Masturbation: Its Purpose and Its Variations

masturbation

  Sofia Barrett-Ibarria’s article for Vice, “How to Enjoy Masturbation,” raises a trivial concept. How to enjoy masturbation more is, in a sense, like asking “how to enjoy a five-mile run  more?”  Answer:  Wear earphones. The essential question is: what is the purpose of masturbation?  And the answer is: to extend the sexual imagination, and…

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The Jeffrey Toobin Witch Hunt

Jeff Toobin Witch Hunt

The story about former New Yorker legal writer Jeffrey Toobin’s problems reminds of of the Salem witch trials.  We’re being assaulted with a series of pieces on masturbating at work and how awful it is, whether or not you know you are being watched. Masturbation Doesn’t Require Termination In Slate, Ben Mathis-Lilley writes, “The issue…

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The Media Hothouse of Sanctimony and Jeff Toobin

Media Hothouse of Sanctimony

Joe Berkowitz’s prissy “Four Minute Read,” a Fast Company article called “I can’t believe we need to say this, but it’s never okay to masturbate during a work meeting,” unloads on Jeff Toobin as a kind of media-celebrity sex offender.  Berkowitz reminds us of the “unspoken precedent of never whipping your dick out during office hours.”…

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Jeffrey Toobin’s Crime of Masturbation

Jeffrey Toobin and the Zoom Call

The story of the downfall of Jeffrey Toobin because he was caught maturbating during a video call interests me, because not for the reasons you might expect. What’s fascinating to me is the reaction of his colleagues to Toobin’s behavior during this infamous Zoom call, not Toobin’s own colossal lack of judgment. A Colossally Ordinary…

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Humiliating Rudy Giuliani Is Just the Beginning

salt

The photo of Rudy Giuliani with his hand in his pants is a Currier and Ives miniature of the whole Trump mob with their hand in our pants.  The irony is just stunning. Giuliani went to this hotel room anticipating an hour (more like five minutes) of bliss. Who Will Cleanse the Sins of the…

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Preoccupation With Masturbation Raises Questions

masturbation

A recent sex advice column in Slate raises questions about a preoccupation with masturbation. Specifically, how much is too much during a pandemic? A woman seeking advice thinks her boyfriend’s masturbation is excessive, and she reports that his behaviour is driving her “insane.” Fair enough. Absurd Advice About Masturbation The advice seeker sounds reasonable to…

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Porn Spikes During the Pandemic

boredom during a pandemic

According to Pornhub, on March 6,  2020, its worldwide traffic was up 11.6 percent; in the U.S., it increased 6.4 percent and, in Italy — which, at the time, was hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic — it was up 57 percent. In the porn world, if there’s a crisis beyond the pandemic and the…

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