Basic Types of Sexual  Behavior

1. Sexual Self-stimulation: Masturbation

Early Experiences

Both females and males may learn to masturbate all by themselves while still in their infancy. As they play with their sex organs, they may discover some pleasurable feeling and then simply try to repeat the experience. However, in most cases, conscious and regular masturbation does not begin before puberty. Boys are often taught how to masturbate by other boys, or they hear about it in their conversations. Since boys seem to discuss sexual matters much more openly than girls, they usually obtain more sex information at an earlier age. In contrast, girls are more likely to discover masturbation alone and by accident. Some of them are introduced to it through "petting" with a boy, and others read about it in books or magazines. There are even cases of girls who masturbate for years before they realize what they are doing. On the whole, however, fewer females than males seem to masturbate to orgasm.

Masturbation in females and males from childhood to middle age
Accumulative percentage of females (red) and males (blue) who have masturbated to orgasm, relative to age
Source: Data from Kinsey et al., 1948