<< Techniques of Masturbation >>

Females may choose their masturbatory techniques from a longer list of techniques than males ordinarily utilize. Among the females in our sample, a half dozen different methods had been regularly or occasionally employed and still others appeared in some of the histories (Table 37f). A half or more of those females who had masturbated had depended upon a single technique, but in various groups a quarter to a half of the females had utilized a second or still additional technique.
The use of a greater variety of techniques by the females is also recognized in: Moraglia 1897:15. Riolan 1927:29. The continuous use of a single method of stimulation is considered typical in: Hirschfeld 1926(1):264-270. Dickinson and Beam 1934:231. Haire 1951:144.

In the human male, masturbatory techniques are largely manual. They usually constitute a deliberate attempt to provide genital stimulation which will result in the satisfaction of orgasm. There are very few males who deliberately avoid orgasm as the conclusion of the activity, although a few of them may deliberately prolong the act into a matter of several minutes or more—sometimes to half an hour or an hour or more, in order to extend the sensory satisfaction. Most males carry the activity through to climax as rapidly as is possible, which means it does not ordinarily continue for more than a minute or two. Some males, indeed, are able to achieve orgasm quite regularly in a half minute or so, sometimes in ten or twenty seconds.

Some 45 per cent of all those females in the sample who had ever masturbated reported that they usually reached orgasm in three minutes or less, and another 25 per cent in something between four and five minutes. The median for the whole group was a few seconds under four minutes. Many of those who took longer to reach orgasm did so deliberately in order to prolong the pleasure of the activity and not because they were incapable of responding more quickly.

These data on the female’s speed in reaching orgasm provide important information on her basic sexual capacities. There is a widespread opinion that the female is slower than the male in her sexual responses, but the masturbatory data do not support that opinion. The average male may take something between two and three minutes to reach orgasm unless he deliberately prolongs his activity, and a calculation of the median time required would probably show that he responds not more than some seconds faster than the average female. It is true that the average female responds more slowly than the average male in coitus, but this seems to be due to the ineffectiveness of the usual coital techniques.

Clitoral and Labial Techniques. Masturbation among the females in the sample had most frequently involved some manipulation of the clitoris and/or the labia minora. The clitoris is the small, bud-like structure—a homologue of the male penis—which is located near the outer surface at the upper end of the female genitalia. The labia minora are the paired and at times protrudent and prominent inner lips of the genitalia. Some 84 per cent of those females in the sample who had ever masturbated had depended primarily on labial and/or clitoral techniques (Table 37f).
The dominance of labial and clitoral techniques is widely recognized in both the European and American literature: See, for instance: Anon., Histoire du Vice, n.d.:74. Rosenbaum 1845:137. Moraglia 1897:5-7. Kisch 1907:107. Moll 1909:82; 1912:90. Back 1910:112-113. Adler 1911:116. Rohleder 1921:14. Moll 1926(1):292. Riolan 1927:30. Bauer 1929:234. Kelly 1930:166, 169-170. Dickinson and Beam 1931:351 (66 per cent of more than 400 cases used vulvar friction). Meagher and Jelliffe 1936:70. Dearborn in Fishbein and Burgess 1947:365.

The clitoris and the inner surfaces of the labia minora are of about equal sensitivity and of equal importance as centers of stimulation. In masturbation, the female usually moves a finger gently and rhythmically over the sensitive areas, or applies rhythmic or steady pressure with several of her fingers or with her whole hand. Frequently a single finger or two may be slowly or more rapidly moved forward between the labia in a manner which brings each stroke against the clitoris. Sometimes the labia are gently but still rhythmically pulled. This stimulates these structures and, because they are attached at their forward end to the clitoris, simultaneously stimulates that organ. Occasionally the subject’s heel or some other object is used to press on the sensitive areas.

This concentration of stimulation on the clitoris and the labia minora in masturbation is a demonstration of the fact that they are the portions of the genitalia which are best supplied with end organs of touch. The minimum use of deep penetrations of the vagina in masturbation is a reflection of the fact that the walls of the vagina itself are practically without nerves in most females, although there may be some sensory nerves close to the entrance to the vagina in some individuals.

Labia Minora. The outer lips of the female genitalia are less often involved in female masturbation, although specific tests indicate that they are quite sensitive to touch. Not all areas which are sensitive to tactile stimulation can be stimulated erotically. When the labia majora are concerned, the masturbatory techniques usually involve some sort of general pressure which is applied to the whole of the genital area.
The sensitivity of the labia majora is also noted in Rohleder 1921:48.

Table 37f. Techniques in Masturbation among Females
Techniques Ever Used
among females		 Total
Active
Samole		 Educational Level
0-8 9-12 13-16 17+
%
Clitoral and labial 84 8286 83 88
Thigh pressure 10 68 10 10
Muscular tension 5 24 4 6
Breast stimulation 11 118 11 11
Vaginal insertion 20 2518 18 25
Fantasy alone 2 22 2 3
Other techniques 11 119 11 11
Number of cases 2727 65470 1393 737

Since each female may use more than one technique,
the percentages in each group add up to more than 100.


There are some boys who attempt to masturbate by moving the penis against a bed or against some other object; but for most males this technique is rare and confined to an incidental experience or two. Surprisingly enough, this method seems to be common only among the males of a particular group; but the specific data are insufficient to present at this time, and it has been impossible to get any clue as to the origin or significance of this pattern. Many of the persons who depend upon this mode of masturbation think of the act as a substitute for heterosexual coitus, and there are some clinicians who specifically recommend such a technique, in conjunction with fantasy, on the ground that it may provide some carry-over into later heterosexual activity. But however good the theory may appear to be, it finds no substantiation in the specific record, for the great majority of the boys use simpler manual techniques in masturbation, and make perfectly satisfactory heterosexual adjustments anyway. It is also to be noted that males have been known to masturbate against a bed while fantasying frictation or anal relations in the homosexual.

Only a limited number of male individuals extend their masturbatory techniques to involve any variety of other procedures. Such experimentation is most often found among better educated individuals who have well developed imaginative capacities and who are, of course, the ones most likely to have a minimum of overt socio-sexual contacts. The manual techniques of genital manipulation are elaborated by a few individuals. The use of literature and erotic pictures for stimulation during masturbation is not really common, and it is largely confined to better educated individuals. Urethral insertions and other masochistic techniques, and anal stimulation and anal insertions occur only very occasionally. Sometimes devices which simulate the female genitalia may be used for masturbation, but they are rarely employed. Most males restrict themselves to a limited series of particular techniques to which they have been erotically conditioned.

Thigh Pressures. Nearly 10 per cent of the females in the available sample had masturbated at times by crossing their legs and appressing them to exert steady or more rhythmic pressures on the whole genital area (Table 37f). Such pressures affect the clitoris, the labia minora, and the labia majora, and again demonstrate the importance of those structures. Thigh pressures may be applied with or without simultaneous manipulations of the genitalia with the hand. The pressures effect tactile stimulation, but their effectiveness also depends in part upon the fact that they contribute to the development of muscular tensions of the sort which are described below.
Thigh friction or pressure as a masturbatory technique is frequently noted in the European and American literature. See, for example: Martineau 1886:70. Anon., Histoire du Vice, n.d.:76. Moraglia 1897:6. Alibert n.d.:61. Kisch 1907:108. Back 1910:110, 113. Moll 1921:618; 1926(1):256. Eberhard 1924:309. Riolan 1927:34. Bauer 1929:234. Hoyer 1929:222. Hodann 1929: 43. Kelly 1930:161. Dickinson and Beam 1931:351. Meagher and Jelliffe 1936:71. Hirschfeld 1944:123. Dearborn in Fishbein and Burgess 1947:365. Wirz in Hornstein and Faller 1950:132.

Muscular Tensions. A relatively infrequent but biologically important method of masturbation in the female is one which depends upon the development of muscular and nervous tensions throughout the body. To accomplish this, the female may lie face down either in a prone position or with her knees drawn up against her belly. Her buttocks may then move rhythmically forward and against each other. The motion may be slow or faster. Sometimes it develops great speed, but it is always done with considerable tension and force. In such a prone position the female may press some portion of her genitalia against the bed on which she lies, or against a pillow or some other object which she has placed under her pelvis or between her legs. The clitoris and other portions of the genital area are consequently stimulated. Usually, however, the genital contacts are light. They do not involve more than the forward portions of the genitalia, and the effectiveness of such a technique depends chiefly upon the fact that a prone position offers an opportunity for pelvic movements and rhythmic contractions of the large muscles (the gluteal muscles) in the buttocks, and of the muscles (chiefly the adductors) which are located near the front and inner surfaces of the thighs. We have already given a description of such masturbation in a young child.
This type of masturbation has been referred to in the literature under a variety of titles: muscle eroticism, erotically accentuated tensions, rocking, onanistic rocking movements, and others. See: Stekel 1920:9; 1950:22-23. Hirschsprung acc. Rohleder 1921:66-67. Davis 1929:110. Hodann 1929:36-37 (says it is usual in children). Meagher 1929:71. Friedjung acc. Bühler 1931:616. Meagher and Jelliffe 1936:73. Hirschfeld 1944:121. Spitz 1949:95, 102 (rocking observed in 37 per cent of 248 infants; but we do not follow the interpretations of the significance of the parental backgrounds). Levine 1951:118, 120-121 (boys and girls). Anna Freud 1951:27-28 (to climax at ages 1 to 5). For additional observed cases of female infants reaching orgasm by this prone technique.

The muscular action which is involved when a female masturbates in this fashion is typical of the copulatory movements of the male, and of the movements which appear in an uninhibited female when she assumes a position on top of the male in coitus. The development of muscular and nervous tensions may be as effective as any direct stimulation of the genitalia. The speed with which orgasm is achieved through the use of such a technique is, in all the females on whom we have specific data, equal or superior to that with which orgasm may be achieved by any other method. Most individuals who have not used the technique may find it difficult to understand the source of its effectiveness, but this is because few persons understand that sexual responses involve a whole syndrome of physiologic reactions. Even when sexual arousal is initiated by the deliberate stimulation of the clitoris and the labia minora in the female, or of the penis in the male, or by psychic stimulation, orgasm is the end product of all the physiologic changes which develop in the body. A rhythmic development of muscular tensions is probably the most important of all the physiologic changes which occur when an animal responds sexually. These data on the build-up of such tensions in masturbation have, therefore, contributed materially to our understanding of the physiology of sexual response in general.

Similar developments of muscular tensions as a means of inducing orgasm are used by an occasional male who lies down or stands on his tip-toes and deliberately tenses or rhythmically moves his legs, buttocks, or whole body to secure orgasm without touching his genitalia. Similar tensions may contribute to the erotic arousal which sometimes develops in dancing. Some boys and girls react to the point of orgasm when they climb a pole or a rope, or chin themselves on a bar or some other support. Some boys and girls find their first experience in orgasm in this way, and some of them engage in such exercise with the deliberate intention of securing this sort of satisfaction. Some, on the other hand, are embarrassed and avoid climbing and other types of activities which might induce orgasm in public places, and then the gymnasium instructor may be puzzled to understand why these individuals rebel at engaging in the scheduled exercises. An occasional adult, female or male, may masturbate by pulling up on a door frame or on some other object.

While only 5 per cent of the females in the sample reported such a deliberate use of neuromuscular tensions as a means of masturbating (Table 37f), there is reason for believing that its incidence is actually higher, for in the earlier years of our study we were not aware of its importance and did not systematically inquire about it.

Breasts. The breasts and especially the nipples of the breast are erotically sensitive in perhaps half of the females. They had provided some stimulation for about 11 per cent of the sample (Table 37f). The female may stimulate them with her hand, or press them against the bed or some other object, usually while she simultaneously manipulates her genitalia. Breast stimulation alone, however, was not sufficient to effect orgasm in more than a very small percentage of the females.
For various interpretations of breast eroticism, with few specific data, see, for example: Anon., Histoire du Vice, n.d.:74. Moraglia 1897:7-8. Alibert n.d.;50. Franz 1913:127 (nipple and areola relatively insensitive). Rohleder 1921:44. Moll 1921:618. Eberhard 1924:245-246, 316-319. Kind and Moreck 1930: 156. Dickinson and Beam 1931:352. Hirschfeld 1944:123.

Vaginal Insertions. About 20 per cent of the females reported that they had sometimes used vaginal insertions in connection with their masturbation (Table 37f). Some had made vaginal insertions regularly; most of them had made such insertions only occasionally and usually in connection with other techniques of stimulation. However, many of those who reported “vaginal penetrations” in masturbation failed to distinguish the vestibule of the vagina (which is well equipped with nerve ends) from the vagina itself (which is poorly equipped or devoid of nerve ends). In many instances, the female’s fingers had been inserted only far enough beyond the muscular ring which lies at the vaginal entrance (the introitus) to provide a firm hold for the rest of her hand while it was stimulating the outer portions of her genitalia.

Only a limited number of the females in the sample clearly indicated that they had used any object which had penetrated the vagina itself. Many males, however, basing their concepts on their understanding of coitus and upon their conceit as to the importance of the male genitalia in coitus, imagine that all female masturbation must involve an insertion of fingers or of some other object into the depths of the vagina.
The emphasis which male authors have placed on vaginal insertions and especially on the use of dildoes is illustrated in the following: Crouch (Bekker) 1741:4. Anon., Histoire du Vice, n.d.:74-75, 82-85. Moraglia 1897:4-5. Havelock Ellis 1910(1):167-172. Kisch 1907:108. Alibert n.d.:51-52. Back 1910:112-113. Adler 1911:108-109. Rohleder 1921:34. Moll 1921:617. Eberhard 1924:304-309. Bauer 1929:235-238. Hoyer 1929:223-227. Hirschfeld and Linsert 1930:273-278. Dickinson and Beam 1931:352. Windsor 1937:198 (in harems). Wirz in Hornstein and Faller 1950:132.

For this reason, many a male who engages in petting may penetrate the female’s vagina with his fingers, and the male-produced literature is frequently concerned with descriptions of dildoes—objects which serve as penis substitutes. But our data indicate that females who had used fingers or other objects in vaginal penetrations did so for a variety of reasons, including the following:
• 1. Because they actually derived erotic satisfaction from deep vaginal penetration. Such females may have nerve ends in the vaginal walls, or they may be stimulated because of the psychologic association of vaginal penetration and coitus.
• 2. Because such penetrations had been recommended by some male friend, or by a male or female clinician whose interpretations of female anatomy and sexual physiology were based primarily on their misunderstanding of the nature of coitus.
• 3. Because they had not learned to masturbate until they had had considerable coital experience, and thought it necessary to imitate copulatory techniques while they were masturbating. In many of these cases, however, the insertions were not continued after the female had acquired a better understanding of her own anatomy and sexual capacities.
• 4. Because they wanted to entertain their male partners who found it erotically stimulating to observe this type of masturbatory activity.

Other Techniques. There were still other masturbatory techniques which were regularly or occasionally employed by some 11 per cent of the females in the sample (Table 37f). Some had rubbed their genitalia against pillows, clothing, chairs, beds, or other objects. Douches, streams of running water, vibrators, urethral insertions, enemas, other anal insertions, sado-masochistic activity, and still other methods were occasionally employed, but none of them in any appreciable number of cases.
Rubbing against objects to secure genital stimulation is also reported in: Rosenbaum 1845:122. Moraglia 1897:6. Moll 1909:81; 1912:89; 1921:618. Stekel 1920:84; 1950:172. Eberhard 1924:310. Urethral insertions are described in: Anon., Histoire du Vice, n.d.:75. Moraglia 1897:7 (most rare). Havelock Ellis 1910(1):172-173. Moll 1909:149; 1912:166. Bauer 1929:238-239. Dickinson and Beam 1931:351. Flagellation and sado-masochistic techniques are recorded in: Moll 1921:618. Eberhard 1924:314-319. Anal insertions are also noted in: Stekel 1920:68; 1950:136. Meagher 1929:71. Kind and Moreck 1930:231-232. Meagher and Jelliffe 1936:73.

Self fellation is an anatomic impossibility for most human males, but it is a common means of masturbation among rhesus monkeys, the macaque, mandrille, chimpanzees and other primates (Carpenter 1942, National Research Council Conference on Mammalian Sex Behavior, 1943), and occurs quite widely among mammals of many other groups (Beach 1947). Throughout vertebrate sexual behavior there is such a close tie-up between oral eroticism and genital stimulation that oral activity of any sort must be accepted by the scientist as a biologically normal aspect of sexuality. Its tremendous suppression in the human animal must be taken to be the outcome of cultural developments. Consequently, it is not surprising to find that the human male, with his animal background, does sometimes attempt self fellation. It has taken special interviewing techniques to get adults to admit such experience, but a considerable portion of the population does record attempts at self fellation, at least in early adolescence. Only two or three males in a thousand are able to achieve the objective, but there are three or four histories of males who had depended upon self fellation as a masturbatory technique for some appreciable period of time—in the case of one thirty-year old male, for most of his life. In his psychic drive, the human animal is more mammalian than even his anatomy allows him to be.

Where the masturbatory techniques are manual, many individuals find some additional stimulation in observing their own genitalia; and this may have some homosexual significance, although most persons with such histories may deny any other homosexual interests. A considerable portion of the pre-eminently homosexual males whose homosexual activities involve mutual masturbation or oral techniques do observe their own genitalia during self masturbation; but not even all of them do so. Some of the most vigorously heterosexual males, however, carefully avoid any observation of their genitalia during masturbation, and their performances depend primarily upon involved heterosexual fantasies. Many of these persons masturbate in the dark, in order to concentrate the better upon the imagery. It is an important question whether masturbation should be interpreted as a narcissistic performance or a socio-sexual activity, and one is not warranted in considering that all masturbation is a matter of self interest. There are some individuals for whom masturbation is a distinctly heterosexual or a distinctly homosexual experience, depending upon the strength of the fantasy and the abundance of the associations which complement the activity.

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