[lbo-talk] meanwhile, on the masturbation front

[Jeffrey Fisher]

you mean, prior to the early 18th century, but after, say, 
the 15th, when jean gerson wrote his treatise on 
masturbation? no, really. i'm not making that up. i'm only 
saying that, certainly in christian/catholic culture, 
masturbation has long been considered a bad thing -- a sign 
of moral weakness, weakness of will, etc., nevermind all 
that fantasizing that comes along with it, er, i mean, 
facilitates, er, accompanies, er . . . 

j

On Fri, 02 May 2003 11:46:59 -0800, Michael Pugliese wrote:
> In his exhaustive study Solitary Sex: A Cultural History 
> of Masturbation, UC Berkeley professor (Thomas) Laqueur 
> traces the surprising origin of those quaint myths about 
> the dangers of autoeroticism that have plagued 
> generations of teenagers; argues that, prior to the early 
> 18th century, such behavior was rarely considered an 
> ethical or medical phenomenon; and chronicles the late-
> 20th-century reversal that recast masturbation as a 
> liberating, even revolutionary, act. In the process, he 
> makes a compelling case that despite years of contrary 
> evidence and widespread demystification (think of the 
> "master of my domain" episode of Seinfeld), we have yet 
> to shake the notion that by spanking the monkey we're 
> asking for a spanking. <URL: 
> http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0318/holcomb.php >
> 
> On Fri, 2 May 2003 14:17:50 -0400, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> 
>> In case you didn't know it, May is Masturbation Month, 
>> and May 18 will be the fifth annual Masturbate-a-Thon. 
>> For further details, visit 
>> <http://www.babeland.com/salon/mthon_frame.html>.
>> 
>> Doug
> 
> 
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