Sex is a natural event among humans and even animals. Wanting sex, needing sex, and having sex shouldn’t be a debatable discussion at all, but here we are.
Women are often villainized whenever they express their sexuality and sexual orientation publicly. It’s almost as though, women were not designed to have sex, want it, or even show interest in having any form of sexual relations.
A lot of this stigma can be directly traced to purity culture and rape culture which both promotes extreme, false, and unsustainable stereotypes on women and their behaviours in society.
With sex, on one hand, masturbation is another ball game entirely. There’s a lot of shame attached to speaking about masturbation, especially when it comes to women. While men often brag about how they “jerk off” in their little and not-so-little group of guys, this topic rarely comes up among female groups.
Although a lot of religious people frown at such conversations because of their religious stance on the subject, it’s quite fascinating to see that even non-religious people would feel uneasy discussing the subject.
Hence, there’s a need to unlearn the beliefs that women’s masturbation is unhealthy, toxic, or taboo. For us to unlearn these myths, there’s a need to identify them. Here are myths about women’s masturbation you should unlearn.
- “Women do not masturbate”: Is the sky blue? Yes, and people of all genders can masturbate because they all have genitals. Women, like men, are capable of experiencing sexual arousal and enjoying sexual pleasure, and this transits the horizon of relationships.
- “Women who masturbate are hoes and slutty”: Women who masturbate are often perceived as promiscuous and masturbation is seen as a sign of hypersexuality. This is false and promotes the idea that women cannot desire sexual pleasure unless they are sluts.
- “Women must masturbate to feel empowered”: This myth is very flawed and it attaches some sort of “feminist statement” to masturbation which is false. Men do not have to masturbate to feel empowered, so why do women have to? Seeing masturbation for more than what it is (a sexual experience) is as bad as not seeing it at all.
- “Masturbation doesn’t come naturally to women”: Did women all around the world come together to vote for this? No. Masturbation occurs seamlessly and as naturally as it does for men. The idea that women are not sexual beings and only become sexual with the assistance of men is one I find quite fascinating. You’d be surprised at how naturally it comes to women. Everyone is capable of having sexual urges and desires, and they can as well act on them as they please, regardless of their gender.
Women’s masturbation should be treated exactly as it is. Another sexual activity that women do not have to be policed around for. There should be no craze, drama around women having sex and masturbating. We must unlearn these myths, as they’d help us normalize that women, can have sexual relations of any kind, just like every other person in the world.
Read Also: The Future of Feminism: Elevating All Women
