Okay, so, I know it's a weird thing to admit, but I'm totally invested in the politics of masturbation.
This blog post covers just the tip of the iceberg of the Victorian mindset associated with masturbation with ties to 21st century Western thought. It's midterm week and I can guarantee my resting heart rate registers as a panic attack, so brace yourselves for a messy, mediocre essay.
Masturbation, even in modern times, has mixed views. Those against masturbation are generally religious and their opinions on the subject span back to what we read on "the evils" of masturbation in the Victorian Era. They're rooted in archaic stances that weren't meant to benefit the sexual health of the individual, but to submit to high Capitalistic expectations and religion. Instead of masturbating, an individual could spend that time contributing in the workplace. Women in particular were targeted to abstain from masturbation, seeing that some parts of the Victorian society labeled female sexuality as lustful and demonic (while other people, such as Victorian feminists, declared the women were biologically chaste).
We never discussed Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, but this Victorian figure sure did hate masturbation. And the name should ring a bell—he was the founder of Kellogg cereals. Fun fact: Kellogg believed that cold, plain foods were the cure for America's sexual deviancy. I found out about this guy through a popular millennial show called Adam Ruins Everything. This specific video discusses foreskin and how Kellogg created the philosophy of circumcision in the Western world. It's a good watch, check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCSWbTv3hng (or Google "The Real Reason You're Circumcised).
If you chose to watch this video, what do you think of circumcision now? If you choose to have children and they happen to have penises, will you circumcise them?
Kellogg believed that masturbation was the peak of sexual deviance. He even published a popular text, Treatment for Self-Abuse and its Effects, which discussed why masturbation was toxic, why we do it, and how to put an end to this. His most barabaic solution included:
"...tying a masturbator's hands together and circumcising a male without anesthesia (so that he remembered the pain). For women, Kellogg had another suggestion: To pour a bit of pure carbolic acid, a toxic liquid and disinfectant, also known as phenol, directly on the clitoris so that it burned so badly that no woman would ever want to touch there again."
(source: http://realitysandwich.com/782/masturbation_victorian_age/)
Thankfully, contemporary thought isn't as radical as Kellogg's. Although there are religious folk who preach about its evils, a majority of the new generations agree that it's natural and even healthy.
This was really interesting! It's very surprising that they would go to the extreme of not only circumcising a male as punishment but to do so without anesthesia is just cruel and unusual.
ReplyDeleteI have also noticed a lot of recent magazine articles praising the healthy benefits of masturbating.