Sex and Sinners
With National Masturbation Month, #maysturbation rapidly approaching, it’s worth providing a little historical context around Sex and Sinners.
The information may surprise you.
The first story we’ll visit is Onan and Thamar. For those Judeo-Christians out there, you may be familiar with the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) story. A young woman, Thamar’s husband is slain. According to ancient Hebrew custom, a younger brother would’ve been required to marry her and produce an heir for his deceased brother. Yes, the heir from their union would be considered the brother’s heir. In the biblical story, when Onan has relations with Thamar, he spills his seed on the ground. God becomes angered and kills Onan.
What the story fails to explain is why God kills Onan.
The biggest masturbation surprise here is Onan was not masturbating. He pulled out (aka coitus interruptus). This leads us guessing as to what the bible is warning against. We could make an argument that the story is really about the wife. I mean – how often are women mentioned in the bible? Kids provided continuity of the line and care for aging parents. In this instance, Onan denied Thamar the right to children and therefore someone to care for her as she aged. It could also be about God and Onan defying his will. We can make all manner of guesses about the moral of the story, but anti-masturbation isn’t one of them!
Let's take a look a little closer to modern day, say the 1800s - Proper folk denied the existence of sex to the extent that women couldn’t even be shown to have legs. As if anatomy would throw a poor dear male over the edge, leaving him frantic and blue-balled. Among more ridiculous ideas, women weren’t permitted to visit the doctor alone. She might as well visit the room of a strange male. When a woman fell ill, she had to be attended at the doctor by her husband or mother. She couldn’t get undressed. She had to show the doctor her pain or issue on a dummy and then the doctor could only touch her through underclothes or a cloth.
It’s a wonder we made it through the Victorian era alive!
In addition to health concerns, much care was taken to keep women safe of impure thoughts. Washing of genitals wasn’t encouraged as it might lead to salacious ideas and masturbation. Now you know why the bidet never really caught on.
A clean clit might keep her coming back for more....
So ladies and gentlemen, embrace sex and leave sinning to religion. Masturbation is a healthy, sex and body positive experience that you can do alone or with a partner. Check out next week’s post with more information on the benefits of self-love. Looking for inspiration, try a story or personal instruction.
And don’t forget – May is National Masturbation Month. Celebrate often!