Manifesto of a 17 year old American girl

Erin is a 17 year old American girl, who, having just finished High School, is looking forward to an English writing course at university. For her end of term high school paper she wrote a revolutionary manifesto about female masturbation, probably not fully aware of its social and historical significance. Briefly, it extols what she believes to be the virtues and naturalness of masturbation and it calls on women to stop being ashamed of it.

In parts of the world, such as the Pacific, and in many other native cultures, masturbation was socially accepted and free of the shame surrounding it in Western society, but few realize how recent such shame came to embrace masturbation, or how the semantic environment changed it from a natural and acceptable activity to one that was almost poisonous and certainly at least sinful.

In the early 18th-century an anonymous author published Onania: or the Heinous Sin of Self Pollution, and all its Frightful Consequences, in Both Sexes Considered . This caused major social affects as did a few other spurious books published later, such as the Elders of the Protocols of Zion, used by the Nazis to persecutes Jews and books about the white slave trade and recovered memory that were used to whip up the moral panic about sex abuse. While Onania did not contribute to an extreme such as genocide, its effects, or one should say, the effects of the spurious doctrine it preached, have lasted longer and have even reached out to natural havens in the Pacific and elsewhere as Western Puritans spread their doctrine of purity. Long before the book, of course, the Christian Church had already incorporated masturbation into its catalogue of sins: the book simply helped demonize it. In her essay, Erin places some of the blame on Aquinas.

Thomas W. Laqueur, in his Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation, while examining the history of masturbation and acknowledging the contribution of Onania to the puritanical reaction, also sees a clear shift in the semantic environment of the early 18th century when masturbation was no longer seen simply as a sin, but became a new social threat that Western societies needed to control, as governments continue to try to control general sexuality today. "Beginning in the eighteenth century, solitary sex came to represent the relationship between the individual and the social world" (p. 22). The individual might "choose the wrong kind of solitude, the wrong kind of pleasure, the wrong kind of imagination, the wrong kind of engagement with their inner selves. A false step led not so much to sin as to disease and decay; it was a secular waywardness" (p. 22).

In her outburst, Erin says, “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m an extreme advocate for exploration, experimentation and, yes, masturbating! In my 17 glorious years in this life, I’ve explored and learned the intricacies of my body, as I believe everyone should. I’ve sat naked in front of a mirror, more than once, and just looked—learned. Developing as a sexual being doesn’t happen over night (and, despite popular belief that includes Prom night)—it takes time, and it takes self-awareness.”

She goes on: “The many misconceptions the women of today, as well as those of history, have been slapped in the face with have arguably changed what I assume to be the natural course of things, which in my mind is what would happen to a girl’s development, had society had no disapproving stares, condemning scriptures or age-old texts to hinder what, in my mind, is logical sexual development.” But: “For hundreds of years, in all different types of cultures, female sexuality has been trampled, tarnished, and forced into hiding.” She continues: “Again, had these women been encouraged (hell, allowed even!) to explore themselves as sexual beings, we as a society would not have fallen into this trap where sex, something that has the ability to be so beautiful, so divine—became a drag.”

In parts she is very funny. “Boys: have you ever heard a girl announce her pride about being sexually independent, boasting, ‘Oh man, I gave myself the best hand job ever last night! That orgasm lasted DAYS!’?”

She summarizes. “According to society, women: 1. Can’t masturbate if you’re young- it’s bad for you. 2. Can’t masturbate if you’re an adult- it’s ‘just not done’. 3. Can’t masturbate if you’re married- why on earth would a woman feel the need to be sexually independent when she CLEARLY has a man to do that for her? (Keep in mind none of these rules apply to men: it’s NATURAL for a young boy to experiment with his body; it’s NATURAL for a grown man to pleasure himself- morning wood, anyone?; and of course, it’s NATURAL for a groom to do the deed, too—after all, a guy needs sex way more often than a girl, right?) …Ahem.

“- - - But I’ve got a message for all you in sexual-hiding, perversely insisting on ancient ways of sexually oppressing women—your mothers, your sisters, your girlfriends, YOURSELVES—while men and their hard-ons roam free across Hollywood and the punch-lines of dirty jokes: Personal sexuality is innate—an understanding of your body and sexual identity is the best gift you can bring to a sexual relationship, but more importantly, to yourself. Society can dictate, proclaim and order any thing it pleases, but your sexuality isn’t about anyone but you. There’s nothing truer or freer than knowledge of yourself as a sexual being: it’s nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to be bashful about. Your body is the only one you’ll ever have: perhaps you’ll get married in it, have children in it, grow old in it. And believe me—it pays to know your way around.”

She closes on an intuitively prophetic note: “But where do we go from here? It feels like I’m facing an up-hill battle on all fronts, my opponents being criticism, the subdued, and even my best friends. Where is the Path to Progress? How can I change what nearly everyone views as ‘just the way it is’? …Who knows; maybe I can’t change the world. Maybe I can’t reach out to everyone, encourage them, and teach them that ‘it’s all good under the hood’. But that doesn’t mean I can’t teach you. Your friends. Your wives, daughters, mothers, all fearing what isn’t there. Yes, I’ll teach you, and hope that you’ll do the same for the rest of humanity, sorely in the dark.

“And when in the face of adversity, take my advice—go ahead, say it!: Take a hike, society! And don’t trip over my vibrator on your way out!

“I encourage each and every one of you, holding these papers in your hands right now, to learn to understand your body—the ins and outs, the flaps and folds, and just what makes your toes curl. It’ll come in handy (no pun intended!) Love, Erin.

Erin's manifesto was originally at Masturbation-how-society-has-got-us-all-fooled. It may have been since removed,

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