When Steph first told me about her vision for coaching as she was just starting her education, I was quite intrigued. She told me at a time that my own marriage was in the process of transitioning from monogamous to open or polyamorous or ethically non-monogamous…whatever you want to call it. I reached out to her as someone I trusted in the community. It’s so amazing to see this vision get off the ground and I couldn’t have been more excited when she asked me to do a guest blog.
Who am I and how am I qualified to teach you more on the topic of masturbation? I have been a nurse for 11 years, a paramedic for 10 before that and I have been a rep for 9 years with Pure Romance, who distributes sex toys and contributes largely to women’s sexual health research for the last 29 years. Not to mention, I’m a big fan of self-love as a form of self-care, self-exploration and growth. Through my work with Pure Romance, I have been able to help many women learn more about their bodies and what feels good to them. Its also #MasturbationMay, so we figured this was a great time to launch my particpation
Let’s kick this off by debunking some Myths
Myth #1 – People in relationships don’t masturbate
Fact – women in relationships who DO masturbate tend to be happier. Why? Probably because they can tell their partner what feels good to them. Or it’s just all those “feel good hormones they’re releasing, Oxytocin and Serotonin.
Myth #2 – Masturbation is not a normal part of sexual development
Fact – in a study of over 800 teenagers, 74% of boys and 48% of girls surveyed masturbate. This is good in so many ways but the primary bonus point is that teenagers who masturbate tend to use protection when sexually active with a partner.
Myth # 3 – Masturbation has no health benefits
Fact – Thanks to the release of the “feel good hormones” again, people who masturbate regularly report fewer headaches, improved concentration, better self-esteem, clearer skin. Additionally, regular masturbation helps improve your sex drive, vaginal dryness and painful sex
Myth #4 – people only masturbate when they’re alone
Fact – Mutual masturbation is a great way to have safe sex if there is a concern for a sexually transmitted illness (STI) or to prevent unwanted pregnancy. It’s also often stimulating for partners to watch one another. Some couples enjoy the culmination of sex to not necessarily end with a partner ejaculating inside of them.
Some of the biggest myths of all that date back to a time when sexual activity was solely thought of for pro-creation only: Masturbation will not cause the following – Blindness, hairy palms, impotence, erectile dysfunction, physical weakness (ok – if it’s really good, temporarily yes…but that should resolve quickly!) penis shrinkage, penile curvature (which…that’s not exactly a bad thing, but we can save that for another blog) low sperm count, infertility or mental illness.
I hope you enjoyed this little introduction to Masturbation. I thoroughly enjoyed pulling it together for you and look forward to participating more. If you have any questions about exploring your own body sexually, how to incorporate toys or even what products might be good for mutual masturbation, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I am available via Facebook Messenger (Marla Meletis-Kacan, I promise you I’m the only one!) or on Instagram by searching #PureRomanceRN. You can also peruse my website at www.PureRomanceRN.com. If you’d like to shop, you can enter the discount code “SHOP10”
Authors note: I had a hard time narrowing down what I wanted to talk about for this first blog. Steph said “The world (or rather my blog!) is your oyster.” Well…I’m a libra and naturally indecisive. There are so many things to talk about regarding masturbation! Thanks to the help of a friend, a fellow consultant, The Lovely L, Ms. L Holloway- Rivera, we narrowed it down to “Myths and Facts”
