Dear Solo:

I have been reading your site for more than a year now. I wish that more people shared your views on masturbation. It's unfortunate that in many places people cannot even mention the word masturbation without receiving disapproval from others. Even though masturbation is a very natural activity, people view it as something that should be hidden from the public, something that should be viewed as 'bad' and 'unhealthy'.

I think that people who condemn others for masturbating should view it as 'no big deal'. I was caught masturbating several years ago, and most of the people I new condemned me for it. In fact, I lost a lot of friends because of it. Basically, it was a horrible experience for me. It wasn't until many years later that I got over it. I never really understood why anyone would get so upset over another person's masturbation. Yet many people I meet act like masturbation is some terrible act, that only 'bad' people commit. I'm not sure if they are just being defensive or if they really cannot handle the subject of masturbation.

What's the big deal about masturbation? Didn't most teenagers learn to masturbate before they started having sex? It's a completely natural function. Imagine if people condemned sexual intercourse the same way they condemn masturbation. In that case people would be going around denying that they have sex (but doing it just the same). They would have a severe guilt complex about having sexual intercourse. Can you imagine people going around feeling guilty because they had sex with their wives or husbands? People wouldn't be able to function because they would be racked with so much anxiety over when they last had sex and who might find out about it. Yet masturbation is a function that comes even more naturally to humans than sexual intercourse. Can anyone explain to me why something that is only an arms reach away, something that we learn to do ourselves at a very young age, something that is as natural and close to us as scratching an itch has become so forbidden in our society? The way people talk about masturbation, you'd think that it was something perverted, warped, or sick! Yet it comes to us so naturally that if most people were forced to stop doing it, they'd go insane.

I don't care what religions say about masturbation! It's just crazy to condemn masturbation! I feel sorry for anyone that tries to give up masturbation for religious reasons. That person is torturing his or herself without realizing it.

I really wish that masturbation were not condemned at all. Society suffers needlessly when it condemns a natural human function. People who condemn masturbation create an atmosphere of fear and guilt. People become afraid to admit to masturbation, because of the intolerant atmosphere that they live in. Frankly, I think that society is very screwed up. If teenagers were encouraged to masturbate instead of being discouraged, they would be less likely to commit crimes when they grow up. There would be less violence in the world (certainly fewer rapes) if men were able to relieve their tension by being able to masturbate and not feel guilty about it.

I feel sorry for our society in general, because masturbation is condemned everywhere. It's condemned in politics, in the media, and in public. We have to teach society that there is nothing wrong with masturbation at all. Maybe some day, every single person on this planet will be able to masturbate without feeling guilt. Until then, we must keep trying to educate the public so that it stops kicking itself in the balls.—H.B.