several times a day for decades, and the one behavior is just as "natural", "normal", or "healthy" as the other.