…open homophobia and secret homoerotic sharing among recruits and military professionals has been used to reinforce loyalty, obedience, and the willingness to go to extremes to protect your comrades or overcome enemy forces.
QUESTION: I’m in the military. We have to keep it secret, but a group of my best buds and I J.O. together really often. Some guys say they won’t suck because it’s too gay, but they’ll stroke together. Still, it’s great male bonding, though maybe in some parts of the services it’s not so common. I do know about a lot of areas where it’s a big unspoken “secret,” that it happens a lot. My question is, what’s the real reason this is not encouraged for the sake of good morale?
RESPONSE: I’m pleased to hear that for you and your pals you’re able to enjoy brotherly erotic sharing, even if it has to be kept under wraps, so to speak. In ancient times there were usually bands of warriors ready to fight for their group, but when conflict was not ongoing, they also served other purposes in their societies, such as hunting and farming. The first known permanent standing national military dates from the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, after the import of new military technologies from the Near East, such as horse-drawn chariots and longbows.
The ancient Egyptians were also a highly phallocentric culture, where the erect penis was revered and associated with the vertical growth of crops, and by association with all abundance. The Pharaoh himself as a Living God performed masturbatory rituals during the Valley Festival of the Phallic God Min, “Lord of the Lifted Arm and the Healthy Eye.” As the image of Lord Min, that of a kingly man standing straight with erection in hand, was carried through the fields, men and boys along the way openly masturbated, something not normally done in public in ancient Egypt. Then in the Temple of Min, the Pharaoh presented large lettuces whose white sap resembled semen, and he masturbated in the Holy of Holies to assure continued fertility of the Two Lands of Egypt, North and South.
From ancient times the basic training of young men—for most armed forces have usually been all-male—involves brotherly bonding among young human males who are training to the peak of physical fitness and martial arts performance. However, unconscious this may be for many young men, the homoerotic element of the bonding process is inevitably present for many reasons. Often these are men in their late teens and in early adulthood, socially isolated from their families, women and children. These trainees compete for prominence in the hierarchy of authority, but also there has always inevitably been a homoerotic element of Phallic Brotherhood among warriors in organized armed forces.
In truth, sometimes the opposed forces of open homophobia and secret homoerotic sharing among recruits and military professionals has been used to reinforce loyalty, obedience, and the willingness to go to extremes to protect your comrades or overcome enemy forces. Of course, in most cases the public line, the official version, is that soldiers are chaste with one another and only interact sexually with women.
The kind of reality you describe among you and your buddies, sharing at the very least some masturbatory playtimes with fellow soldiers, is no doubt a lot more common than many military personnel would like to admit. In truth, of course, it’s not a failing or a weakness, on the contrary it’s a celebration of human nature. In a more ideal world, perhaps it can be actively encouraged, though it seems we’re not quite there yet.
BRUCE P. GRETHER is the “BateMaster”. Mr. Grether’s lifelong love of penises and masturbation has led him to achieve a level of mastery and understanding of masturbation that is at once unique and extremely rare. He is renowned for both his ability to achieve seemingly endless states of prolonged and intense masturbatory pleasure as well as his skill in passing this knowledge on to his students. Mr. Grether has made it his life’s mission to encourage men to take their practice of masturbation to new levels of personal enrichment and self-discovery.
Mr. Grether is a globally recognized masturbation activist, an accomplished masturbation coach, and a tireless facilitator of masturbation workshops. In 2001 he coined the now popular term “Mindful Masturbation”. He is the author of a best-selling book, The Secret of the Golden Phallus, plus the erotic fantasy novels
The Moontusk Chronicles. His website can be found at www.eroticengineering.com.
A note from The Batemaster: I’m honored that the guys at Bateworld have asked me to respond to some questions from male masturbators around the world every week.
Always check with your doctor about any issues you might be experiencing with your sexual organs. Prompt diagnosis and treatment are important. This article’s purpose is to inform and entertain readers and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment.
I spent over 20 years in the military and I have never experienced any homoerotic association with a male service member, nor have I seen or heard of any. There were plenty of jokes about homosexual behavior and gay calling and even about masturbation. (I masturbated extensively while in the military but always solo. ) I’m not saying that homoerotica was not present just that I never experienced it. Judging from history I’d have to conclude that it may be more common when combat is imminent than during peacetime. Now that I am older, and hopefully wiser, I see nothing harmful in what you describe, Bruce, as a common practice throughout history.
Thanks for your response! I cannot say from personal experience, never having been in the military. I was up for the draft during Vietnam, but did not get drafted. Possibly there are certain “islands” of such activity in the sea of the military? I’ve also heard account like yours, of no such shared activity, despite the guys masturbating as much as anyone. Apparently through much of history since ancient times, sailors isolated from land and other sexual opportunities have quite often helped relieve each other’s desire, but as I said, I don’t have first hand knowledge of this. Of course, before the “Don’t ask, don’t tell policy” at times men were removed from the military when their homosexuality or such activity was discovered. I suspect that a significant proportion of men in the military do have some such homoerotic experience, but how many would talk about it?