Masturbation, a taboo subject in many circles, has a history of moral condemnation and scientific inaccuracy regarding its negative effects.

Also called self-love, solo sex, self-pleasure and onanism, masturbation is self-stimulation of the genitals to achieve sexual arousal and pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm.

Around 1712, an anonymous doctor published a text titled 'Onania: or, The Heinous Sin of Self-Pollution, and all its Frightful Consequences'. The text warned against the dangers of defiling your own body and offered a series of cures, including amputation of the penis.

As recently as the late 19th century, medical doctors condemned masturbation as inimical to mental health. Both corn flakes and Graham crackers were developed in an effort to curb masturbatory impulses in young boys. Between 1856 and 1932, the United States Patent Office approved 33 patents for anti-masturbation devices.

The release of Alfred Kinsey's two groundbreaking surveys of human sexual behaviour, 'Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male', published in 1948, and 'Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female', published in 1953, helped to defray many of these well-established beliefs.

In 1974, Betty Dodson, considered by many the Grandmother of Masturbation, published 'Liberating Masturbation: A Meditation on Self-Love', which further helped to destigmatise solo sex.

Masturbation is now regarded as a normal, healthy sexual activity that is pleasant, fulfilling, acceptable and safe. It is only considered a problem if it is compulsive, inhibits sexual activity with a partner, is done in public, or causes significant distress to the person.

Religion and self-love

Many Christians strongly believe that self-love is immoral because, in their opinion, sex should primarily be for procreation or shared fulfilment between a man and a woman. In the absence of a desire for either, masturbation is viewed as narcissistic.

They also insist that the Bible specifically prohibits masturbation, sometimes called onanism. This objection relates to the story of Onan in the Old Testament (Gen 38: 8-9). Onan was told to copulate with his deceased brother's childless widow, according to the custom of the Hebrews, but he failed to follow the order and 'spilled his seed'. This act was deemed to be a great sin, punishable by death.

Who masturbates?

Epidemiological data show that more than 90 per cent of males masturbate by the age of 18. The figure is lower in young women, ranging from 35 or 40 per cent, but it continues to rise with increasing age until a woman is in her '60s, by which time probably 80 per cent or more women do masturbate.

A team in Australia, led by Graham Giles of The Cancer Council Victoria in Melbourne, asked 1,079 men with prostate cancer to fill in a questionnaire detailing their sexual habits and compared their responses with those of 1,259 healthy men of the same age.

The team conclude that the more men ejaculate between the ages of 20 and 50, the less likely they are to develop prostate cancer. The protective effect is greatest while men are in their 20s: Those who had ejaculated more than five times per week in their 20s, for instance, were one-third less likely to develop aggressive prostate cancer later in life (BJU International, vol 92, p 211).

Emotional health

Auto-erotic behaviour has been shown to enhance well-being: