Masturbation, Or Self-Abuse: The Difference Between a Stallion and a Gelding

WE have touched rather lightly on the subject of sex in this popular department, in spite of the fact that next to self-preservation, the sex instinct is the strongest in our lives. There are so many subjects to be discussed in this department, that it requires a considerable period to get around to them all. But there has been so much erroneous information passed around that any young man could be pardoned for not knowing what is right, just what to do. As we proceed with this discussion you will note that there seems to be no middle course,there is the old school of thought, which warns that the practice of masturbation is a quick and sure road to the insane asylum and an early death. That each drop of sexual semen is equal to 60 drops of good rich blood. Then there is the common belief by many that masturbation is completely harmless, can be practiced as often as desired without ill effect. With these completely divergent opinions, as far apart as the two poles, it is evident that someone is wrong. Hence this discussion, which is offered as the answer to hundreds of letters received from young men who are regular readers of this part of Strength and Health magazine. The following letter is a good sample of the many we receive here.

Dear Bob:
I have long been a regular reader of Strength and Health magazine and activities which are advocated by same. I do a little hand balancing, have trained for months with a York super cable set with pleasing results . and have just ordered a York swing bar set. To come to the point, in the pursuit of physical training knowledge I discovered a Canadian magazine which you may know of. In one of the issues, an article appeared in which the author discusses masturbation. The article is quite lengthy and expresses the harmlessness and advisability of frequent masturbation. In this article the author quotes doctors, chiefly women, in the support of his theories and statements. This article did me great harm. You see, to be frank, I have a sexual quirk in my brain, formed by association with evil playmates at an early age. At the age of five I became aware of evil things, and at 12 1 fell in with a group of confirmed masturbators. Shortly afterward I shunned them, turning to religion, and from 13 to 17, masturbation was an extremely infrequent practice with me.

However, although I had abandoned the habit, I was still possessed with a passive inclination. I have never bothered with promiscuous women, although opportunity was at a maximum. My reasons were, 1. Religion, and a consequent respect for womanhood. 2. Evil intimacies are associated with bad companions and late hours, bad things for an ambitious body builder. However, since reading this article, I have taken up masturbation, although I have made frequent vows of permanent abstinence. This article which appeared in the Canadian magazine comes to my mind at temptations moments and all is lost. It is not fear of bodily loss that perturbs me primarily, but the negative and destructive influences of the habit on my mind and my morals, the low, vulgar outlook on life it gives, so that every time I am close to a woman I create unwholesome images.

I feel that since I received the stimulus from the article mentioned (incidentally, I think that the magazine I am referring to is a very cheap and inferior try at imitating your fine publication) I should go to a real physical educator for counter action. This is .why I turn to you, Bob, because I know your interest in boys and young men, because I know of your sincere desire to help them make the most of their lives, because I know you are an intelligent, strong, clean minded, clean living man, and because I appreciate your knowledge and the fine work you are sponsoring and have done. I sincerely feel that a personal message from you will do a lot toward straightening me out. I admire and respect you, and your personal advice will be appreciated. I shall be immensely grateful for a reply from you soon. Thanking you for your very fine consideration, I remain
Age 17 years, 9 months.

The letter is signed, but the name is omitted for it is confidential.

Masturbation, or self-abuse as it is commonly called, is done through short-cutting the usual series of sex responses so that the stimulation and resulting culmination or the act through ejaculation instead of transpiring through the various steps leading up to and contact with the opposite sex is produced by the person upon himself, usually with the band. The best estimates tell us that from sixty to ninety per cent of men have practiced masturbation at some period of their lives. These statistics were gathered as the result of questionnaires which were sent out to various groups of people. Many persons would not admit that they had practiced what so many have phrased as the "secret sin" even in supplying the information on a private questionnaire. I believe that practically all normal men at some stage of their lives have indulged in some form of manipulation commonly called masturbation. I am not saying that they have made a habit of it but they have at least tried it. Ninety-five per cent of college students admitted that they had practiced some form of sexual relief. And athletes disclosed that they had practiced it more than others. For this type of man who is active physically, who is constantly exercising, stimulates the muscles and the organs and glands which are adjacent to these muscles. A greater quantity of the seminal fluid is produced and an outlet must be found more frequently. This does not necessitate that masturbation be practiced however, for it is nature's way to take care of every contingency; a surplus of semen, only means that there will be more nocturnal emissions.

It's been customary for elders to try to frighten the young people regarding masturbation, to warn them that it will result in sickness, mental difficulties—even total insanity. There is no proof that masturbation ever caused anyone to lose his mind, the fact that insane people masturbated was for long believed to be the cause of their insanity, it is more likely that only the lack of mental strength, of the proper knowledge, results in the practice of masturbation by these mental delinquents.

When I was a young fellow going to high school, it was common for men who were former athletes to come around to school and address the boys, invariably the subject of masturbation supplied the material for most of their discussion. They being of the old school, told us of the thin, clammy, cold hands that would result from the practice, even hair would grow upon the palms, masturbation was the forerunner of most every disease we were told, and surely, it would ultimately lead to loss of the mind. I doubt if these grave warnings prevented the boys from practicing the secret act, but it did cause them a great deal of mental unrest. For it made them feel that they were doing wrong, that they were the lowest of men, not fit to associate with normal human beings. One of the most often quoted sayings attributed first to Shakespeare is, "Nothing is good nor bad but thinking makes it so." Thinking that masturbation was bad, was tremendously harmful to the body, certainly caused a lot of harm to the young men of our generation.

Therefore it is evident that if one does approve of masturbation, if one feels that a moderate amount of masturbation is not harmful, if one feels that there is good and sufficient reason for it, then there is no evidence that it will seriously injure health. If one does not approve of masturbation it certainly is not good mental hygiene to indulge in it. If the act produces mental disturbances and moral conflicts in the one who practices it, if one experiences a feeling of physical inferiority, of shame, of lowness, if there are moral compunctions and remorse, if one feels blue and unhappy after practicing the act surely it is a habit that should be avoided. It is entirely impossible to avoid these mental conflicts after indulging in the act so for this reason alone most young men come to believe that the satisfaction, relief or doubtful pleasure that results from masturbation is not worth the struggle and give up the practice sooner or later. The act is solitary and always has been and always will be looked down upon. And as long as this is the case, it is well nigh impossible to avoid mental unrest while indulging in it. It would be unfortunate, too, if masturbation, teaching the person who practices it to rely on himself rather than upon another, would have an adverse effect on later adjustment in marriage.

But every young man knows of the mental conflict, he knows that he feels like a dog that has been killing sheep afterward, so let's consider the physical drain of masturbation. Masturbation aside from the relief from overcharged glands, provides a physical thrill. That's the chief reason it is practiced. While it will always be debatable just how much harm is created by masturbation, a good thought to have in first considering the problem is to know that we don't get anything for nothing in this world. We pay for everything we get, with physical pleasures it's nature's way to see that we pay some sort of a price. What price masturbation, you must be thinking. Just how valuable is the sexual semen that is lost through an ejaculation? The difference between the stallion and the gelding, the steer and the bull, the capon and the rooster, the unchanged man and the eunuch, is the internal sex secretion. When the sex semen is not wasted there is more of this material for absorption by the blood, more of this man making material which provides the change between the boy and the man for absorption by the blood. It costs the body something to make this material. Consider the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of sperm cells in an ejaculation. Each one of these carries the characteristics of the father, large size, great strength, broad shoulders, light or dark hair, speed if the father has been an athlete, courage, mental ability, good health etc. Isn't it reasonable to believe that the manufacture of these cells, any one of which can carry the characteristics of the father, takes considerable from the body to make and to replace. And there is the semen itself, that has to be manufactured, and as it is the most precious material within the body, as it provides the great difference between the live, strong, athletic, virile man, and the changed man, [he eunuch, that costs the body considerable to manufacture. It sounds reasonable to believe that this material should not be wasted, doesn't it, as the Bible said, to cast your seed upon the ground?

Although it is debatable just how much of the body's strength and vitality is lost through the semen alone, one point that is not debatable is the loss through the pleasurable feeling of masturbation. This thrill is nervous and considerable price is paid for it. The practice of the act may leave the boy emotionally shaken and very tired, in a condition similar to that experienced after great outbursts of temper. With humans, most of the sex act is nervous. Direct sex experiences of any kind involve the entire nervous system and consume a great deal of nervous energy. Sex experiences make one sleepy, they detract from the supply of energy, they rob a young man of ambition. Too often the masturbator is thin, or if not thin covered with flabby flesh, not because the act alone does this to the body, but because it robs the young rpan of his desire to build his body, to participate in athletics or games, it makes him solitary, unsocial, frequently cuts off normal contacts with the opposite sex, unfavorably affects his entire life.

The weight of evidence points to the fact that masturbation should be refrained from or cut to the barest minimum. Youth is the time for building, building one's body, the brain, acquiring more ability which will make a success of life later, so don't handicap yourself, detract from your future possibilities by self-manipulation. Young fellows will think that this advice sounds easy, that it is not so easy to fulfill. When beset with licentious thoughts, the thoughts and energies must be turned into other channels. If you have the power to concentrate, the reading of a good book may serve. The solving of a difficult problem is another escape. But something vigorous in the physical line will be most helpful. Take a hard workout with the weights, stand on your head, practice hand balancing, try yourself out on the Olympic lifts. Try not to be alone, invite a friend to train with you or go to his house to practice with him. Go to a show if need be, play cards with a group of friends. Solitude permits your thoughts to continue along the lines you have been trying to avoid. And don't feel if you do deviate from your chosen plan of continence that you are ruined for life. Just feel that you have retarded your body building progress by at least one training session, try to avoid a recurrence of the act.