Male masturbation is no longer automatically portrayed as a shameful, hidden act.
As I perused my newTumbl feed recently, I was struck by how much the representation of male masturbation in pornography has changed in the last 10 years. Male masturbation is no longer automatically portrayed as a shameful, hidden act. Masturbation is no longer inevitably equated with ineptitude (or, at best, inexperience) as it used to be. Instead, what I tend to see today is a representation of male masturbation as a normal, happy, natural and pleasurable behaviour for men of all ages. What masturbation really is.
This is a massive change. When you look at things as they are, porn came about mainly because guys need to masturbate. Yet, traditionally, porn hypocritically portrayed male masturbation as an inadequacy, as a lack of virility. If you stumble on straight or gay porn of 30 or 40 years ago, this bias will be strikingly recognisable. I can tell you that, as a teen back then, this bias made me feel like an oddball.
What caused this to change, I believe, are the rise of porn-sharing sites and the greater ubiquity of video cameras in the last 20 years or so. As men began sharing images of themselves being solosexually active, the notion that it is an uncommon or inadequate behaviour became more and more questionable. As a result, the porn industry’s traditional discourse became untenable and had to change. Heck, there are even commercial porn websites that have made male masturbation their focus and specialty nowadays !
Of course, not all is as it should be, as it is obvious that masturbation is still viewed as a lesser form of sex by the porn industry. This unfavourable slant explains why, for instance, a masturbation scene will almost necessarily turn into a fucking scene the moment another character walks in. This is the traditional dismissiveness of masturbation at play.
What I tend to see today is a representation of male masturbation as a normal, happy, natural and pleasurable behaviour. What masturbation really is.
This dismissiveness is absolutely unacceptable. Let it be known and understood that a person who’s masturbating doesn’t necessarily want to fuck (or be fucked) at that precise moment. Even if that same person is using a dildo or some fleshtoy.* (And I’m not even bringing up the notion of consent, because porn scenarios are usually not that deep. But if we did, most of these scenes would be even less credible or acceptable!) Indeed, solosex isn’t something one solely engages in because one doesn’t have access to a partner. Obviously, yes, it can be the reason. But for most adults, solosex is in fact a choice; for as good as it can be to make love to one’s partner, it can be just as good (and even better) to masturbate, depending on a person’s needs at that particular point in time. And this fact, porn still does not recognise as valid. We still need to remind everyone, including those who script scenes for the porn industry, that masturbation is sex. And very good sex too!
Going back to my feed, though, it is obvious that there has been major progress, and I’m very happy that it has. The notion of shame or sin that used to be inevitably associated with male masturbation has for the most part been expunged. So, now, I can readily enjoy the sight of men having obvious fun masturbating, without the contriteness that used to be the norm. For sure, this not something I could have seen as a teenager**. This is fantastic!
[* Toys are masturbation enhancers : they are used because they intensify the pleasure felt during masturbation. They are not makeshift humans. Most of them don’t even look or work like some human “part” anyway. Toys are masturbation tools, just like porn is. Yes, you read that right porn: you’re just a tool for my pleasure. You’re a fleshtoy for my brain.]
[** Yes, teenagers are not supposed to look at porn. Yet, we all did. I did, for sure, anyway.]
Written by Bateworld.com member FunkyJerker, Owner of the newTumbl Masturbator’s Sanctum blog
Great piece
I agree. Masturbation is sex; as a matter of fact, it is great sex.
I agree
This is encouraging and good news. Masturbation should be portrayed as the normal, happy pleasure it is, rather than a substitute for the “real thing.” It definitely has been my go-to for sexual fulfillment for most of my life. It’s also wonderful that men are overcoming guilt and shame for masturbating and no longer regarding it as “sin.” We even have a thriving Christian Masturbators group on BateWorld with new members joining every day
Interesting … I don’t recall porn portraying masturbation as a shameful, hidden act when I watched it in the 90s; however, I do agree that attitudes about masturbation have changed for the better in the last 40 years.
I masturbated with other guys from my teens through my late 20s, but discovering Bate World and having a safe place to share about masturbation in so many ways has resulted in me reframing how I view masturbation in a richer way.
Thanks for sharing your perspective.
Well said, brother.✌️
Masturbation in general has gradually been coming to the fore in my lifetime and partially because of the efforts of people like Betty Dodson. But the portrayal of masturbation in hetero couples porn is slim to non-existent. If there’s a gallery of images, it will show either the man or the woman masturbating in the beginning, but the series almost always ends with them fucking and the man releasing his load on her face.
I’m just saying that while there’s plenty of both solo male porn and solo female porn, masturbation between hetero couples has not really “developed” or become more mainstream. That’s a shame, as one of the most beautiful acts is two people sharing masturbation. Gay porn, check. Lez porn, check. Hetero masturbation? Nada. Zip.
So true about Dodson, I was in touch with her eons ago and contributed a story to her book on masturbation. I forget the title, but it was a collection of storys from guys & gals sharing a personal experience about self-pleasuring. I agree masturbation is becoming more open, as it should. And masturbation between m/f couples is often oddly performed on sites like chaturbate. Of course, many couples there are more interested with getting tips than just enjoying themselves sexually.
I agree. My girlfriend and I are both solo sexual. Our sex life is masturbating together. And I love mutual masturbation porn. There is some good amateur stuff out there. But very little else in mainstream porn. But it’s awesome when I find a new mutual masturbation porn. It is coming up very gradually. I think the more it’s introduced it will follow male masturbation porn and start opening doors for a lot of people out there in their own sex lives. Even if the couple isn’t solo sexual by nature it will become something more couples do I think. And they’ll love it!!!
Masturbationfiend,
omg that would be a dream gal for me, someone who enjoys soloing & mutual bating as much as I/we do. Would be nice to see more mutual/solo masturbation in porn as well or on sites like chaturbate cams. But, its more typical for the m/f couples to do be doing their thing individually rather than mutually. Of course if it were really mutual, the guy wouldn’t last that long and his part of the show’s over or well until he can do it again. And they performing for tips so they want to last long as possible before he gets to cum.
That is great to know. My wife & I have put on weight. I love when she inserts a dido into my ass as well asme shoving a dido into her & fingerings her. Sometimes it’s the best as we are both uncomfortable post eating but cures the horniness!!!
Happy bating together!!!
I agree with this writer’s opinion that attitudes toward male masturbation have changed for the better over the past years and masturbation is better accepted as a ‘normal’ sex act rather than previously being viewed as some kind freak thing only ‘losers’ did out of desperation. As an older mature masturbator I can remember when even gay men were uncomfortable even mentioning the word “masturbation” much less admitting they enjoyed it themselves in private at home. It was a taboo subject back then not generally mentioned around other gay men. I believe the AIDS epidemic contributed to a more generalized acceptance of masturbation due to the practice of safe sex that was encouraged in lieu of sex with other men. The epidemic brought masturbation ‘out of the closet’ so to say and made it more acceptable as a valid subject. It was/is the safest sex there is. Now with the Internet and porn sites and blogs it is understood most men visit them for masturbation ‘fuel’ to stimulate their cocks. What other purpose would porn serve other than this? Now men openly admit they enjoy masturbation without guilt or embarrassment and more and more the bad stigma of it is fading away instead being replaced by a more wholesome approach and considered just as valid a sex act than any other gay sex act. Indeed times have changed for the better for men who enjoy masturbation!
I totally agree with several points of the writer, I think there is no kind of shame in masturbation, it seems healthier than sex itself. I generally always attend gay saunas and masturbation-themed parties, in fact right now I’m really excited that I’m going to one very soon. I leave you the information in case someone in the area would like to go https://wickedgayparties.com/party/healthy-friction-weekend-of-masturbation-palm-springs/796
Good vantage point. However because I’m not a porn consumer – ya, I know I’m weird – I can’t comment on either way how the industry is moving. What I can say is that there are only three professional porn “pieces” I’ve witnessed in the past 20 years that have had any impact on me. All three had 100% focus on masturbation.
Much like a particularly significant day in one’s life, like a wedding or a funeral, these 3 “pieces” are seared into my brain and I replay them over and over. One of them – so extremely powerful – inspired me to write a blog about it. https://bateworld.com/blog.php?user=guzlr44&blogentry_id=6202
Thank the Gods now for sites like BW where guys willingly and unashamedly masturbate for each other. Who needs professional porn when I can have countless bate buds??