YOU KNOW all the jokes about one-handed typists cruising sex sites online, blind male virgins with blisters on their hands, and of course, you may have overheard the 'corner' musings of 'thou shalt not spill thy seed on the ground'.

However, while masturbation is regarded as a normal, handy practice in some countries it remains a taboo topic in the sex lives of Jamaican men and women.

Some schools of thought see masturbation as a rite of passage in developmental psychology. According to psychologist Sigmund Freud, during the phallic stage of development (ages three to six), the child discovers and develops an interest in the genitals, gaining enjoyment from their
discovery.

"It's a learning experience, a lot of kids engage in masturbation in private. I know of this one girl, an eight-year-old, who began to masturbate in public while watching television. Her mother was distraught, and we had to find some other way to distract the girl and get her involved in other activities," psychologist Dr. Leahcim Semaj said.

HARMLESS

In adolescence, masturbation can become a more deliberate habit during this age of sexual awakening. Sex researchers feel that the exploration of the body and its sexual sensations can be a part of a healthy psychosexual development, a resistance to masturbation may lead to sexual inhibitions and difficulties.

However, it's a cultural no-no at any stage and society tends to frown on the practice because of fear that it may lead to abnormalities in adulthood. In the late 19th century, quacks in the medical field advised patients that masturbation was responsible for loss of memory, lowered intelligence, depression, poor eyesight, constipation, premature old age and a host of other maladies.

"Within this culture, masturbation is taboo because sexual expression is defined in a limited context, the deejays set the parameters, and in fact, Jamaican men are perhaps the most sexually repressed men on the planet because they allow others to define their sexuality," said Dr. Semaj.

"Most adolescents do it. Masturbation ­ either alone or with a partner ­ provides a safe sexual outlet for sexual anxiety and tensions... no VD, no AIDS. It is harmless and is a positive alternative to unsavoury sexual practices," he added.

IT'S A USEFUL TOOL, BECAUSE SEX WITH A MAN CAN BE HARMFUL AND DANGEROUS

"Masturbation is about safe sex, consciousness and control over your own orgasms. Sex with a man can be harmful and dangerous because he may be AIDS-infected, and with masturbation, you don't have to wait on a man to please you...you control the pleasure. And half of the times, they go to sleep leaving you unsatisfied anyway, so you have to finish the job to reach orgasm," one talk show host added.

MASTURBATION AND RELIGION

Nevertheless, some religious denominations continue to frown on masturbation.

"It is not the proper use of sexual expression," said Father Richard Albert of the Stella Maris Foundation. "Sex is good within the context of marriage, it is the locus of sexual expression and any kind of behaviour that does not live up to this ideal is not to be encouraged...how sinful (the activity is)...is God's call.

"It's a human, growing up phenomenon, and should not instil guilt...but it is not the most ideal to express your sexual gift from God," Father Albert said.

Under Judeo-Christian teaching, masturbation was a religious offence. The prohibition originated from Onan's crime in Genesis 38:9. Onan, the second-born son of Judah, was required to wed his late brother, Er's wife and give her a child. However, Onan, knowing that the seed should not be his, performed coitus interruptus, spilling his semen on the ground. By way of this act, Onan aroused the Lord's ire who immediately slew him. The Jews later issued a prohibition against the 'vain emission of semen'.

To discourage masturbation, a man was forbidden to sleep on his back. He was not to sleep alone in a room and, unless his wife was available for intercourse, he was not to hold his penis while urinating. Men were forbidden to eat fatty meats, cheese, eggs and garlic-foods because these were thought to heat the body and intensify the urge to masturbate.

Other churches do not take as rigid a stance as the Roman Catholic Church on the issue.

"In the Anglican church, we don't bring up masturbation, it is not really a problem in the Anglican church, we don't counsel anyone on it, there are bigger problems out there to contend with, said Rev. Ernle Gordon of St. Mary's Anglican Church in St. Andrew. "We must be careful that we don't take Old Testament practices and make them edicts in our lives. Masturbation is a normal biological function of both men and women."

MASTURBATING MEN REGARDED AS VIRGINS, HOMOSEXUALS AND FAILED LOVERS

Early 19th century physicians proposed a scientific view that masturbation was not a sin, but a disease. Doctors developed drugs, devices and even surgery for its cure. Corrosives and cauterising were used to blister the penis or the clitoris, while difficult cases were subjected to castration or
clitoridectomy.

"Society tends to look down on men who do it especially. They are seen as failures, unable to get women, either virgins, homosexuals, or failed lovers," said Robert Clarke, a 23-year-old public relations executive. "But nobody cares if women do it ­ men think it's sexy when women do it. Women even do it in public...you can't tell when a woman is doing it, she can be seated in a restaurant, and doing it and no one would know...but it's different for guys."

Psychologists concur that many in society see masturbation as being wrong, and that those who masturbate often experience some emotional conflict, especially guilt.

"If the person sees masturbation as a problem, then it will lead to sadness, and guilt," said counselling psychologist Dr. Andre Davis. When that happens, there will be a need to get that person to sublimate sex desires through other activities such as acts of
goodness."

IT MAY STEM FROM TOUCH DEPRIVATION

Masturbation may also stem from touch deprivation where persons do not get enough stimulation or aren't touched much by others, and turn to their genitals as a sort of compensatory move to satisfy that deficiency, Dr. Davis added.

Sometimes, excessive masturbation may also be a symptom of an underlying disorder. When some persons are in a state of chronic anxiety, compulsive masturbation may result. The masturbation is mechanical, driven and joyless.

"People masturbate for different reasons. Most times, it is for sexual reason but there may be other reasons such as an unavailable partner, depression, or a need to supplement their own desires if a partner is pregnant, and is often coupled with fantasies about a partner," Dr. Davis said.

A SYMPTOM OF PROBLEMS

When masturbation is frequent or preferred to sexual intercourse, it may be a symptom of underlying problems in a relationship. It is a common expression of hostility for one partner to withhold sex and flaunt this by masturbating in view of the other. The person who masturbates may feel guilty or resentful toward the partner who has 'driven him or her to it'. The other partner may feel rejected and unloved.

"Once it becomes addictive, it can make someone dysfunctional if it becomes a case where that person decides it's better to stay home and masturbate than to go out and get involved with other people ... and masturbation is sometimes used as a weapon in a relationship to express feelings of disgust or anger, but will only happen when the union has really disintegrated," Dr. Semaj said.

In recent times attitudes are changing. "This is the 21st century...I think that we, women, are brought up to be ashamed of touching our bodies ­ a lot of black women don't discover they have cancer until it is in the last stages because they do not examine themselves," Miss Hewitt said.

"There are sectors of society in Jamaica now where masturbation is a non-issue, but it will always be struggle for some because of their Judeo-Christian upbringings...auto-eroticism goes against the value system of conservative Christians, but there are some who see it as gift."

According to Dr. Davis, there is a masturbation movement in other countries where groups go to clubs and openly indulge in mutual masturbation.

"This happens in the United States, but I haven't heard of it happening in Jamaica," he added.

According to Dr. Davis, masturbation therapy is often used by sex therapists in dealing with certain sexual dysfunction, for example, premature ejaculation problems, and in the treatment of orgasmically dysfunctional women who often experience painful sexual intercourse.

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