While about ninety per
cent. of all boys—nine out of every ten—masturbate more or less,
only about ten or at most twenty per cent. of girls are addicted to
this habit. But whatever the percentage may be, the habit is an
injurious one, and if you value your health, your beauty and proper
growth and mental development, you should not indulge in it.
— Dr. William J. Robinson, 1917
The
habit of
masturbation (or
self-abuse) is, of the many sexual
temptations that plague otherwise healthy young ladies,
particularly insidious, placing at risk both a woman's physical and
emotional
well-being. The dangers are clear: masturbation has a
ruinous effect on the female body, damaging the
complexion, and
increasing the risk of
anemia. Furthermore, masturbation has been
proven, by both
physicians and
sexologists, to
be a contributing factor in female
frigidity, decreasing a woman's
interest in normal, healthy sex. Some female masturbators have found
themselves robbed entirely of their ability to experience pleasurable sensation through
sexual intercourse, while
others have developed an outright
aversion to the act of sex. The
compounded consequences of these unhealthy, sexual dispositions should
be quite obvious—
heaven forbid, a woman becomes a chronic masturbator,
or worse yet, a
tribade!
Fortunately for parents, ever mindful of their
children's positive development, there are a number of
methods by which they can curb, or even prevent, the masturbation habit
in their young girls. Foremost, parents must remain vigilant over their
children; no effort should be spared in insuring that their young girls
are never left unsupervised. Due suspicion should be exercised when
dealing with abnormally close or intimate friendships.
Multiple girls should never be arranged to share the same bedroom,
without an older figure to provide supervision. Under absolutely no
circumstance should a young girl share a bed with another, whether they
be child, an adult, or even one of the girl's parents—intentional or
not, such sleeping arrangements quite often lead to early masturbatory
habits. Instead, girls should be made to sleep alone, on a relatively
hard mattress with a light sheet or blanket. Children should be
encouraged to always keep their arms outside the covers as they sleep.
Parents must also be wary that their children do not laze about in bed
after waking. When girls grow older, it should be impressed upon them
the harmfulness inherent in manipulating their genitals; instruction
should likewise be given not to associate with anyone who suggests or
encourages such behaviour, nor with anyone who attempts to initiate
lascivious conversation. Care should be taken as well, in the event of
certain maladies such as Eczema or Vulvovaginitis, that
girls do not discover masturbation as a consequence of their physical
discomfort or agitation.
It is also necessary to warn of the dangers of, so-called, mental or psychic masturbation which some females have
been known to practice. Though abstaining from any physical
contact, the mental masturbator can still derive sexual satisfaction,
strictly through her own concentration upon sexually stimulating
thoughts and fantasies. Yet, despite its mental confinement,
this behaviour is nevertheless harmful (perhaps more so than manual
masturbation) and should be very strongly discouraged. Women who
masturbate in this fashion put themselves at risk of both nervous breakdowns and Neurasthenia.
All of that having been said, a final word of caution must be made to the parents and guardians of our young women:
In my opinion, stigmatizing even the most moderate indulgence in
masturbation as a vice has a deleterious effect upon the people who so
indulge and makes it harder for them to break off the habit. Every
thinking physician and sexologist can tell you that picturing the
masturbatory habit in too lurid colors and stigmatizing it with too
strong epithets has, as a rule, the contrary effect to the one expected.
The victims of the habit consider themselves degraded, irretrievably
lost. They lose their self-respect, and it is, on account of that,
harder for them to break themselves of the habit (1).
In light of modern science, it is unreasonable, even
unconscionable, to pass moral judgement on those addicted to the
habit of masturbation. Demonizing young masturbators succeeds only to
reinforce their private shame and suffering. There is simply no
recourse for those who falsely believe it beneficial to assault a
young woman's self-esteem in this manner. Without question, scores
upon scores of people have suffered from, and overcome, their habit of
masturbation, most being none the worse for it. We need but simply
appeal to the truth: that by education and sincere support, we can
help our young ladies through their affliction.
Source
-
Woman: Her Sex and Love Life by William J. Robinson (1917)